Introduction
Over the recent past, global society has been highly sensitized to the concept of global warming and the role of human activities in increasing the temperature of the Earth. It is apparent that the increase in the release of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere by the various activities, including the manufacturing process, transportation systems, and other human activities have led to an increase in the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, and this has led to a higher coefficient of heat retention in the earth.
The resulting conditions include unpredictable weather patterns and general climatic changes in different parts of the world. Scientists have also revealed that one of the major causes of the increase in the amount of carbon dioxide in the environment is the intensive deforestation that has been witnessed in urban areas. Human settlements have forced the authorities to clear large tracts of land to build housing units. Naturally, forests are responsible for absorbing a large amount of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere in the process of photosynthesis, and the reduction of forests has led to a reduction in the absorption of CO2.
The process of photosynthesis yields oxygen, which makes the air fresher for other living organisms. The contemporary world has seen many urban areas experiencing very poor quality of air. People in some cities are even compelled to stay indoors during the day to stay away from the smog-filled streets. Urban planners are, therefore, being compelled to enhance the integration of forests in urban areas to enhance the quality of air for urban dwellers. This paper looks to compare and contrast some of the ways that have been used by various urban planners to integrate forests in the urban space, including green spaces, peri-urban forestry, multidiscipline approaches, stricter zoning policies, and contracting foresters, horticulturists, and arborists.
Green Spaces
One of the emerging trends in the process of integrating forests in urban areas is the development of green spaces in various regions. Authorities in various urban areas have particularly utilized the land along roads and railway lines to plant rows of trees that are intended to enhance the biodiversity in that respective region while increasing the level of sustainable development in the transportations sector (Leahy, 2016).
Building roads and railway lines require the authorities to clear large areas of natural vegetation, and as a measure of ensuring that some of the vegetation in a region is conserved, the developers leave patches of land along roads and railways with natural vegetation. The respective governments and environmental organizations have also been encouraging people to plant trees in their neighborhoods and around their private properties to increase the number of trees in urban areas. The main aim of utilizing the green spaces is to ensure that the concrete forest in the form of buildings in the urban areas is covered with natural forests that will enhance the sustainable development of infrastructure.
The U.S. Forest Service is one of the agencies that have developed a futuristic approach to sustainable development and the conservation of trees in urban areas. The main idea developed by the agency is that shortly, more than 80% of the population will be living in urban areas, which translates to the need for the current urban planners to focus on developing the required infrastructure in a manner that will foster ecological conservation (Cohen, 2015).
The agency has proposed the development of green spaces, especially in private residences. People in the urban areas are being compelled to plant more trees in their front and backyards to ensure that the future is characterized by larger urban areas with more forest cover within the regions (Cohen, 2015). The innovators in the Forest Service are proposing the development of agricultural areas and parks on every space in current urban landscapes. Some believe that it will also be viable to plant trees and other vegetation on the rooftops of buildings.
Peri-urban Forestry
Peri-urban forestry is a modern approach to planning the urban areas that aim to protect the natural vegetation in urban areas while reclaiming stretches of land to plant more trees. This strategy has been influenced by the need for the government to reduce the rate of soil degradation, air pollution, and to enhance the health outcomes of the people living in urban areas. The initiative operates by maintaining the forest covers in the urban areas, and the single trees planted in various areas around the cities. Just like the green space developers, advocates of peri-urban forestry are taking every available chance to plant more trees in the urban areas.
The peri-urban forestry strategy also involves compelling private entities to adopt trees on their premises to increase the tree count in specific regions. Over the years, poor urban planning has resulted in the degradation and pollution of natural sources of water, but the peri-urban forestry approach is set to reverse this issue by ensuring that trees and natural vegetation along rivers in urban areas are conserved (Urban and peri-urban forestry, 2016).
As more land is being reclaimed by the forestry agencies, there will be a higher quality of air in the urban areas. Additionally, the forestry authorities will continue increasing their power to influence the types of development that can be applied in various regions. Urban planners are being compelled to ensure that their plans include the development of forested areas around the various infrastructural developments.
Multi-discipline approach
Over the years, the conservation of forests and trees in the urban areas as a function of the effort of the forestry agency and other non-governmental agencies looking to conserve biodiversity in the cities. However, the contemporary world has seen the development of a culture where various disciplines are advocating for trees being planted in urban areas. Various agencies have identified that some of the problems might be solved through the promotion of tree cover in urban areas.
For instance, the health care system has identified the low quality of air in the urban areas as one of the predisposing factors to poor health outcomes among the urban dwellers. Scientists have shown that planting more trees in the affected areas will foster the development of a more serene environment with fresh air, which will influence the development of better health outcomes for the society (Leahy, 2016).
Increasing the forest cover in urban areas has particularly been adopted by urban planners through the allocation of specific sites for tree planting in the development plans. The main difference between this approach and other approaches is that it is dependent on the integration of efforts from various private and public agencies to influence the development of policies that will enhance the sustainability function of urban development. Some of the entities associated with the program include the education system, health care system, transportation system, and the utility management entities.
The utility management entities such as the water and electricity suppliers have particularly discovered that the conservation of forests and planting trees will enhance the quality of water in the urban areas, and the associated changes in the reliability of rainfall will also benefit urban dwellers. The creation of awareness of the need for environmental conservation is bound to increase the number of agencies supporting the initiative to increase the volume of forest cover in the cities.
Stricter Zoning Policies
Urban development compels planners to continuously increase the land area for constructing social infrastructure and housing units. Most authorities have developed zoning policies to ensure that specific regions are used for specific purposes in the urban areas, but changes in administrations and ideas by the urban planning agencies always leads to alterations in the uses of the zones (Mincey, Schmitt-Harsh, & Thurau, 2013). This is especially attained through political pressure, which overpowers the agencies looking to enhance conservation in the respective areas. However, over the past few years, most urban planners have stuck to the use of stricter zoning policies, and this has led to a higher presence of single trees and forests in urban areas.
Zoning experts have the power to influence the development of green zones in every urban area. The zoning agencies should work closely with the forestry agencies to ensure that the zones with natural forests are conserved accordingly. Unlike the tree planting initiatives to increase forest cover in urban areas, the zoning process entails the development of policies that must be followed by both the private and public sectors when allocating land to various uses (Mincey, Schmitt-Harsh, & Thurau, 2013). This provides required protection for the areas covered with trees within the urban areas, and it limits the clearing of forests in specific areas for the expansion of the cities.
Various interest groups and non-governmental organizations have been active in mobilizing the public to compel the authorities to follow the zoning policies without tailoring them to enable the urban planners to clear the natural vegetation in the associated regions (Mincey, Schmitt-Harsh, & Thurau, 2013). Environmental conservation advocates are in the limelight of ensuring that the development of infrastructure follows the zoning policies in the respective urban areas.
Foresters
The modern society is actively adopting the culture of planting trees whenever people get a chance. Most people are taking the responsibility of ensuring that the conservation of forests is enhanced, especially by planting more trees in their residences. There has also been an increase in the number of forest groups, whose main activity is planting trees in areas around the cities that have been overly exploited through deforestation. The authorities in different cities also have agencies that focus on enhancing the number of trees in urban areas through planting trees in parks and along the roads, as well as around public buildings.
Most cities in the modern world are characterized by the presence of man-made forests in the parks and around the cities. The forestry agencies and scientists also provide support through the donation of trees and the provision of information on the best species of trees to plant in various areas (Piana & Troxel, 2014). Foresters are particularly instrumental in ensuring that the trees planted in the urban areas survive through the development of management programs that entail watering the trees when they are young, trimming them, and transplanting them if necessary.
Arborists
Local governments in various cities across the world have been developing agencies to look into using science and technology to plant more trees in urban areas. Arborists are specialized trees planters with the scientific background that helps them identify the type of trees that can survive in the conditions in different parts of cities. For instance, the type of soil and the availability of light for the trees may determine the probability of survival for the trees.
The role of the arborists is to plant single trees around the urban areas and to provide them with the required care until they are old enough to withstand the harsh environment without the requirement of management from the professionals. This is a viable way of integrating forests in the urban areas, but it is quite expensive because of the equipment required to cater to the needs of the trees, and the cost of labor for the authorities. However, the arborists are quite instrumental in helping urban authorities to increase the number of trees around the cities (Piana & Troxel, 2014).
It is apparent that while the authorities are looking to increase the number of trees in their urban areas, they are also focusing on planting trees that will enhance the beauty of the cities. The arborists are also charged with the responsibility of ensuring the types of trees planted in different regions are safe. For instance, some trees have low canopies that might not be appropriate for areas near the roads, whereas others have a root system that might damage buildings and roads.
Horticulturists
Horticulturists are also instrumental in the integration of forests in urban areas. The main role of horticulturists is to ensure that the biodiversity associated with the natural vegetation in an urban area is conserved. The horticulturists provide tree planters in urban areas with relevant information about the requirements of various trees (Piana & Troxel, 2014). They are also quite instrumental in breeding trees that can survive the adverse conditions that have been associated with the weather in urban areas. This includes the development of species that can survive the extensively polluted water and soils in urban areas, low amounts of water, and other harsh conditions.
Horticulturists are particularly required in the urban areas that have been associated with high levels of pollution. Increasing the forest cover in some urban areas is quite difficult because of the environmental conditions; hence, there need to be groups of horticulturist to conduct studies on the environment and to provide the information to the foresters. The explicit difference between arborists and horticulturists is that the arborists are more concerned about the environmental factors affecting the trees, whereas the horticulturists use the information from the arborists to develop seedlings that can survive in different environments.
Summary
Various authorities and communities in urban areas have applied different strategies to integrate forests into their urban space. This has been prompted by the realization that afforestation is a viable measure to enhance the quality of air in urban areas, and also to enhance the picturesque quality of urban areas. However, the most important aspect of planting trees in urban areas is to enhance ecological conservation as society fights against the adverse effects of global warming. Some of the strategies for increasing the number of trees in urban areas are propagated by people, whereas others are conducted by the authorities.
The main similarity in the strategies is that people are focusing on increasing forest cover in urban areas to naturally reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. The differences in these strategies involve the approaches used to increase the number of trees. For instance, creating green spaces in the urban areas entails the allocation of specific land areas to plant trees (Gao, 2015). This approach is similar to the zoning process, but the zoning process entails the development of conservation policies for specific regions within the urban areas.
Creating green spaces is normally associated with man-made forests, whereas zoning protects natural forests. Peri-urban forestry entails the development of forests within the cities with the help of various professionals, including the horticulturists, arborists, and other foresters who are committed to enhancing forest cover in urban areas. Various agencies, such as the health care system, have identified the increase of forest cover in the urban areas as a viable approach to eliminating some prevailing health issues.
For instance, increasing trees in the residential areas within the urban areas are bound to increase the health outcomes of the community. While there are many similarities and differences in the strategies used to integrate forests in the urban areas, the most important thing is that various entities are actively taking part in promoting the afforestation process as society works to reverse the adverse effects of global warming.
References
Cohen, J. (2015). Creating a new green space model for tomorrow’s cities. Web.
Gao, T. (2015). Biotope and biodiversity mapping in forest and urban green space. Web.
Leahy, I. (2016). Innovations in urban forestry. Web.
Mincey, S. K., Schmitt-Harsh, M., & Thurau, R. (2013). Zoning, land use, and urban tree canopy cover: the importance of scale. Urban forestry & urban greening, 12(2), 191-199.
Piana, M. & Troxel, B. (2014). Beyond Planting: An Urban Forestry Primer. Web.
Urban and peri-urban forestry. (2016). Web.