Architecture & OECM: Biodiversity-Centred Urban Planning

🌿 Why Biodiversity Matters in Architecture

Biodiversity underpins healthy ecosystems and urban wellbeing. For architects, it’s more than green roofs or trees in renderings – it means designing buildings and landscapes that support natural ecological processes. Integrating habitat considerations, ecological connectivity, and local stewardship from early planning can create resilient, thriving, and sustainable urban environments, both during construction and long after.

Here’s a concise guide to help architects design with nature at the heart of urban development.

What is OECM?

OECM – Other Effective Area‑based Conservation Measures:
A conservation approach from the UN (2018) recognising urban areas that preserve biodiversity, even if not designated as formal reserves. Examples include city parks, green roofs, rewilded brownfields, and water features.

Why OECM Matters for Architects

Supports urban biodiversity in all scales of design
Helps deliver sustainable development and contributes to the global 30×30 biodiversity target
Provides a solid framework for green projects in planning applications and design competitions

Oslo as a Model City

Recognised as Norway’s most biodiverse municipality (Steinnes et al. 2021)
Features urban corridors connecting waterways, green zones, Østmarka forests, and small water bodies
Projects like Nye Ullevål, Grønlikaia plus‑landscapes, and city ecology initiatives illustrate OECM implementation in practice

Architects’ Role in Biodiverse Design

Map and conserve essential natural qualities early in project planning
Design public spaces that support pollinators, birds, and micro‑habitats
Enable ecological connectivity by linking urban green spaces
Collaborate with biologists, communities, and city authorities

🔍 OECM Integration Checklist

Identify potential OECM areas using biodiversity maps and local data
Assess ecological criteria: species diversity, management, longevity
Document purpose, governance, and biodiversity benefits
Integrate OECM principles into planning and competition briefs (ESG/biodiversity reporting)
Monitor outcomes and engage community stakeholders over time

✅ Conclusion

OECMs give architects a powerful tool to embed biodiversity into urban form. By applying this concept, you can deliver nature‑enhancing architecture that safeguards species and aligns with local and global sustainability goals.

📚 Key References

CBD Decision 14/8 – Definisjon og veiledning om OECMs:
https://www.cbd.int/doc/decisions/cop-14/cop-14-dec-08-en.pdf
IUCN Guidelines for Recognising and Reporting Other Effective Area-based Conservation Measures (OECMs), 2019:
https://portals.iucn.org/library/node/48408
Convention on Biological Diversity – OECMs webpage:
https://www.cbd.int/article/other-effective-area-based-conservation-measures-oecms

Gurney et al. (2021) – Nature: “Biodiversity needs every tool in the box: use OECMs”
WWF (2024) – Global Status of OECMs
NINA (2021) – Urban green infrastructure in Oslo region
LINK Arkitektur – Practical biodiversity strategies in architectur
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