A sustainable urban forest can provide a high level of net benefits over time. The tree resource must include age-, size-, and species-diversity that allows a continuity of benefits for both individual trees and forest stands. Creating such a forest involves three components: (i) the tree resource; (ii) the community framework and (iii) a comprehensive management programme. This section discusses the support needed to design and implement a successful urban forest programme. The basic framework - socio-political, technical, legal, financial, etc. - is required to facilitate project design and implementation and to sustain investment.
Since a large proportion of urban trees and forests fall under private ownership, sustainability is the responsibility of a broad community framework of public and private agencies and landowners19.
Social and political support is paramount for success and requires involvement at the national, regional and local level. International assistance is also warranted.
By involving the affected citizens and community groups in programme design, planners can assure public support at the outset and greatly increase the change for success. There should be citizen involvement in deciding which problems to tackle and how they should be tackled.
Urban forestry must begin with an initial assessment of management needs and opportunities. People support what they believe to be valuable, especially if they receive direct benefits from projects (IDB 1997). For example, urban trees survive best when people have begged for them (Kuchelmeister 1991) and trees that are actually worshipped have a nearly 100% survival rate. Neighbourhood associations and others local NGOs are among the most common groups to work with; public involvement requires looking beyond the normal city park boundaries to the communities that surround urban open spaces (JAENIKE 1997). The region's own examples of efforts to work with diverse interest groups include:
· In Yokohama, Japan, the city's Board of Parks and several citizens' associations operate an ecological park. The responsibility of each association in terms of park maintenance is clearly defined, and citizen's associations offer a number of yearly recreation programmes. Two types of associations are distinguished according to participant members: (i) specialists interested in one aspect of nature (e.g. bird-watchers) and (ii) generalists interested in social activity during their leisure time (Kaneko & Nanbu 1997).
· In Delhi efforts of citizens and volunteer groups have achieved nature reserve status for the Delhi Ridge Forest, a tropical thorn forest type (Asgish & Rao 1997).
· In the Philippines, foundations and other NGOs manage vast areas of green space, e.g. Rizal Park, Quezon Circle, Ninoy Aquino Park (Palijon 1997).
Outside the region, business owners in Brazil care for street trees or sponsor tree planting in front of their stores in exchange for advertising on the tree protectors. In Chile some companies even manage entire public parks (IDB 1997). The Parks Department of Brookley, USA, has informally turned over management of neighbourhood parks in low income areas to Philadelphia Green (PG), a volunteer initiative. This effort offsets budget cuts within the Parks Department.
Environmental education is an investment that can generate high ecological dividends20 in urban greening projects, especially over the medium and long term (Zulauf 1996). Cultivation of an appreciation for trees can build upon traditional values and can facilitate the transfer of state-of-the-art urban forestry technology and investing in enhancing an understanding of the benefits from urban forests.
Currently, various opportunities for environmental education are evolving in the region, for example, the integration of urban forestry into school curricula, city sponsored events such as festivals, tree planting days, community group involvement, and contests. The Hong Kong Urban Council runs a "King of Urban Hong Kong Trees" competition. From a list selected by a panel of experts, citizens nominate trees for the title of king and vote for "Most Popular Trees". People who correctly guess the king enter a lucky draw for a variety of green prizes. In Mysore, India more than 100 schools have been included in an urban forestry programme (Gowda & Sridhara 1987). In the Philippines, an awareness campaign and promotion of "Clean and Green" and also an "Adopt a Street/Park" programme are well installed. Some commercial establishments support awareness campaigns by providing posters bearing their company's logo (Palijon 1997).
Urban forestry requires high political support. For instance, the former President of the Philippines is the leading promoter of the programme "The Clean and Green Programme for Metro Manila" (Palijon 1997). Because of the direct concern of Premier Zhou Enlai, the design of the subway in Beijing was changed to protect two ancient Gingkoes (Garden Administration Bureau NN).) Successful urban forestry projects are often the result of mayors' efforts (Lanly 1997), witness ambitious urban forestry projects in Bangkok (Charmniern 1998), in Colombo (Wickramasinghe 1998), and Puerto Princesa, Philippines to name a few.
In an attempt to institutionalise urban forestry, the Philippine government through the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) incorporated urban forestry as one of the major components of its Master Plan for Forestry Development. The Urban Forestry Division of the DENR provides technical expertise and materials such as seedlings (Palijon 1997).
The shift in paradigm in urban planning will shape the future of urban forestry in the region. Increasingly, current management policy advocates a decentralization of responsibilities from central to local government and to communities. A redistribution of responsibilities is emerging with evolving new roles for many actors and the creation of partnerships between the different actors in urban development. Key decentralization-related issues which forestry, whether rural or urban, will have to face are presented in Box 6.
Box 6. Key forestry related issues with regard to decentralization trends
|
1. How will national and departmental government agencies treat municipal involvement in forest-related issues? Why? 2. What factors influence whether or not specific municipalities develop competent, honest municipal forestry units? 3. To what extent do municipal forestry activities incorporate the participation of local forest users and respond to their concerns? 4. Can national government agencies, NGOs, municipal governments, and forest users overcome their current weakness with respect to sustainable forest management? 5. Do negotiations between national government agencies, environmental NGOs, municipal governments, and local community groups develop protected area management that preserves ecological functions and also benefits local communities? 6. Will municipal land use planning alter landowners' use of their resources? Why? 7. How much does decentralization increase road construction and maintenance in forested areas, and what impact does that have on forests? 8. What political, economic, and ecological factors lead some municipalities to promote more sustainable natural resource management than others? Source: Kaimowitz et al 1997 |
In the Bantay Puerto Programme of Puerto Princesa, Philippines (Box 9), the national government devolved certain powers to the local government to manage the urban forestry programme. Further, the city government decentralised certain functions and responsibilities to village level bodies for effective administration and implementation of schemes. Encouraged by the city leadership's success in preserving its rich natural resources, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) turned over the management of the world-renowned St. Paul Subterranean River National Park, together with the Irawan Watershed, to the Puerto Princesa city government.
Urban capacity building is a relevant `buzzword' for urban forestry. To sustain urban forestry efforts, communities need technical, logistical, and infrastructure inputs as well as access to research and development information.
Numerous fields of action exist where development assistance in local capacity building is needed, including training, education extension services, and technical assistance. Many of these requirements can be shared among communities in the region, e.g. provision of information material, urban forestry training guidelines, etc. Local, national and regional urban forestry capacity building networks are required to synthesise, further document, and disseminate experiences in urban forestry and to provide wider active support to urban forestry capacity building efforts.
There is great potential for South-South cooperation. For instance, the Singapore government provided assistance in the preparation of Landscape Guidelines for the urban forestry programme of Manila (Palijon 1997). Another good technique is the sister-sister partnership concept between cities of the North and South (O'Rourke 1990).
Training opportunities for urban forestry should be increased dramatically with regard to environmental and professional education. Education and training opportunities, which are relevant to developing countries, have to be identified and curricula developed. |
Training and education in urban forestry is needed for growing demand for multi-functional urban forest resources. Reorientation of staff in park and recreation management so as to better deal with the challenges of poor people will be required as well as training for urban greening stakeholders. It can be assumed that urban forestry will experience the same radical shift that occurred in rural development forestry (community and social forestry) some two decades ago. There is need for formal and informal environmental education and professional training.
New professional skills will be required which are necessarily different from those for traditional foresters or production horticulturists. In most cases a new kind of urban green manager has to be trained - one who in addition to being able to deal with the multiple technical dimensions of urban forests can also handle the different stakeholders' interests and can mediate trade-offs. Foresters will have to combine knowledge of trees with an understanding of city government, society and its needs. Arboriculturists also need skills in ecological landscape planning, extension, communications, sociology, municipal, commercial, and utility arboriculture; landscape management and contracting; supervision of parks and recreation lands; curation of arboreta and botanical gardens; habitat restoration (especially disturbed areas and/or wetlands); horticulture education; and research in plant stress physiology.
Steps to improve professional training in the region would be: (i) to assess the demand for training in the region using different scenarios of development; (ii) to identify and list existing education and training opportunities relevant to developing countries; (iii) to evaluate the content of urban greening related curricula in sample institutions; (iv) to identify and advise institutions on opportunities for strengthening the content and delivery of urban greening; (v) to share experience through regional networks, with a strong subregional approach.
Urban forestry is a young and growing science, so far largely tailored to the specific needs of wealthier countries or of wealthy cities. It is of paramount importance to progress quickly in multipurpose urban forestry with a clear focus on the local needs of vulnerable groups without jeopardizing other important objectives such as watershed or ecosystem protection.
An obvious need is to synthesise available information and to improve the exchange of experience. Areas needing further investigation include: (i) approaches and methodologies for planning urban forestry programmes; (ii) the relative importance of the environmental and productive functions of urban forests; (iii) appropriate technical knowledge and institutional frameworks to support urban forestry programmes. Such tasks will necessarily be a joint effort by a variety of actors and development agencies, especially international research centres such as CIFOR and ICRAF, can play a significant role in this endeavour.
A specific research priority agenda for multipurpose urban forestry in developing countries must be created21. Establishing a working group should be considered, e.g. under the Forest Research Support Programme for Asia and the Pacific (FORSPA) and Asia Pacific Association for Forestry Research Institutions (APAFRI). Guidelines for steps for setting research priorities for urban forestry to be considered are listed in Box 7.
Box 7. Setting research priorities for urban forestry for multiple local needs
|
Step 1: Understand urban problems in developing countries by consulting with urban greening related resource persons, as documented, articulated and prioritised by urban initiatives. Step 2: Identify urgent and important areas of urban greening research agenda which can assist in mitigation these urban problems by dialogue with presentations from community groups/landowners, municipal planners, urban forestry professionals, the development industry and practitioners. Step 3: Compile the state-of-knowledge all of the potential functions of urban forests, and challenges confronting urban forest development. Step 4: Identify gaps in major urban forestry research and prioritise an urban forestry research programme by national, regional and global panel discussions/workshops, with appropriate inputs from end users and clients of research results. Step 5: Explore pilot research projects through collaborative efforts between community groups, intermediate groups and representatives of informal settlements and researchers (adopted from Kuchelmeister 1998). |
The following three basic types of urban forestry projects can be distinguished: (i) stand-alone projects for specific sites; (ii) component projects; and (iii) "global projects". Other projects only provide technical assistance and training. Component projects involve incorporating urban forestry into water and sewer projects requiring additional forestland around settling ponds and reservoirs to serve as a catchment or greenways along areas to protect flood plains, etc. 22 There is much scope for forestry development projects to be integrated into urban infrastructure projects.
Individual projects are very suitable for major urban areas that require enough funding to merit consideration as individual investment projects. Large amounts of required infrastructure development, technical assistance and mobilization of resources make it economical to approach a city-wide greening effort as a single project. Global or multiple work projects resources, experience and approaches on urban forestry among several cities for which projects that would be costly on an individual basis.
Box 8. Urban Forestry Programme in the Philippines
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The Clean and Green Programme is a national programme aimed at keeping and maintaining a clean, healthy and beautiful environment in Metropolitan Manila and other cities in the Philippines. Rehabilitating the environment in urban centres is envisioned to be achieved through various strategies: (i) Establishment of mini-forest and nature parks; (ii) greening of main thoroughfares, avenues, side streets and islands, greenbelt areas; (iii) establishment of city/town/school nurseries; (iv) enlistment of participation of as many sectors as possible in urban greening, initiation of an intensive information campaign promoting urban forestry and others. Expected output is the achievement of a tree-to-person ratio of 1:4 and considerable reduction in air, noise and sight pollution, improvement in micro-climate, provision of more green areas for recreation and relaxation, and notable contribution to the physiological and psychological well-being of urban residents (Palijon 1997). |
For the effective, planned and systematic management of urban forest, a legal framework is necessary. Laws and regulations attempting to control the removal and conservation of trees and other vegetation in cities vary throughout the region (Table 5). In assessing the appropriateness of the legal framework of urban forestry, the following issues have to be evaluated: (i) how well does it protect trees? (ii) How well does it protect the structure and function of the urban forest? (iii) How well does it address the needs of the general public? (iv) How well does it protect private property rights? (v) With respect to all of the questions above, are the penalties appropriate? (vi) What are the enforcement challenges? (vii) What are various parties' recommendations for improving the bylaws?
Box 9. Integrated municipal environmental initiative and decentralization of urban forest of national interest - the case of Bantay Puerto Programme of Puerto Princesa, Philippines
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Puerto Princesa, a relatively young city of 120,000 people, is famous for its forest and marine ecology. The city's vast land area and its rich seawaters have attracted great in-migration from all over the country. This uncontrolled population influx has brought havoc to its ecological system through illegal logging, slash-and-burn farming, blast and cyanide fishing. Such horrors have become a new mode of production among a few people greedy for quick money. Consequently, the forest cover of Palawan, including Puerto Princesa City, has been reduced tremendously, from 75% in 1976 to 50% in 1992. Some parts of the city began to experience flash floods during heavy monsoon rains. The marine ecology is also under degradation. Furthermore, the government did not take any action for a long time as a result of which the rate of environment destruction accelerated at an unprecedented pace. The Bantay Puerto Programme: The Bantay Puerto Programme promoted by Mayor Edward S. Hagedorn aims to protect, conserve, and rehabilitate the city's forest and marine resources so as to improve the quality of life of the people, and increase the city's economic contribution to the country by utilising its resources in a manner that is ecologically sustainable, socially equitable, and economically viable. The programme's key management concept is simple: protect what is there, rehabilitate what has been destroyed, and plan for the judicious utilization of resources for sustainable development. One of the major components of the Bantay Puerto Programme is the Bantay Gubat or the Forest Watch whose major tasks are protection, conservation and rehabilitation of the city's forest areas. The Forest Watch has the power to confiscate illegal forest and marine produce, apprehend poachers and even file cases against them. A massive reforestation scheme (Pista Y Ang Kageban) was launched with the help of the local population. This scheme has mobilised about 80,000 people from all walks of life to plant and conserve trees. The national government devolved certain powers to the local government to manage the programme. Further, the city government decentralised certain functions and responsibilities to village level bodies for effective administration and implementation of schemes. The government also established a Cyanide Detection Test Laboratory in order to check the illegal catching of fish from the sea. This programme also provided a basis to formulate a national law banning slash and burn farming. Farmers engaged in this type of cultivation were provided with viable incentives for alternative occupations. Approximately 700,000 trees were planted with a survival rate of 80% with the participation of the local population, thereby creating an environment for conservation. Encouraged by the city leadership's success in preserving its rich natural resources, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) turned over the management of the world-renowned St. Paul Subterranean River National Park, together with the Irawan Watershed, to the Puerto Princesa City Government. Source: PUERTO PRINCESA CITY 1998 |
Table 5. Urban tree protection in the Asia-Pacific region
Protection of trees mandated by |
Australia |
Hong Kong, China |
Japan |
South Korea, Seoul |
New Zealand, Manukau |
PR China, Nangjing |
Philippines |
Singapore |
Designated special sites |
· |
· |
· |
· |
· |
· |
· | |
_ Parks |
· |
· |
||||||
_ Historical areas/cultural sites |
· |
· |
||||||
_ Rare or large specimens |
· |
· |
· |
· |
· | |||
_ Beautiful or scenic views |
· |
· |
· |
· |
||||
_ Scientific sites |
· |
· |
||||||
Districts designated by government including private land |
· |
· |
· |
· |
||||
Species designated by government |
· |
· |
· |
|||||
Listing of protected specimens required for regulation |
· |
· |
· |
|||||
Good public acceptance of tree protection identified |
· |
· |
· |
|||||
Government subsidises urban tree plantings |
· |
|||||||
Mapping/inventory of urban trees by government (public & private land) |
||||||||
Permits or licenses required for activities altering or impacting trees (except for public safety) |
||||||||
_ All trees (no minimum diameter) - public land |
· |
· |
· |
· |
· |
|||
_ All trees (no minimum diameter) - private land |
· |
· |
· |
· |
· |
|||
_ Minimum diameter of trees set - public land |
· |
· | ||||||
_ Minimum diameter of trees set - private land |
· |
· |
· | |||||
_ Fines for illegal removals of trees |
· |
· |
· |
· |
· |
· | ||
Replanting required with diameter specified |
· |
· |
· |
· | ||||
Protection of growing environment directly affecting chosen trees |
· |
· |
· |
· |
||||
New developments must submit site plans with standing trees/new plantings identified |
· |
|||||||
Strong government policy to minimise tree removals, maximise green space |
· |
· |
· |
|||||
New, more comprehensive laws under study or recently enacted |
· |
Source: PROFOUS/LOEB 1990
The wealthier cities in the region including Singapore and Hong Kong and Seoul23 have created urban greening related laws and regulations. Some illustrative provisions follow:
· In New Zealand and Australia the law stipulates that 65% of the land in housing compounds be devoted to trees and grasses. Land use laws specify the areas in the cities where trees only are allowed and other important regulations exist, such as the motor traffic act which bars vehicles from parking in parks and areas under grass.
· In India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, China and many others, the law specifies the minimum reservation along roads, paths, waterways, etc.
· For instance, in Sri Lanka the law sets aside a minimum of 1 m on both sides of a public pathway as a reserve where only tree planting is permitted (Widanapathirana 1997).
· In the Philippines the "greening act" of 1994 (The House Bill 13376) states that residential, commercial and industrial estates should allocate at 30% of their gross area for open spaces for parks, playgrounds and recreational use (Palijon 1997).
· In Malaysia a new law requires real estate developers to allocate 20% of the land to green space (Philip, 1998).
· In Republic of Korea deregulation of greenbelt system is a political issue. Revising from conservation-oriented zoning into a harmonious conservation-development zoning to supply land for urban housing and business is advocated (Lee & Kumata 1998).
Tree ordinances are important and are best if they are not prescriptive but goal and outcome driven, setting flexible performance standards, a process that allows innovation within the constraints of local conditions.
Sometimes land use in general is regulated through informal agreements (UNDP 1996). Some regulations allow for flexibility. For instance, in some cities of Brazil, developers can exceed zoning limits on building height, by "trading" vertical space for green space. Thus, a developer limited to a two-story building may be given permission to built a four-story structure by providing additional open space in exchange (Zulauf 1996).
Using international conventions to promote economic development is a strategy deserving of attention in urban forestry. International laws relevant to urban forestry development include the UN Framework Conversion on Climate Change (CCC), Convention on Biological Diversity, Convention to Combat Desertification.24 Such conventions could serve as tools for enhancing urban forest development in the region.
Every urban forestry programme requires someone to hold responsibility and authority for implementation. This function is often discharged by a city department (e.g. responsible fore parks and recreation, natural resources, urban green), but it could be otherwise; bylaws and institutional ordinances should allow the institution to cooperage. For example, existing land use or zoning policies may discourage urban agriculture or other new green areas, or conversely, may permit unused municipal land for urban greening, as is the case in Manila and Papua New Guinea.
Tree boards may, in smaller cities, assume the operational role of the city forest department (Grey 1996) but could also be advisory, policy making or administrative.
Institutional arrangements should facilitate rather than inhibit urban forestry. For example, waste management institutions could consider changing their bylaws so that treated wastewater could be used for irrigation of tree plantations.
There is increasing participation by the private sector in urban forestry, either by private companies contracting for the execution of services previously executed by civil servants or by taking concessions in which they have the responsibility to obtain funds for the investments, a structure which saves the public sector the trouble of seeking funding for investments (Zulauf 1996).
Box 10. Public tree planting programme through public-private partnerships in Sao Paolo, Brazil
|
Permittee companies have been contracted, always through public bids, for planting trees along the roadways. The contract assigns a quota of trees that should be planted on a monthly basis and sets the technical specifications that should be complied with. The permittee company sells small advertising spots placed on the seedling-protection rails. Prices are variable and float according to market demand. If the charges of the permittee are very high, he will not sell much and consequently will not be able to plant the number of trees he should. If, on the other hand, the charges are very low, the company may go bankrupt. This is the most advanced system of partnership, where the businessman bears the risks and the Municipality appropriates the product of the contract, the trees planted along the roadways, no additional cost except contract inspection (Zulauf 1996). |
Technical viability of an urban forestry programme depends on the capacity of the stakeholders to establish and maintain a programme and its intended benefit.
Environment suitability means that outside factors do not interfere with biological and ecological processes of a green space or reduce the benefits provided by the area. To sustain the benefits of the urban forest, managers must be adept at (i) evaluating and rating the ecological sensitivity of components of the urban forest, both within and outside the control of managers; (ii) setting up a monitoring systems on the priorities established in evaluation; (iii) allocating the majority of resources in critical areas for desired urban forest benefits; (iv) assuring continued flow of environmental benefits when the need to change land use occurs; (v) identifying potential negative impacts that might result from the green space itself and counteracting them (IDB 97).
Assuring investors of a project's financial viability is crucial since the project would not be possible without their capital. Economic viability of an urban forestry project depends mostly on: (i) a reasonable financial rate of return to investors so as to guarantee their continued support and (ii) the socio-economic benefits to the public assuring wide public support.
Assessing the socio-economic viability of green space is a two-step process. Step one would consist of participatory consultation about publicly perceived benefits. Step two would be a comprehensive evaluation of the costs and benefits and how these accrue to different groups.
Regardless of the funding mechanism, urban forestry needs a sustainable source of revenues to achieve urban greening goals. At least two sources of funds should be sought; a creative mix of sources is required in most cases. Development assistance can provide initial financial contributions. |
With proper planning, implementing urban forestry programmes does not need to be a big burden on the public budget. Unrecognised by forestry circles, many cities in the region already have some form of urban forestry activities through existing governmental and non-governmental initiatives to which private households contribute significantly.
Funding strategies might attempt a mix of public funding; cost avoidance, reduction and recovery; and trust and private funds. Securing at least two investment sources is essential to counteract the risk of unstable financial support. Strategies can entail a wide variety of public fund strategies, including general taxes, greening-specific taxes, permit and fee revenues, municipal bonds, and fines.
Planners can also solicit funding from parties that stand to gain the most although not necessary in financial terms. For instance, companies that have caused air pollution may want to improve their image by financing the establishment of green space. Similarly, residents whose property value will increase as a result of increased urban green may prove willing to contribute to a related municipal bond, beautification tax or other revenue-generating mechanism (Morgan 1996). Another key strategy for securing funding for green spaces is to incorporate their establishment into larger infrastructure projects. Reasons for this approach are: (i) urban tree planting is a minimal cost compared to other components; (ii) the benefit can be directly related to the infrastructure project (e.g. pollution control, noise abatement, watershed projects). For example, in Milwaukee, USA, trees are regarded as an integrated part of the urban infrastructure and the city includes trees into road building budgets, a minor part (2,2% of total project costs) (Miller 1997).
Box 11. Using a creative mix of public and private funds - the case of the Philippines
|
The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) and local government units (LGUs) such as the city and or municipal governments provide budget for urban forestry. Some LGUs have their own budget allocation, while others have to draw from special funds, savings and donations/adoptions from several sectors like civic organizations (Rotary, Lions, Jaycees, Zeta Beta Rho Fraternity), and environmental (Haribon, World Ecologists, etc.), business, hotels, politicians and other concerned individuals and groups. Adopt-A-Street/Park programme is one of the strategies that provide additional management support to Urban Forestry (Palijon 1997). |
In Santiago, Chile, citizens must pay a vehicle tax and can indicate how they would like that money to be spent, e.g. on parks or crime prevention (IDB 1997). Entrance fees for parks, permit fees for felling, and fines are common in China and other countries in the region.
Box 12. Funding parks through revenues in China
|
In many parks in China fruit species and bamboo for building are harvested; and lakes are stocked with crabs and fishes. Some park departments process the material grown, producing furniture, wine, and cured tea for sale. All these commodities contribute revenues towards the cost of park management: by combining recreation with utility the park department can meet 70% of its costs. If the park is of sufficient size there may be space to allow selected applicants to rent a plot for gardening (Cranes 1979, Kuchelmeister 1991). Nowadays parks gain revenues from concessions for karaoke entertainment, aerobic and other dance performances, restaurants, etc. Traditional uses like Tai-ji and modern entertainment seem to happily coexist in many parks of China (personal observation). |
It is anticipated that private funding will be the most essential component of public financing; it includes a very diverse menu including advertising, entrance fees, philanthropic donations, contribution in kind, etc. In Thailand donations in cash and kind are popular for urban green improvement in temple sites. In China, citizens are obliged to plant several trees per year (Proufous NN). Corporate donations in exchange for publicity are another way to garner private funds, for example a condominium complex sponsoring a nearby city park or private sector companies assuming complete responsibility for managing entire parks.
Cost avoidance reductions and sharing mechanisms provide a means of accounting to show the public that urban forests can lessen municipal budgets. For instance, economic modelling in Australia shows that millions of dollars can be saved annually by reductions in engineering infrastructure costs for water supply, drainage, and cooling of buildings (Box 13).
Box 13. Cost avoidance: Savings of urban engineering infrastructure costs in Melbourne
|
Urbanization dramatically changes the water balance: (i) Average surface porosity is reduced by paving (30% impervious rooftops, paths and roads). (ii) Drains with high average flow velocity replace natural watercourses, thus speeding storm water to discharge points. The net effect of these changes is an increase of run-off at the property level by a factor of 2 or more, and an increase of flood peaking at downstream point by a factor of 10 or more. Hence, engineering infrastructure costs are imposed on the urban environment as a result of: (i) Disturbing the natural environment initially by the removal of natural vegetation, construction of paths and roads and water supply dams in distant catchment. (ii) Correcting the adverse effects of this disturbance, by having to construct drains and sewers, treatment plants and flood control downstream. It was calculated that millions of dollars in engineering infrastructure could be saved through the development and management of urban forests. Source: French & Sharpe 1976 |
Debt-for-nature swaps and the establishment of innovative trust funds with the private sector may provide communities with financing for urban forests without making additional claims on capital-scarce public accounts (IDB 1997).
International Conventions like the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (CCC), the Convention on Biological Diversity, and the Convention to Combat Desertification can also be further explored as new mechanisms to fund urban forestry development projects.
19 Specific criteria and indicators that can be used to assess each of these components is presented by Clark 1997.
20 For instance, in one suburb of Melbourne tree vandalism was reduced from 84% to 25 % due to a community awareness campaign (French & Sharpe 1976).
21 A Regional Forestry Research Project could facilitate this by: (i) identifying and listing urban forestry research resources in the region; (ii) reviewing the experience of urban forestry related research undertaken by the private sector, NGOs, universities and other collaborative arrangements; (iii) analyzing the ways research institutions set research priorities, define clients, and transfer knowledge; and (iv) mobilizing resources to accomplish the above objectives.
22 One example is the Australian-Indonesian Centre for Sustainable Urban and Regional Development (SURD) in Jakarta. The project is concerned with increasing the environmental and economic sustainability of urban and regional development in Indonesia and the wider region, of which increased planting and retainment of the natural environment, including vegetation, is an integral part. Integrating the natural and built environment is another key element of the strategy (Sharpe 1997).
23 Regulatory law: Most countries protect historic, rare and large or culturally significantly trees and forests. Religious motivation is often attached to trees in Asia (Profous & Loeb 1990). In metro Manila, a presidential degree obliged owners, or entitled others with owners' permission, to cultivate unused private lands and some public lands adjoining streets or highways. A summary of urban greening related laws see Department Of Local Administration 1994
In Sao Paulo, Brazil, a law dictates that for any new development in the city, 15 % of the land must be left as general area and another 5 % must be set aside for public use (Zulauf 1996). In India legal cases can be brought against public authorities and against tree violators.. In many cities, like in Delhi there are many laws, so that even government officers were not aware about the different rules and regulations (Singhal 1994, Asgish & Rao 1997).
24 Example of an assessment with regard to agriculture and rural development (see LEUTNER 1997).
