Urban Forestry and its Benefit

Urban forestry is the care and management of single trees and tree populations in urban settings
for the purpose of improving the urban environment. Urban forestry advocates the role of trees as
a critical part of the urban infrastructure.

Urban forests are forests located in cities. They are an important component of urban green
infrastructure systems. Urban forests use appropriate tree and vegetation species, instead of
noxious and invasive kinds, which reduce the need of maintenance and irrigation. In addition,
native species also provide aesthetic value while reducing cost. Diversity of plant species should
also be considered in design of urban forests to avoid monocultures; this makes the urban forests
more durable and resilient to pests and other harms.

Urban foresters plant and maintain trees, support appropriate tree and forest preservation,
conduct research and promote the many benefits trees provide. Urban forestry is practiced by
municipal and commercial arborists, municipal and utility foresters, environmental
policymakers, city planners, consultants, educators, researchers and community activists.

Benefits of Urban Forestry

 Energy Use: According to a study conducted by the Lawrence Berkeley National

Laboratory and Sacramento Municipal Utility District, it was found that urban trees can
provide up to 47% energy savings.
 Urban heat island: Maximum air temperature for tree groves was found to be lower than
that of open areas without trees. This is because of a process called evaporative cooling.
 Water management: Urban forests helps with city water management on diverting storm
water from water channels. Trees intercept a large amount of rainfall that hit them.
 Air pollution: Trees hold carbon, which improve air quality in cities.
 Property values: Having more trees increases property value, which suggests that people
value greenery and trees wherever they are. This implies that trees contribute to the
preferred living conditions of people.
 Public health: Urban greenery can also improve mental health and well-being.
 Creating urban forest affects Public Health in many ways, as mentioned above urban heat
islands are created by the condensation of heat due to the materials and infrastructure
used in metropolitan areas, which can negatively impact human health. Urban forests
provide natural shading structures at a fraction of the cost of artificial shading structures
and it counters the negative health impacts of increasing global temperatures. [17] Beyond
countering the negative impacts of man-made infrastructure, green infrastructure has the
potential to enhance existing ecosystems and make them more stable, which has been
historically done in traditional Japanese agriculture. [18] Green infrastructure in an
urbanized area can help restore and enhance the resiliency of an ecosystem to natural
disturbances and disasters that disrupt the lives of residents.[19] Building new urban forests
in an existing metropolitan area creates new labor jobs that do not require a high level of
education, which can decrease unemployment in the working class which benefits
society. Furthermore, green infrastructure helps states to implement the principles of the
 1992 Rio Declaration on Environment and Development that was designed to alleviate
the social and economic consequences of environmental degradation.

 Urban wildlife: Urban forestry provides potential habitat for urban wildlife. In addition, it
creates great opportunities for observing wildlife to the general public.
 Social impact: Urban forest related events such as planting festivals can significantly
reduce social isolation problems, enhance people's experience and raise environmental
awareness.