Across Africa, cities face the dual pressures of rapid urbanisation and climate risk, which place a growing strain on ecosystems and people. Yet, nature provides essential services, such as flood mitigation, cooling and water regulation, which are critical for long-term urban resilience. Historically, nature’s contributions to people have been undervalued or overlooked in core city planning systems and decision-making processes.

The UNA project helped shift this narrative by positioning nature as essential urban infrastructure and promoting nature-positive urban development. Through planning tools, spatial data integration and cross-sector collaboration, cities were supported to embed nature into land use planning, governance and decision-making. This mainstreaming approach helps cities design for resilience, reduce biodiversity loss and align with broader sustainability agendas.