Biodiversity protection in port cities increasingly depends on turning scientific knowledge and monitoring into permanent infrastructure and public engagement. In Vigo, years of ecological research and pilot testing have culminated in Peiraos do Solpor, a permanent underwater observation structure that restores marine habitats while opening the port’s biodiversity to public view. In Cotonou, the Port Environmental Surveillance Platform monitors invasive species and biological risks tied to international trade, turning a regulatory obligation into a replicable African model for biodiversity protection. In Douala, rapid urban expansion is pushing the Dibamba river corridor, a critical ecological and cultural resource for riverside communities, toward the same fate as the city’s already-degraded Ngoua river, prompting local authorities to act before the damage becomes irreversible. Together, these cases explore how ports and cities can protect biodiversity not as a separate obligation, but as a shared undertaking with the communities and ecosystems around them.
