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!
Urban forests play a crucial role for the wellbeing of city dwellers, and their importance for people has been emphasised during the COVID-19 pandemic. This exploratory study analyses the visit patterns and visitor attitudes and perceptions in a peri-urban forest nearby Bonn, Germany, as well as the impact of the lockdown. Methodically, we combined automated visitor counting with a total of 345 on-site interviews. Respondents were asked a variety of open-ended and closed questions on various aspects of forest management and recreation. The results show that shortly after the inception of the lockdown the number of forest visitors doubled and the visit pattern changed markedly. In contrast, people’s associations with the forest remained rather stable. The forest visitors interviewed primarily associated the forest with tranquility, recreation and fresh air, and they were generally positive about forest management. However, these expectations conflicted with the sense of crowdedness experienced during the lockdown, when novel forest uses and new motivations for visiting the forest arose, with an important focus on the forest as a place for social interaction. These were mainly a result of the lockdown restrictions, rather than COVID-19 itself, which left people with more time and flexibility, and less alternative activities. The results highlight the importance of forest management in catering to people’s expectations and ultimately for the role that forests play for people’s wellbeing. This was the case before the lockdown but arguably even more so during, in response to a variety of needs resulting from unprecedented circumstances.
The harmful effects of urban life on physical and mental health have long been recognized, such as higher rates of cardiovascular and respiratory diseases. Depression is on the rise, particularly in urban areas, and is characterized by depressed mood and a feeling of helplessness. In this post, we will focus on a specific type of the urban forest: individual street trees, and on how they can strengthen mental health. Street trees are an important component of the urban forest because they provide various ecosystem services for human health and wellbeing, such as improving air quality and reducing the urban heat island effect. They are public amenities laced throughout the urban matrix and they can be retrofitted into urban areas. The potential impact of street trees on mental health was unknown and no previous study has investigated the relationship between ecological quality of street trees, the presence of street trees, and antidepressant prescriptions. An interdisciplinary research team from UFZ, iDiv and the University of Leipzig applied objective indicators (antidepressant medication and individual-level greenspace exposure, using NDVI) to analyse this relationship. To calculate the amount of contact that an individual has with urban greenspace, the researchers applied geographic metrics, using Euclidean buffers of 100, 300, 500 and 1000 m around the residences. The sampling involved 596 people who were prescribed antidepressants. All the participants were living in the city of Leipzig, and represented a representative sample. In the city of Leipzig, street trees are planted throughout the city, while concentrated more densely in some areas than in other, with a total of 66,179 street trees, comprised of 51 genera and 131 species (Figure 1). This figure shows the distributions of street trees and antidepressant prescriptions among the participants. The circles indicate the location of the participants within the city of Leipzig, Germany. The circles with a black outline represent individuals who have been prescribed antidepressants. The yellow-green colored circles reflect the density of street trees within 100m of the house. Tree density values are the number of trees per meter of road within a 100m buffer.
Figure 1. Distribution of street trees and antidepressant prescriptions amongst participants. The figure was created by D. Eichenberg, with ggplot2 available for R (Marselle et al., 2020)
Subsequently, Figure 2 shows that the people who have a higher risk of antidepressant prescriptions are women, overweight or obese, smoking, or have pessimistic thoughts; there is also a higher risk during winter and spring. By contrast, reduced risk of antidepressant prescriptions was associated with being young (18–39) or old (age 65 +), employed, and optimistic. People living in homes with greater density of street trees within 100 m were less likely to be prescribed antidepressants.
Figure 2. Effect size of covariates and street tree density and richness at 100 m around the home on antidepressant prescriptions (Marselle et al., 2020)
Species richness was not significantly associated with antidepressant prescriptions at any distance, this is well explained in the next figure. The results of Figure 3 show that the quantity of street trees around the home may be more important for preventing depression than the ecological quality of street trees. This is in line with previous studies. For example, a Chinese study (Elsadek, M., Liu, B., Lian, Z. & Xie, J. The influence of urban roadside trees and their physical environment on stress relief measures: A field experiment in Shanghai. Urban For. Urban Green. 42, 51–60, 2019) walks along roads, each with a different species of street tree, resulted in better mental health compared to walks in a road without street trees, suggesting the mere presence of trees on streets, but not their species affiliation, is important. Given that most people cannot identify different plant species in general, benefits of street trees may rather be provided through people experiencing tree abundance.
Figure 3. Effect size of street tree density and species richness at different spatial distances around the participants’ home on antidepressant prescriptions (Marselle et al., 2020)
The net result showing the graphs in Figure 4 is that under low street tree density, individuals with low SES tend to have higher probabilities of antidepressant prescriptions. For the medium and high SES groups, the effect of street tree density at 100 m from the home did not significantly change the probability of being prescribed antidepressants.
Figure 4. (a) Probability of antidepressant prescriptions as a function of street tree density 100 m around the home and individual socio-economic status (SES). The black line is the mean and the shaded area are the 95% confidence intervals. (Marselle et al., 2020) (b) Probability of antidepressant prescriptions as a function of low (0), medium (average) and high (max) street tree density 100 m around the home stratified by SES. The black dot is the mean and the black line is the 95% confidence interval. (Marselle et al., 2020)
Conclusion
The study shows that street trees, as an urban green space accessible to the public on a small scale, could contribute to an “equigenic environment”, as nature-based solutions that can help close the gap in health inequalities between individuals with low and high SES. During the COVID-19 pandemic, forests in cities, green spaces, tree-lined streets, but also having a small green space in front of the house, has acquired more importance in the eyes of many citizens. So, as this study suggests, ‘unintentional’ contact with nearby nature in daily life is important for mental health, but also reduces social inequalities and contributes to multiple Sustainable Development Goals. The study thus calls for a different urban green planning, no longer aimed at designing green spaces for intentional or targeted visits for recreation, but above all targeting green planning for daily contact with nature. Planting and maintaining street trees thereby provides a proactive public health measure that also meets conservation goals. Such information can inform health professionals, urban foresters, urban planners and urban planners about the necessary policy, planning and management decisions needed to ensure that urban forest has a positive impact on both public health and nature conservation.
Link to the article: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-79924-5
Cities are home to more than half of the global population. As urbanisation increases at an unprecedented rate, by 2050, about two thirds of the worldwide population are anticipated to live in cities (UN, 2018). But let’s look a bit closer at who else is calling cities their home: Urban areas also provide shelter to a considerable range of growing, flying and crawling diversity, living in the soil, on street trees, in urban parks, woodlots, urban forests and their surrounding natural habitat. Read on to learn more about the nexus between urban forests and biodiversity and why a healthy, biodiverse city is critical for the future of human societies.
The impact of humanity on our planet is becoming increasingly visible through climate disasters and the global biodiversity crisis. It is a complex relationship of living things and systems and a growing damage towards our planet’s biodiversity that result in significant risks to humankind. Facing this development, it becomes ever more vital to conserve, protect, restore and sustainably manage those places that offer shelter for different species.
Efforts to preserve biodiversity often focus on large natural habitats. However, the urban environment, with a landscape that can harbour relatively high amounts of biodiversity (Alvey, 2016), represents a significant potential for the preservation and promotion of species, genetic and ecosystem diversity. Humanity relies on a range of ecosystem services provided by the natural environment, including regulating, cultural, supporting and provisioning services – and a diverse urban forestry landscape is necessary to ensure the long-term provision of those ecosystem services in cities. Safeguarding biodiversity must therefore become an integral part of sustainable urban development. To effectively halt and reverse the loss of nature, the adoption of a transformative post-2020 global biodiversity framework needs to be high on the political agenda. COP 15 is on its way to tackle this challenge.
COP 15 – ‘Ecological Civilization – Building a Shared Future for All Life on Earth’
The UN Biodiversity Conference and the Fifteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP 15) kicked off online on 11 October 2021. While the first phase of the summit is being held virtually from 11 to 15 October 2021, the second phase is inviting for an in-person meeting from 25 April to 8 May 2022 in the Chinese city of Kunming. The two-part conference will further host the Tenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety (CP-MOP 10), and Fourth meeting of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilisation (NP-MOP 4).
COP 15 will shed light on the delivery and achievements of the CBD’s Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020. The summit aims to finalise the post-2020 global biodiversity framework and establish mid-century long-term goals and short-term targets for 2030 to fight biodiversity loss. Looking back to the previous global targets set, objectives were largely missed. More than ever, it is of utmost importance to agree on clear, measurable targets to boost nature preservation and ensure those targets are anchored within national policies. Read more about the conference and registration here.
The importance of SDG 15 – Life on Land – Urban green matters
Forests provide shelter to more than 80% of all terrestrial animal, plant and insect species. With plant life itself providing 80% of the human diet, the intact functioning of a diverse natural environment is crucial to support food and water security while helping to adapt to and mitigate climate change and fostering peace and security (UNDP). In this context, food security is closely tied to the role of insect pollinators – and those also live in urban areas. Initiatives to promote bee-friendly urban green area management exist beyond Europe. By choosing the right plants, applying appropriate mowing and pruning practices, promoting the creation of planted road margins, flowering green roofs, vertical gardens or by harnessing the potential of urban agriculture initiatives, cities can contribute a significant part to supporting human livelihood based on nature – with potential for upscaling (Van der Slujis & Vaage, 2016).
Urban Forests & Biodiversity
About healthy trees, planting trees in the right places and planting the right trees
Fortunately, urban forests provide critical ecosystem services to sustain human health and well-being and support environmental quality in and around urban areas. As a vital part of the city infrastructure, urban forests also face numerous threats due to climatic changes, conflict over land use, strong anthropogenic influence as well as pests and diseases. To ensure that people can rely on benefits provided by urban forests in the future, it is crucial to understand those threats and foster a healthy and resilient urban forestry landscape.
The long-term provision of ecosystem services provided by healthy urban forests counts on species diversity, diversity within species, age and structural diversity. The many different regulating, cultural, supporting or provisioning services we obtain from urban forests are related to the tree’s characteristics – with some species providing a single ecosystem service better than others due to their individual characteristics.
“To optimise one ecosystem service, diversity is unnecessary. But in order to optimise multiple ecosystem services, high urban tree diversity is essential.”
In many European cities, urban areas harbour high species richness but are often dominated by few species, especially on stressed sites. To work towards a resilient future city, efforts to decrease the dominance of a small number of species are needed. But which species are best suited for a changing urban environment? And what is the role of non-native species? The wide range of site-adapted species growing (and dying) in urban environments comprises both native and introduced species. While the potentials and risks of non-native species are passionately discussed among scientists, the suitability of long-term resilient tree species appears to be a topic far from black and white. In this context, the role of non-native species remains an understudied topic (Schwarz et al., 2017).
Biodiversity of Fauna supported by Urban Forests
Urban forests also provide shelter for adapted species, including insects and birds. Trees and forests in cities can be regarded as extreme habitats due to their high anthropogenic influences. Looking at urban forests as faunal biodiversity habitats, studies show the important role of native trees for bird species richness and abundance. However, also exotic trees can harbour interesting habitats invertebrates, being an important food resource for insect-eating animals. Newer suburbs are anticipated to provide high-quality habitats with native tree species able to promote faunal biodiversity, albeit non-native trees also form part of cities now and in the future (Livesley et al., 2016).
Since the city lives of being a shared place, the coexistence of nature and people does not come without challenges. Overcrowded urban green areas and recreational overuse can disturb urban biodiversity. The considerable potential of urban forests to increase and hold biodiversity needs to be taken into account when balancing different interests and promoting nature in cities for all beings. In this context, planting trees in the right places provides an important opportunity to create connections between urban biodiversity and surrounding forests and ecosystems.
Improving environmental quality = Improving quality of life?
Preserving biodiversity in urban areas brings more than the inherent value of biodiversity conservation itself. It also presents significant societal benefits, such as environmental awareness and improvements for mental health and well-being through interacting with a biodiverse natural environment (Morgenroth & Nielsen, 2016). Recent studies suggest that daily contact to nature through street trees close to residents’ homes may reduce the risk of depression (Marselle et al., 2020), while older studies also hint at the fact that improved health may derive from an area perceived as highly biodiverse by residents, without necessarily being highly biodiverse (Qiu et al. 2013). Read more about the nexus between functional biodiversity and a healthy society here.
It remains – diversity is key. Strategic planning, decision-making and management will be crucial in an increasingly urbanising world, with urban forests as a promising stage for the fight against biodiversity loss.
Learn more about Urban Forests and their potential for rehabilitating, reconnecting and restoring urban ecosystems in the Sino-European H2020 CLEARING HOUSE project.
Thriving communities need healthy ecosystems. The conservation of biodiversity is closely tied to the health and well-being of people. In recent years, increasing worldwide recognition of this interrelatedness emphasises the need for preserving and enhancing functional biodiversity. We depend on nature as our substantial infrastructure. Especially in expanding urban and peri-urban areas, living with the pandemic has revealed how healthy, biodiverse green spaces are increasingly frequented by urban dwellers and help foster societal resilience. Biodiversity conservation is therefore high on the international agenda.
The IUCN World Conservation Congress 2021 – Managing landscapes for nature and people
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and the French government are holding the IUCN World Conservation Congress from September 3 to 11 2021 in Marseille.
Bringing together the global nature conservation community, the Congress opens the stage to leading conservation scientists, policy experts and practitioners and invites 1,400 Member organisations. Among those organisations, states, civil society and Indigenous Peoples exchange views about pressing issues in nature conservation and ways to tackle them. As one of the main Congress themes, attendees discuss how to manage landscapes for nature and people.
Urban Forests as Nature-based Solutions
As defined by IUCN, Nature-based solutions are “actions to protect, sustainably manage, and restore natural or modified ecosystems, that address societal challenges effectively and adaptively, simultaneously providing human well-being and biodiversity benefits”.
The Sino-European CLEARING HOUSE Horizon2020 project is developing a novel typology for urban forests, urban green and urban trees. In this context, Urban Forests as Nature-based Solutions (UF-NBS) are built on tree-based ecosystems in urban areas and play a fundamental role in providing ecosystem services for biodiversity benefits, human health and well-being. Focussing on Europe and China, the project’s diverse typology assumes a broad perspective and intends to provide grounding knowledge on UF-NBS beyond the project scope. On the way towards sustainable urbanisation, UF-NBS connect urban and peri-urban ecosystem services with societal demands. Do you want to learn more about the typology and its role to gather and exchange knowledge and integrate models and data on UF-NBS? Join the Humboldt University Berlin, the European Forest Institute (EFI) and the CLEARING HOUSE project in an Online Workshop on October 7th (8:15 – 11:15 CEST) – click here to register.
Urban trees and green spaces provide multiple benefits for people. Through CO2 sequestration and pollutant absorption, urban forests improve air quality. The rapid worldwide urbanisation entails increasing extensive ranges of impermeable hard surfaces in the built-environment, exacerbating the urban heat-island effect. Through shade provisioning and the process of evapotranspiration, urban trees and forests mitigate heat stress whilst saving energy through less use of air-conditioning and increasing urban liveability. Urban green spaces further reduce stormwater runoff, improve water filtration and water storage and reduce soil erosion. No less crucial, urban forests shelter numerous species, serving as a biodiversity hub for declining flora and fauna.
UF-NBS: A focus on health, well-being and inclusivity
Trees and forests in cities invite urban dwellers to connect with nature and provide an open space for physical activities and interactions with others. Why is this increasingly relevant? While projections assume a global urban population of 68% by 2050, nearly 85% of the worldwide population will live in cities by 2100 (UN, 2018). This trend is associated with rising levels of illnesses, stress and anxiety. Peoples’ nowadays communication patterns, characterised mainly by less direct contact and more screen-to-screen interaction, tend to bring communities further away from nature.
Reconnection with nature plays a vital role in preventing the development of illnesses, treating developed illnesses and ultimately in helping to reduce costs of health care. The positive effects of nature on health and well-being are rapidly becoming recognised on a broader scale. To better align stakeholders in the healthcare sector, the last IUCN World Conservation Congress, which took place in Hawaii in 2016, brought the IUCN Resolution 064 ‘Strengthening cross-sector partnerships to recognise the contributions of nature to health, well-being and quality of life’ to life. This resolution includes the urban context as: “Recognising that places, including urban areas, with a rich natural heritage, improve physical and mental health and spiritual well-being, and can increase the appreciation of nature including by the elderly”.
Biodiversity and UF-NBS enhance the health and well-being of urban dwellers in different environments, be it urban forests, parks or trees, public gardens, urban gardening projects or green spaces around health institutions allowing for nature encounters and boosting the well-being of patients and staff. However, it deserves mentioning that to build a flourishing connection to nature for all, inclusivity is essential. In many urban scenarios, opportunities to engage with nature leave out those who may benefit most, resulting in green gentrification and social exclusion. The IUCN World Conservation Congress 2021 invites attendees to discuss initiatives designed to deliver social justice together with benefits for people and the environment. See the latest news from the Congress.
Think global, act local
Looking at how pressing environmental threats such as the global biodiversity crisis evolve and how devastating those effects turn on a global scale, one can easily get frustrated and some of the challenges can appear as very remote. What can be done to drive change? How can individuals contribute to a sustainable transition that acknowledges the importance of biodiversity protection and human well-being? The concept “Think global, act local” has been introduced in 1915 by Patrick Geddes, a Scottish pioneering town planner and conservationist. Following a strong belief to work with the environment, rather than against it, Geddes’ concept shaped the idea in architecture and planning. Putting a spotlight on the impact urban development has on its surrounding environment, Geddes makes an important point that becomes increasingly meaningful in the face of a globalised world. Whilst a local action may not directly lead to saving the Amazon rainforest from deforestation or saving species on the brink of extinction, showing solidarity through local activities must not be underestimated. Enhancing consciousness about pressing environmental topics starts on a local scale.
All around the globe, local communities take initiatives to improve the liveability of their urban neighbourhoods. This development enhances cooperation among urban dwellers such as bottom-up and citizen engagement approaches, grassroots movements and urban agriculture initiatives. The positive effect of shaping common spaces in a community is shown through manifold benefits: shaping and meeting in urban green areas has a catalysing impact on social cohesion and social capital, fosters personal and societal resilience and enables early development of landscape stewardship through educational networks.
Life on earth relies on intact ecosystems. However, to collectively shape the healthy planet we want to live on, change does not emerge out of political agendas but also needs to be driven actively from the bottom. Turning ambition into science-informed action, engaging in volunteer programs, harnessing opportunities of citizen science and getting to know the ecosystems in front of your own door are important and impactful steps on the way towards creating environmental consciousness and tackling the biodiversity crisis.
