Medicinal plants in the City of Brussels, Belgium

Almost 50 % of the City of Brussels territory contain non-built spaces. The forests, public parks, playgrounds and allotment gardens altogether contain 36 % of Brussels green areas which provide various ecosystem services. Private gardens represent an almost equal share - 32 % of Brussels green areas. In addition, Brussels City hosts large number of nationalities and ethnical traditions from all over the world. This illustrates that Brussels City with its unique geographical situation, cultural diversity and large number of urban green zones has a lot of potential for the development of urban ecosystem services, especially cultural ones. The case study on cultivation, foraging and use of medicinal plants in the City of Brussels has been carried out through analyses of available literature, visits to the relevant sites, meetings with professionals working in the field, representatives from the competent authorities, following the activities of nature related organisations, creative artists and ecologists, as well as taking part in events related to medicinal plants presence and use in City of Brussels. The study results showed that wild and cultivated medicinal plants are largely present in public green spaces and specifically designed private, collective, school, university, museum and library gardens as well as city farms. Medicinal plants are often present in multidisciplinary urban greening projects. Besides wellknown phyto-therapeutic use, medicinal plants contribute largely to the development of cultural ecosystem services and are often used for creation of spaces for mental relaxation or garden therapy, physical activity and social integration. School gardens rich in medicinal plants are used as outdoor spaces for the pupils to learn and play as well as tools for an integrated child centred education. Gardens of medicinal plants in museums, universities and libraries bring together history, folkloric traditions and state of the art scientific knowledge about medicinal plants. Local nature and culture centres with the involvement of scientists, urban farmers, artists, architects, naturalists and other professionals serve as life-long learning places to explore ethnobotanical knowledge of medicinal plants, to create therapeutic landscapes in the city, and to improve human health and urban well-being.