The “Lyon’Haie Challenge”

The Project and its Challenges

The hedges cut down in France over the past one hundred years would run all the way to the moon and back. In both rural and urban areas, the disappearance of hedges is now a critical issue, given that they are safe havens for biodiversity and support countless ecosystems. These issues also have implications for our health and society. In Lyon, temperatures in the most urban areas are five degrees warmer than in peri-urban areas, and rapid urbanisation has reduced the last “natural” woodlands to the most inaccessible areas of the city. 

That is why Des Espèces Parmi’Lyon, an association promoting nature, has launched the “Lyon’Haie Challenge”, a collaborative project focused on planting hedgerows in Lyon’s densest urban areas. The association and project supporters are committed to plant 20 kilometres of hedges in Lyon city centre within three years with the help of 300 locals and volunteers.

Through this project, the association hopes to promote biodiversity by targeting the areas with the fewest hedges, with a particular focus on strengthening the network of existing allies rallying around this cause, as well as educating local people and getting them involved. 

The Maisons du Monde Foundation is supporting the development of the “Lyon’Haie Challenge” through a three-year partnership focused around three key actions:

• Restoring and improving the functionality of the shrub layer in urban areas to help develop an urban green infrastructure, by planting 20km of hedges in three years.
• Educating local people and getting them involved in spatial planning, through workshops, neighbourhood walks and even via collaborative projects and surveys.
• Strengthening the local flora by creating a local seed bank and plant nursery in the city centre, to bolster animal and plant communities.