A strategy for Canada's urban forests

2003 ◽  
Vol 79 (4) ◽  
pp. 785-789 ◽  
Author(s):  
W A Kenney
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Natural Environment ◽  
Urban Forest ◽  
Urban Forestry ◽  
Urban Forests ◽  
Economic Benefits ◽  
Community Action ◽  
Development Research ◽  
Intimate Contact ◽  
Conservation And Management

Urban forests are where 80% of Canadians live and work and, as such, represent their most intimate contact with their natural environment. The trees and woodlands in and around our cities and towns provide a broad range of environmental and socio-economic benefits to society. A recent survey in Ontario indicates that urbanites in that province not only consider their urban forests to be very important to them; they are also concerned about their conservation and management. A strategy for a collaborative, sustained, and nationally based effort to advance urban forestry in Canada is presented under the themes of community action, interdisciplinary relations, policy, professional development, research, and urban forests and planning. Key words: urban forest, strategy, community action, interdisciplinary relations, policy, professional development, research, planning.

scholarly journals Beijing Resident’s Preferences of Ecosystem Services of Urban Forests

Forests ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 14
Author(s):  
Han Zhi-Ying ◽  
Youn Yeo-Chang
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Air Quality ◽  
Fresh Water ◽  
Urban Forest ◽  
Urban Forestry ◽  
Urban Forests ◽  
Wildlife Habitat ◽  
Quality Regulation ◽  
Water Provision ◽  
Air Quality Regulation

This paper aims to investigate the Beijing resident’s preferences over various options of urban forest management strategies. The literature investigation and expert Delphi method were conducted to classify the ecosystem services of urban forests into six categories: (1) fresh water provision, (2) noise reduction, (3) moderation of extreme events, (4) air quality regulation, (5) species diversity and wildlife habitat, and (6) recreation and spiritual experience. To elicit the relative preferences to ecosystem service (hereafter referred to as ES) of Beijing residents, we employed the choice experiment method. The data were collected by interviews with questionnaires conducted in October 2017, and a total of 483 valid questionnaires were analyzed. The subjects of this experiment were residents older than 19 years old who have lived in Beijing for more than 1 year and have visited any one of the urban forests located in Beijing more than once during 2016. The results were as follows: Firstly, the air quality regulation ES was considered as the most important service for Beijing residents in terms of their choices of urban forest. In addition, Beijing residents regarded the fresh water provision ES as the second most important ES. Beijing residents were willing to pay up to 1.84% of the average monthly income of Chinese households annually to expand urban forest ecosystems in order to improve air quality. Secondly, apartment owners were willing to pay more municipality tax for forest ESs than residents who did not own an apartment. Thirdly, residents were more willing to pay for urban forest ESs as their income increases. The results indicated that Beijing residents were willing to pay more tax in support of urban forestry for air quality improvement. This research suggests that urban environmental policy makers in Beijing should pay more attention to the regulation function of forests (especially improving air quality) when designing and managing urban forests.

scholarly journals Strategic planning in urban forestry: A 21st century paradigm shift for small town Canada

2000 ◽  
Vol 76 (2) ◽  
pp. 241-245 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. J. E. van Wassenaer ◽  
L. Schaeffer ◽  
W. A. Kenney
Keyword(s):  
Forest Management ◽  
Strategic Planning ◽  
Land Use Planning ◽  
Planning Process ◽  
Urban Forest ◽  
Urban Forestry ◽  
Ecosystem Approach ◽  
Economic Benefits ◽  
Small Communities ◽  
Urban Forest Management

The pressures created by urban sprawl are leading to a reduction in forested land in Canada and North America. Poorly controlled land-use planning contributes to the haphazard urbanization of many small communities within commuting distance of major urban centres. Urban forests are largely ignored as an asset and the potential benefits they can offer to communities are often not acknowledged in the planning process. Relatively few communities across Canada have any form of urban forest management. A new definition of the urban forest is proposed that recognizes the need for an ecosystem approach to urban forest management and the integral role that humans play in that ecosystem. To facilitate the implementation of urban forest management plans in small communities, a simple strategic planning framework is presented. Using this approach, many small towns can maintain their rural character and benefit from a wealth of environmental, social and economic benefits. Key words: urban forestry, community planning, forest benefits, strategic planning, ecosystem approach, forest fragmentation

scholarly journals Remote Sensing in Urban Forestry: Recent Applications and Future Directions

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (10) ◽  
pp. 1144 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xun Li ◽  
Wendy Y. Chen ◽  
Giovanni Sanesi ◽  
Raffaele Lafortezza
Keyword(s):  
Remote Sensing ◽  
Data Processing ◽  
Urban Forest ◽  
Scale Effects ◽  
Urban Forestry ◽  
Urban Forests ◽  
Accurate Information ◽  
Multi Scale ◽  
Sensing Applications ◽  
Multi Temporal

Increasing recognition of the importance of urban forest ecosystem services calls for the sustainable management of urban forests, which requires timely and accurate information on the status, trends and interactions between socioeconomic and ecological processes pertaining to urban forests. In this regard, remote sensing, especially with its recent advances in sensors and data processing methods, has emerged as a premier and useful observational and analytical tool. This study summarises recent remote sensing applications in urban forestry from the perspective of three distinctive themes: multi-source, multi-temporal and multi-scale inputs. It reviews how different sources of remotely sensed data offer a fast, replicable and scalable way to quantify urban forest dynamics at varying spatiotemporal scales on a case-by-case basis. Combined optical imagery and LiDAR data results as the most promising among multi-source inputs; in addition, future efforts should focus on enhancing data processing efficiency. For long-term multi-temporal inputs, in the event satellite imagery is the only available data source, future work should improve haze-/cloud-removal techniques for enhancing image quality. Current attention given to multi-scale inputs remains limited; hence, future studies should be more aware of scale effects and cautiously draw conclusions.

The state of Canada's municipal forests – 1996 to 1998

2000 ◽  
Vol 76 (2) ◽  
pp. 231-234 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. A. Kenney ◽  
C. Idziak
Keyword(s):  
Key Words ◽  
Natural Environment ◽  
Urban Forestry ◽  
Urban Forests ◽  
Managed Forests ◽  
Inventory Planning ◽  
Or Management ◽  
Management Plans ◽  
The Many ◽  
Extent Condition

Urban forests are the day-to-day interface between most Canadians and their natural environment. In spite of the many benefits derived from our urban forests, relatively little is understood about their extent, condition and level of management. The results of a survey of Canadian municipalities is used to summaries the level of management and planning in the country's municipally managed forests. The survey indicated that many communities do not have inventories or management plans and the level of funding for the maintenance of municipal forests are insufficient to sustain a supply of benefits to the community. Key words: urban forestry, inventory, planning, budgets

scholarly journals Urban Forest Research in Malaysia: A Systematic Review

Forests ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (7) ◽  
pp. 903
Author(s):  
Keeren Sundara Rajoo ◽  
Daljit Singh Karam ◽  
Arifin Abdu ◽  
Zamri Rosli ◽  
Geoffery James Gerusu
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Urban Forest ◽  
Urban Forestry ◽  
Urban Forests ◽  
Global South ◽  
Forest Research ◽  
Research Gaps ◽  
Continuous Increase ◽  
The Past ◽  
Research Themes

Sustainable urban development is a major issue in developing countries, namely in environmental and social aspects. Urban forests have the potential to address these issues. Thus, it is not surprising that urban forest research is slowly gaining traction in these regions. However, there have been limited urban forest research reviews focusing on developing countries, especially tropical countries in the global south. Research reviews are vital in identifying the distribution of research themes, hence revealing research gaps and needs. Therefore, this review paper aims to provide a deep insight into the development of urban forest research in Malaysia in the past 20 years. The core purpose of this review is to analyze the distribution of research themes in Malaysia, thus identifying research gaps and needs in developing countries. A total of 43 articles were selected for this review, using the PRISMA framework. The distribution of research articles showed a continuous increase over time, especially for the past five years (2016 to 2021). The reviewed articles were categorized according to five emerging research themes in urban forestry. More than 41% of the reviewed articles fell under Theme 1 (the physicality of urban forests), with the majority being on biodiversity (n = 10). Theme 5 (the governance of urban forest) had the lowest research output (n = 3). Urban forestry research is slowly gaining prominence globally including the global south; however, there are obvious preferences in research focus, causing some research questions to be neglected. These research gaps are especially evident in four areas—soil science, ecophysiology, valuation (economics), and environmental justice. These research gaps should be addressed by the scientific community to ensure a thorough and complete research growth pertaining to urban forestry.

scholarly journals Urban forest management in small Ontario municipalities

2012 ◽  
Vol 88 (02) ◽  
pp. 118-123 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. John Barker ◽  
W. Andy Kenney
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Forest Management ◽  
Urban Forest ◽  
Urban Forestry ◽  
Urban Forests ◽  
The United States ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Legislative Framework ◽  
Upper Level ◽  
Urban Forest Management

Urban forestry has emerged as an important and timely discipline in an urbanizing world. The practice of urban forestry has focused mainly on large urban centres but urban forests in small municipalities provide the same benefits to the residents within and around them. Small municipalities face many challenges similar to those in urban centres but a lack of resources may worsen the negative effects on small municipalities. Urban forestry in Ontario is undertaken by municipalities with little involvement from upper-level governments. Thus, the effectiveness of urban forestry in Ontario is inconsistent and sporadic, with many small municipalities unable to manage urban forests optimally. Ontario's legislative framework governing urban forestry is critiqued and compared to the system employed in the United States. Recommendations are provided for action toward a centralized urban forestry program in Ontario.

scholarly journals Lessons Learned from the Urban Forestry Climate Change Response Framework Project

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leslie Brandt ◽  
Lydia Scott ◽  
Abigail Lewis ◽  
Lindsay Darling ◽  
Robert Fahey
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Forest Management ◽  
Urban Forest ◽  
Urban Forestry ◽  
Urban Forests ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Specialized Training ◽  
Climate Change Response ◽  
Change Response ◽  
Urban Forest Management

Many urban foresters have recognized the need to incorporate climate change considerations into urban forest management, but often lack the specialized training or knowledge to explicitly address this in their planning and practices. This document describes a framework we developed and piloted in the Chicago region to assess the vulnerability of urban forests and incorporate that information into on-the-ground actions. We describe the three steps used to implement this project and the lessons learned from this process.

scholarly journals Quantifying Tree Cover Loss in Urban Forests within Nairobi City Metropolitan Area from Earth Observation Data

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 78
Author(s):  
Francis Oloo ◽  
Godwin Murithi ◽  
Charlynne Jepkosgei
Keyword(s):  
Land Cover ◽  
Metropolitan Area ◽  
Land Surface ◽  
Urban Forest ◽  
Urban Forests ◽  
Earth Observation ◽  
Tree Cover ◽  
Observation Data ◽  
Vegetation Health ◽  
Earth Observation Data

Urban forests contribute significantly to the ecological integrity of urban areas and the quality of life of urban dwellers through air quality control, energy conservation, improving urban hydrology, and regulation of land surface temperatures (LST). However, urban forests are under threat due to human activities, natural calamities, and bioinvasion continually decimating forest cover. Few studies have used fine-scaled Earth observation data to understand the dynamics of tree cover loss in urban forests and the sustainability of such forests in the face of increasing urban population. The aim of this work was to quantify the spatial and temporal changes in urban forest characteristics and to assess the potential drivers of such changes. We used data on tree cover, normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), and land cover change to quantify tree cover loss and changes in vegetation health in urban forests within the Nairobi metropolitan area in Kenya. We also used land cover data to visualize the potential link between tree cover loss and changes in land use characteristics. From approximately 6600 hectares (ha) of forest land, 720 ha have been lost between 2000 and 2019, representing about 11% loss in 20 years. In six of the urban forests, the trend of loss was positive, indicating a continuing disturbance of urban forests around Nairobi. Conversely, there was a negative trend in the annual mean NDVI values for each of the forests, indicating a potential deterioration of the vegetation health in the forests. A preliminary, visual inspection of high-resolution imagery in sample areas of tree cover loss showed that the main drivers of loss are the conversion of forest lands to residential areas and farmlands, implementation of big infrastructure projects that pass through the forests, and extraction of timber and other resources to support urban developments. The outcome of this study reveals the value of Earth observation data in monitoring urban forest resources.

scholarly journals Assessing the Ecological Value of an Urban Forest Park: A Case Study of Sinhua Forest Park in Taiwan

Forests ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
pp. 806
Author(s):  
Wan-Yu Liu ◽  
Yo-Zheng Lin ◽  
Chi-Ming Hsieh
Keyword(s):  
Urban Forest ◽  
Contingent Valuation Method ◽  
Urban Forests ◽  
Green Spaces ◽  
Socioeconomic Background ◽  
Tobit Regression ◽  
Ecological Value ◽  
Forest Park ◽  
Study Results ◽  
Ecological Conservation

Urban forests offer multiple functions: they can balance negative effects from the environment and provide the public with a place for leisure and recreation. Hence, urban forests are crucial to urban ecology and have been widely studied. In addition, relevant study results were applied for policymaking in urban development and forest park management. This study evaluated the ecological value of the Sinhua Forest Park and examined whether the socioeconomic background of participants influences their willingness to pay (WTP) for ecological conservation. Questionnaires were distributed to visitors in the Sinhua Forest Park in Tainan, Taiwan, and the payment card format of the contingent valuation method was employed to evaluate the ecological value. The results showed that the visitors had an annual WTP of $22.01 per person. However, when samples with protest responses were excluded, the WTP rose to $24.58. By considering the total number of visitors of a year, the total ecological value was $1,426,964.14/year and reached $1,593,257.31/year after excluding the protest samples. This study also analyzed participants’ within-variable socioeconomic background (e.g., gender and education) and discovered that male participants who are aged 60 years or older, with an education level of senior/vocational high school, and those who visited green spaces two to three times per week presented a high WTP score on average. A Tobit regression model was employed for examination, and the results indicated that participants’ education and frequency of visiting green spaces significantly influenced their WTP for the ecological conservation of the Sinhua Forest Park.

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