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New river and massive greening: Paris launches a new biodiversity plan

undefined undefined 4 avril 2025 undefined 08h30

The Editor

© Michael Mulkens / Shutterstock

It’s no longer a secret, but Anne Hidalgo is determined to make her last term all about greenery. Trees planted by the hundreds, massive pedestrian areas, urban forests—every effort counts in making Paris a more ecological and greener city. And it doesn’t look like it will stop there, as the City has just unveiled its third biodiversity plan.

This Wednesday, April 2 in the morning, Christophe Najdovski, the deputy mayor of Paris in charge of greening public spaces, biodiversity, and animal welfare, unveiled the details of the brand new greening program for the city, which will be voted on at the next Paris Council on April 8. This plan is set to extend from 2025 to 2030, and we’re here to give you a quick summary of the main points.


Wildlife at the Heart of Concerns

The first major point of this new initiative is: “defending life, in Paris and beyond”. To achieve this, the plan includes the installation of at least 500 meters of hedges per district, sometimes even kilometers where monuments allow for it. The goal is simple: to multiply habitats and natural shelters to help the small wildlife of Paris, like birds, thrive and evolve in a suitable environment.

Favorable environment. Streets, parks, squares, gardens, no space is overlooked to maximize plantings. Measures will include the massive greening of 500 streets implemented during the last citizen voting.


Touches of Blue

According to the elected official, water is also one of the fundamental points of this new plan. Indeed, the town hall plans to multiply the water points by installing, for example, several ponds in the parks and gardens of the City of Light. Similarly, the banks of the Seine will be renovated as much as possible, meaning they will be impermeabilized and planted with greenery to make them greener and more pleasant. Lastly, and certainly not least, Christophe Najdovski announced nothing less than the creation of a new river in the heart of the Bois de Vincennes. While we might not imagine it rivaling the Seine, we find the project quite interesting all the same. 


A Comprehensive Policy

More broadly, the City of Paris aims to make the fight for biodiversity a true guiding principle, by integrating this new aspect into its overall policy. To achieve this, the plan includes establishing a biodiversity footprint, which will be calculated using the same model as the carbon footprint. All identified expenditures deemed detrimental will then be redirected towards other projects that are more in line with the city's policy. So far, a total of 84 measures have been proposed across all the arrondissements of Paris. Now, it's up to the Paris Council to decide whether to approve this plan next week.