🌿 Are you a student, PhD candidate, young researcher or early-career professional interested in urban forestry and related fields? Join our EFUF Welcome Webinar next week, an open session to discover who we are, what we do, and how you can get involved! 🌍 🗣️ There will also be a small interactive session to share ideas and connect with others. 📅 Date: 30 October 2025 🕓 Time: 04:00–06:00 PM (UTC+1) 💻 Where: Online on Zoom You’ll learn about: 🌱 The EFUF association and its history 🌿 The young generation of EFUF 🌳 The pre-Forum excursion in Malmö 💬 Collecting ideas for future topics and skill-building activities ✨ This session is especially designed for students and young professionals, but if you’re curious to hear from us, you’re warmly welcome to join! Reserve your spot today here: https://lnkd.in/dGpBzRqg
Article from Sashini Perera & Michelle R. Leishman
contact email: bulathsinhalage-sashini-d.p [at] students.mq.edu [dot] au
School of Natural Sciences and Centre for Smart Green Cities, Macquarie University, North Ryde, NSW 2109, Australia
Urban green spaces—such as bushland remnants, street trees, parks, and gardens—offer essential benefits to both people and biodiversity. However, they often face challenges like limited space, poor soil quality, and low water availability, which are being intensified by climate change. As cities experience rising temperatures and more frequent extreme weather events, it is crucial to improve the resilience of these green spaces to ensure their continued function and value.
To reduce plant water stress in urban environments, soil modifications like biochar and microbial inoculants can improve plant-water relationships. While individual treatments are well-studied, little is known about how they work together. Exploring these interactions could lead to more effective strategies for enhancing the resilience of urban green spaces to climate change.
Our research aimed to improve the resilience of urban tree species to climate change by developing strategies that help native trees thrive in harsh conditions. Beyond selecting climate-resilient species, it explored how soil management—particularly the use of biochar and microbial inoculants—can boost water retention, nutrient availability, and soil health in hot, water-limited environments.
In a glasshouse experiment, we tested four tree species—Allocasuarina littoralis, Casuarina cunninghamiana, Corymbia maculata, and Eucalyptus botryoides—to assess whether soil additives could improve plant performance under low moisture conditions. While water stress significantly reduced plant growth across all species, soil amendments did not counteract the decline in biomass. However, biochar improved soil water retention and reduced leaf necrosis, indicating its potential as a cost-effective tool to support urban forest resilience. Well-watered soils showed higher nitrogen levels than water-stressed soils, while biochar application led to an increase in soil carbon content. However, neither soil treatments nor water availability had a significant impact on the chemical concentrations in the leaves.
Figure 1) Well-watered soil had higher levels of Nitrogen compared to the water-stressed soil. Biochar increased the carbon content in soil.
Boxplots of the total a) Nitrogen (%) and b) Carbon (%) in soil for each watering treatment and soil treatment. (B: Biochar, M: Microbial additive, BM: Biochar + Microbial additive and N-No additive).
Figure 2) No significant effect from soil treatments or water treatments for the chemical concentrations in leaves.
Boxplots of the total a) Nitrogen (%) and b) Carbon (%) in soil for each watering treatment and soil treatment. (B: Biochar, M: Microbial additive, BM: Biochar + Microbial additive and N-No additive).
While soil amendments like biochar can improve water retention and support plant resilience under dry conditions, they may have unintended negative effects in wetter scenarios. During periods of extreme rainfall, increased soil moisture retention can lead to waterlogging, which reduces oxygen availability to roots and may cause root rot or stunted growth. These conditions can also disrupt nutrient dynamics, leading to leaching or imbalances that harm plant health. Therefore, the use of soil modifications should be carefully tailored to site-specific factors such as climate, soil type, and drainage capacity, with a balanced approach that considers both benefits and potential trade-offs.
The text, images, and the photo in this article are the property of the respective authors. Any reproduction, in whole or in part, is not permitted.
📝 Do you want to see your article featured on our blog?
Do you have a study, idea, insight, or story about urban forestry or related topics that you would like to share or that could inspire others?
We welcome contributions from researchers, practitioners, and enthusiasts alike. If you have a fresh perspective or a unique voice to add to the conversation, we would be delighted to hear from you.
📩 Please email us at info [at] efuf [dot] org with your proposal or article.
Federica Di Cagno is an urban sustainability specialist with expertise in urban forestry, nature-based solutions (NBS), and sustainable land management. She has worked across Africa, Europe, and Latin America, developing tools and methodologies to help cities unlock the value of urban nature and mobilize resources for the green transition. She currently works at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) under the FAO Green Cities Initiative, where she provides technical backstopping to international cooperation projects with a focus on integrating urban forestry into city planning and municipal investment strategies. She was recognized by the award panel for her outstanding contribution to the development of structured tools and evidence-based valuation frameworks that are adaptable to context and capable of translating the benefits of urban and peri-urban forestry into clear investment logic. Among these is the step-by-step guide “Capturing the Value and Making the Business Case for Nature-Based Solutions”, developed under the EU Horizon 2020 CONEXUS project.
Ayanda Roji received a special award for organising the African Forum on Urban Forestry!
Ayanda Roji is a practitioner at the Johannesburg City Council and the Coordinator of the Centre on African Public Spaces (CAPS). She convenes projects, dialogues, and strategic partnerships that champion inclusive, just, and humanE public spaces at the heart of African cities. As a convener of the 2nd African Forum on Urban Forests, Ayanda—on behalf of the City of Johannesburg and CAPS, in collaboration with FAO and UN-Habitat—successfully led a continental gathering in March 2025 that brought together urban forestry experts, policymakers, international partners, scholars and community actors to discuss the role of urban forests in shaping the resilience of African cities. Through CAPS, Ayanda connects governments, the private sector, universities, international partners, communities, and civil society organisations to collectively advance a vision of public and green spaces that foster social integration, resilience, and well-being. With a solid academic background in social sciences and experience in urban development, environmental education and local governance, Ayanda is deeply committed to amplifying African voices and practices in shaping the continent’s urban future.
Congratulations to both Federica and Ayanda for their well-deserved recognition and for leading the way toward greener, more inclusive cities!
Uforest, a Knowledge Alliance project co-funded by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Commission, aims to contribute to the development of entrepreneurial and innovation approaches within the sphere of urban forestry through developing diverse partnerships with universities, cities, businesses, public administrations, NGOs and local citizens. In so doing, the Project seeks to redefine the Urban Forestry sector through nurturing a culture of collaboration and cross-sector working to develop an Alliance of urban forestry stakeholders across Europe.
Does it perhaps remind you of something? Following the conclusion of the Uforest project, the diverse partners are eager to secure Uforest’s legacy by fostering an enduring partnership with the European Forum on Urban Forestry (EFUF), which has cherished similar aspirations and desires for years concerning the urban forestry sector in Europe.
The European Urban Forestry Week
Promoted by Uforest, this “green week” aimed to raise awareness on the environmental, social and health benefits that urban green areas can provide for present and for future generations. The week program unfolded with local planting events taking place across four different European cities: Barcelona, Brasov, Dublin and Milan, resulting in four new urban forests, which were established in collaboration with WOW nature platform.
Each newly planted urban forest is designed to address the specific needs of the different localities and the aspirations of the local communities concerned.
1) Barcelona: Climatic refugia – for heat mitigation and shadow while promoting biodiversity conservation and reasonable use of water.
2) Brasov: Smart-Tech forest – installation of meteorological, pedological and spectral sensors to monitor environmental variables
3) Dublin: the Darndale donut – to provide a green space for recreational and educational activities while provide shelter and enhance an existing fishpond
4) Milan: Tiny forests – transform an unmanaged green space by two tiny forests (Miyawaki method), maximising the available space and enhancing the use of different species.
If you want to know more, please visit the dedicated webpage:
“Urban forestry is not a one-size-fits-all solution; each city and region, with its own unique set of challenges and opportunities, requires tailored strategies”
In its new publication that want to provide a comprehensive overview of the current state of urban forestry worldwide, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) emphasizes the natural variety found in environmental, cultural and socioeconomic contexts around urban forests. Specifically, it presents compelling reasons why various urban forestry methods may not universally apply due to the diverse range of pressures, environmental situations, cultural influences, and governance systems worldwide. Urban forests, trees and green spaces play an important role in enhancing the quality of urban life, but their benefits are still not equally accessible to all. Consequently, the report is segmented into region-specific viewpoints that discuss the circumstances in different continents. These distinct perspectives lead to unique approaches and tactics for urban forestry initiatives and nature-based solutions.
The report was launched at the 2nd World Forum on Urban Forests in Washington DC and it advises on the necessity for action to achieve global goals, especially due to the escalating challenges posed by climate change in urban areas.
European Urban Forests
The perspective from Europe was provided by Clive Davies, Rik De Vreese, Ian Whitehead and Mariateresa Montisci, from the Urban Forestry Team of the European Forestry Institute (EFI) located in Bonn. Over the last 40 years, Urban Forestry (UF) has significantly grown across Europe, tracing its roots back to centuries-old peri-urban forest management or in the creation of botanical gardens in the middle of the city.
Nowadays, even with some exceptions, municipalities evince an increasingly conspicuous dedication towards reconciling urban expansion with the imperative for high-quality green spaces. Achieving such harmonization necessitates the embrace of innovative methodologies and novel strategies for project implementation. EFUF serves as a prominent benchmark, accumulating extensive experience in organising the Forum that facilitate the exchange of knowledge and expertise within the realm of urban forestry among different stakeholders such as managers, researchers, practitioners, consultants and representative from groups (e.g. lobbyists, envNGOs, volunteers groups, associations etc.)
The diverse geography and culture of Europe influence the various challenges and approaches embraced in urban forestry practices and governance. Therefore, it was deemed necessary to divide Europe into sub-regions, following the key themes:
Nordic/Scandinavia: Health equalities, integration, adaptive management.
Mediterranean:Urban heat island impacts, urban cooling, fire hazards.
Central Europe:Levels of participation, inadequate policy linkage, climate change/species adaptation.
Southeast Europe:Rural urban migration and lack of integrated policies.
Taking into consideration this vast geographical and thematic diversity, the incorporation of case studies from disparate regions shows how some cities and regions are investing in nature-based solutions to enhance the welfare of their communities. The journey is still long and uphill because urban forests are still seen as a lesser priority and their implementation still faces a lot of barriers but we need to be optimistic that things may unfold in the best possible manner!
Curious about the report? Download it now and delve into the insight shaping urban forests around the world!
