Value of urban green spaces and greening ? Unisa Online ? News ...

Dr Christy Boylan (Ireland), Prof Richard Hendrick (Director: School of Environmental Sciences), Dr Gregory Moore (University of Melbourne, Australia) and Prof Willie Nel (CoD: Environmental Sciences)

The Department of Environmental Sciences (DES) in the College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences (CAES) held a very successful colloquium on 1 November 2012 at the Florida Campus, focusing on the value of urban green spaces and greening. Papers were submitted by two international speakers and academics from the department.

The presentations included the following:

• The real value of urban trees and landscapes by Dr Gregory Moore, University of Melbourne, Australia
• The arboriculture and economic benefits of formative pruning of street trees by Dr Gregory Moore, University of Melbourne, Australia
• The diverse values and uses of parks by Dr Christy Boylan, Ireland
• Management of parks and open spaces ? strategies and models by Dr Christy Boylan, Ireland
• Estimates of carbon storage by jacaranda street trees in the City of Tshwane by Prof Hennie Stoffberg, DES, Unisa

Dr Moore highlighted and discussed in detail the variety of benefits, both socioeconomic as well as environmental, that urban greening and trees have within an urban environment. The presentation was especially apt in the light of climate change and global warming. The most important aspects are summarised below:

Climate related values	Environmental values
Shade Shelter from the wind Thermal insulation Temperature modification Reduction in glare Humidification of the air Filtration of polluted air Interception of rainfall Reduced water runoff Reduced stream turbidity Altered effective precipitation	Production of oxygen Fixing of carbon dioxide Reduced soil erosion Protecting watersheds Ameliorating wind flow Improved air quality Altering ambient temperature Noise abatement Wildlife habitat Create ecosystems

Dr Moore concluded that it was concerning that, at a time when urban trees and public open space were being appreciated as urban infrastructure assets, they were being threatened and neglected in many major cities. This will have a serious impact on the capacity of cities and regions to mitigate at least some of the effects of global climate change. Also, this will have a deleterious effect on human health, social structures and the economic components of our society as well as the environment.

Dr Boylan highlighted the various and diverse values and uses of parks. He outlined a dazzling array of benefits including human health and well-being, economic in terms of tourism, visual impacts and biodiversity, engineering values, education and research values, heritage values, social interaction and community development.

In his follow-up presentation, Dr Moore focused on professional street tree pruning, highlighting the environmental and economic benefits if these practices were implemented scientifically and correctly by city parks departments, which is seldom the case.

In his follow-up presentation on parks management strategies and models, Dr Boylan highlighted the benefits and risks of four options of private-public management models for the management of urban green spaces as well as seven ingredients required to do so successfully.

Unisa?s own Prof Hennie Stoffberg presented findings of a study published in 2012 by Unisa Press which indicated that about 17% (33 300) of the City of Pretoria?s urban street tree forests (195 000 trees) consisted of jacaranda trees. This research indicated that these trees stored more than 41 000 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalents in their wood and roots. Carbon dioxide is the main greenhouse gas and it thus places great emphasis on the critical necessity of street tree urban infrastructure to reduce global climate change impacts.

* Written by Prof Willie Nel

Source: http://www.unisa.ac.za/news/index.php/2012/11/value-of-urban-green-spaces-and-greening/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=value-of-urban-green-spaces-and-greening

orange crush harden nor easter nor easter ted nugent veep los angeles kings