ICMS Ecológico

The Urban Green Areas System (UGAS) performs relevant functions for the quality of life by making cities healthier, which has become even more necessary in the current period of pandemic. However, even with these benefits, the practice of urban management indicates difficulties not only in the implementation, but also in the maintenance of the UGAS. One of the aspects that may explain the challenge of implementing and maintaining green areas in cities is the absence of regulatory instruments and financial incentives that support this system. In this line, in order to contribute to this discussion, one of the instruments that proved to be effective in environmental management will be studied, in this case for the creation and implementation of Conservation Units: the “ICMS Ecológico”. This article will study the characteristics of the UGAS associated with ecological and urban functions; the logic of adopting the “ICMS Ecológico” and will seek to define criteria that can be used for the implementation of a UGAS that prioritizes ecosystem thinking associated with the function of urban health. We started with the discussion about the mechanisms for adopting the “ICMS Ecológico” and followed the analysis of the standards established in the states for its application. As a result, it was found that there are similarities that can be applied to an implementation in the urban green area systems, which allowed the recommendation of criteria that can be used as a reference for the application of the “ICMS Ecológico” to support the UGAS and the promotion of healthier cities.

Quantitative Analysis of Eco-Economic Benefit of Urban Reclaimed Water Greening Based on Emergy Theory

With the faster urbanization and the higher living environment requirements of people, the urban green area is getting increasingly attention. But green irrigation consumes huge tap water, causes the waste of high-quality water resources. The reclaimed water meets the standard of green irrigation and the source is sufficient, it is a good alternative water source for urban greening. The eco-economic benefit of using reclaimed water as greening water was evaluated in this paper. The composition of benefit was analyzed and the difference in benefit brought by using reclaimed water greening instead of tap water was quantified based on emergy theory. Taking Zhengzhou in 2018 for example, the results showed that the eco-economic benefit of reclaimed water greening was remarkable. The total eco-economic benefit was $4.05 billion, which was three times of that of tap water. Among the benefits, economic benefit accounted for the largest proportion, reaching 69.22%. After deducting the cost, the net eco-economic benefit of reclaimed water greening was $2.00 billion, while tap water was negative. Therefore, using reclaimed water to irrigate urban green area can save a lot of high-quality water and bring a lot of economic, social and ecological environmental benefits. The quantitative results of this paper can provide reference for the promotion of reclaimed water greening and the allocation decision of reclaimed water in water shortage areas. And it is helpful to improve the utilization efficiency of water resources and alleviate the shortage of urban water resources.

The value of a small urban green area to the medium and large-sized mammals conservation

Brazil presents the biggest mammal diversity in the world, 755 species, of which 110 are classified under some degree of threat. In the São Paulo State is an estimated 350 taxa richness, however, this number can be even higher due to the gap of sampling over large extensions. In addition, many urban green areas are not studied because their value is underestimated for biodiversity conservation. In this way, the present study aimed to survey the medium and large-sized terrestrial mammals in a Municipal Conservation Unit located in the urban area of Franca, SP. Using cameras trap, sand plots, and active search, in the period between May and July 2019, 16 mammals were sampled. The highest number of species was identified through sand plots (12), followed by active search (7) and cameras trap (4). The sampled community is mostly composed of opportunistic and generalist species with few predators. Among species found, the maned wolf (Chrysocyon brachyurus) is classified nationally as vulnerable to extinction. Despite the significant number of sampled species, the species accumulation curve obtained did not reach its asymptote. Thus, it is concluded that Zoobotanic Garden, despite suffering strong anthropic pressure, develop an important role in the regional medium and large-sized terrestrial mammals conservation, acting as a refuge area for these species.

Applying remote sensing techniques to monitor green areas in Tashkent Uzbekistan

Land use and land cover (LULC) change are one of the most important signals of regional environmental monitoring and study. Recently, the pull of capital cities has snowballed, an increasing number of people moving to the cities, especially in developing countries. Consequently, as more people arrive at cities, the more pressure will be on land. Land price getting high and constructions try using open green areas. A wide variety of green areas of different sizes will be solve many urban diseases and ecological problems at the same time improve the quality and life of urban residents, as urban green area provides various ecosystem services. The green area includes parks, woodlands, nature reserves and bare lands. With the population increase and expansion of cities, an increasing amount of open area, woodland and bare land has been converted into construction land, buildings due to the increasing demands and residential land. For the accuracy assessment, we applied an automatically supervised classification using the software QGIS 3.18. The reference values were based on ground truth data and visual interpretation.

Floristic and functional-reproductive diversity of arboreal and shrub species present in the ornamentation of squares in São Raimundo Nonato, PI, Brazil

We evaluated the urban green area of the São Raimundo Nonato city (PI), regarding the floristic composition and the pollination service, comparing it with the natural ecosystem (caatinga). We employed indices of functional diversity of the reproductive traits by means of the usual procedures of collect and identification of species, classification (the origin, floral attributes, and pollination syndromes), followed by data analysis. The results show that the urban area presents a greater functional diversity because of the richness of exotic species, but with specialized pollination systems and resources inaccessible to native pollinators. By removing them, the rates are higher in the caatinga, revealing the need for planning in afforestation with native species suggested.

Importance of Urban Green at Reduction of Particulate Matters in Sihwa Industrial Complex, Korea

The utilization of urban green areas has increased, but it is unclear whether urban green areas can decrease the concentration of particulate matter at an industrial complex city in Korea. We measured the extent of particulate matter (PM) reduction at a buffer green area in the Sihwa Industrial Complex. PM was measured at the industrial complex, the urban green area, and a nearby residential area from April to October 2019. PM reduction rates were highest at the urban green area in August and October, which is related to increased atmospheric mixing height and the active west wind blowing from the industrial complex to the residential area. Reduction rates of PM10 and PM2.5 at the urban green area showed the lowest values, namely 14.4% and 25.3%, respectively. The air temperature, wind speed, and humidity could affect the PM reduction rate by influencing the movement and dispersion of PM at the micro-spatiotemporal scale. These results indicated that PM concentration could be reduced by the structural change of a forest layer at a micro scale in urban green areas.

The transition from rural to urban. The phenomenon of San Andrés Cholula, Puebla

This text describes the attempt to save a portion of agricultural land, through the agricultural park proposal, located in San Andrés, Cholula, Puebla (SACH). In the midst of an intense process of urban growth, in an unfavorable environment of dispute over the search for cheap land, although, due to speculation, here the cheap land was far above the cost of metropolitan urban land. The concept of the agricultural park, in principle, defends the value of the soil as a substrate and nutrient of the territories with the natural conditions of their environment, in addition to the valuable role in the primary sector of the national economy. The park will become a strategy of preservation, as long as its inclusion in the urban territory is achieved, with an agricultural connotation, taking advantage of the residual urban spaces, but, above all, the existing agricultural spaces. In addition, the park will fulfill the functions of an urban green area and recreation. At SACH there were three fortresses: there were farmers interested, in addition, the metropolitan planning and management instruments, updated; including the possibility of taking executive action on the project, through an undergraduate thesis topic. This exercise was partially worked with peasants who were threatened by urban growth, dazzled by the offer to buy their agricultural land. Also, they found attractive the idea that there was an alternative that would assure them the productive activity, being themselves participants of the project.