Ecosystem services evaluation for a more resilient urban environment

Among the Sustainable Development Goals defined in Agenda 2030 by United Nations, Number 11 aims to achieve more resilient urban environments facing the ongoing climate change. “Ecosystem Restoration” is one of the solutions to help achieving this goal, by restoring habitats and functions of the terrestrial and marine ecosystems on which flora and fauna depend. At urban scale, a method for the evaluation of the Ecosystem Services (ES) offered by a given green area is reported: among the quantifiable benefits, in this work the attention is paid to the quantity of surface water runoff that vegetation is able to reduce, through processes of infiltration, evapotranspiration and storage. The results of a case study on a Turin green space are shown as an example, deepening the species efficiency in providing the total amount of 735 cubic meters of water saved.