Issue paper
Urban forestry and urban greening in drylands - Improving resilience, health, and wellbeing of urban communities. A background document for the Green Urban Oases Programme
As a contribution to the new FAO Green Cities programme, the Forestry Division has developed in close collaboration with the Regional Offices in Africa, Asia and the Near East a new global programme: the Green Urban Oases Programme. The overall objective of the programme is to turn dryland cities into “green urban oases” and strengthen their overall resilience to climatic, health, food and economic crisis, as well as to reduce the impact of urbanization on biodiversity and the surrounding natural environment. The present document is intended to be used to provide a solid background to the role of urban forests in supporting urban resilience in drylands, raise governments' interest in joining the programme, and attract both technical and resource partners to support its implementation.