Forest Ecology and Management Field Trip Report

Name: Choong Wen Kang Iain Student ID: 19190014 (AIMS)

Urban forest is a forest that grow in a city area which include natural forest and human
made forest.

Urban forest plays an important role in an urban area. It can improve the air quality of the
urban area. Trees in the urban forest can absorb the carbon dioxide which is released by
the human activities in the city. Urban forests also helps to purify the water by slowing
down the rain as it falls to the earth. It helps the rain to soak into the soil. This can reduce
the risk of flood in the city area.

However, urban forest also have some disadvantages. Urban forest usually is a small
isolated biodiversity area. Therefore, the genetic diversity of the animals in the urban
forest will decrease after several decades. This is because the animals in the urban forest
are hard to migrate from the urban forest to other places due to human activity in the city.

SDGs 2030 Goal 11 (Sustainable cites & communities) and Goal 13 (Climate action) are
related to sustainable management of urban forest. Based on SDGs 2030 Target 11.6:

“By 2030, reduce the adverse per capita environmental impact of cities, including by
paying special attention to air quality and municipal and other waste management”

Therefore, some methods and practices for sustainable management of urban forest
need to be taken. We can achieve this goal by protecting the urban forest to have a better
air quality in the city area.
In conclusion, urban forest is an important asset of a country no matter it is a natural forest
or human made forest so we need to manage it properly. As a quote from Luther Burbank:
“If we had paid no more attention to our plants than we have to our children, we would
now be living in a jungle of weed.”

Table below shows the comparison of urban forest in Malaysia and Japan

Malaysia Japan

Kuala Lumpur Forest Eco Park Meiji Shrine Forest

Natural rainforest in urban area Human made urban forest

9.37 hectares 70 hectares

The only natural rainforest situated in the A Forest created with trees donated from
city centre around Japan