The omnipresent nature
Budapest boasts seven major wooded parks and around a hundred public gardens. Among the most central green lungs are the City Woods (Városliget), Margitsziget Park, Jubileumi on the western slopes of Mount Gellért and Tabán Park. The 3-hectare Budapest Botanical Garden (Fűvészkert) is home to 7,000 different plant species. On the Buda side, the Budai Arborétum is a 6-hectare former vineyard with 1,600 species of tree. On the Buda side, there are three mountains: Hárshegy, 436 m high, Hármashatárhegy, 495 m high, and the highest, Jánoshegy (527 m). All three offer pleasant hiking areas. These are protected areas that are home to native plant species, as well as an endangered species of snake, the Coluber caspsius. For sporting activities, you can also explore Budapest's underground caves: over two hundred of them can be found beneath the feet of Budapest's inhabitants.
Bicycles on the rise
Like many European capitals, Budapest has excessively high levels of air pollution caused by motorized traffic. The Hungarian Clean Air Action Group (CAAG) and the Hungarian Environmental Management and Law Association (EMLA) took legal action against the city's authorities in November 2018, urging them to take action on this issue. However, public transport - streetcar, metro and bus - is well developed. Cycling is also booming here. A shared bike service, Bubi, has existed since 2014. There are some 200 km of cycle lanes in the city, one of which runs alongside the Danube and is part of EuroVelo 6, the European cycle route from the Atlantic Ocean to the Black Sea.
Green innovations to see
For those interested in eco-friendly and alternative innovations, the activities carried out by the French-founded Cargomania association are well worth a look. They created Cyclonomia in 2013, a participatory workshop for building cargo bikes, housed in Noha Studio, an alternative venue located near Jaszai Square. They are also behind the social enterprise of Kantaa bike-cargo couriers. They deliver baskets of vegetables from Zsamboki Biokert, a 4-hectare organic and biodynamic farm in the village of Zsambok, some 50 kilometers from Budapest. It was founded in 2012 by Matthew Hayes, a former professor at Central European University (CEU) and a proponent of degrowth.
Another interesting green initiative: since November, Budapest's 14th district has been home to an edible forest garden project run by agroforestry researchers, local NGOs and Budapest's network of shared gardens. The aim is to create a space where different plant strata, fruit trees, berries, shrubs and vines are combined. This not only enhances biodiversity, but also creates social links by inviting local residents to take part in the project, and helps combat global warming. (More information at http://cargonomia.hu)
