Developing a Metropolitan-Wide Urban Forest Strategy for a Large, Expanding and Densifying Capital City: Lessons from Melbourne, Australia
Urban forests provide many ecosystem services, such as reducing heat, improving air quality, treatment of stormwater, carbon sequestration, as well as biodiversity benefits. These benefits have resulted in increasing demand for urban forests and strategies to maintain and enhance this natural infras...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2021-08-01
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| Series: | Land |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/10/8/809 |
| _version_ | 1797523216606953472 |
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| author | Martin Hartigan James Fitzsimons Maree Grenfell Toby Kent |
| author_facet | Martin Hartigan James Fitzsimons Maree Grenfell Toby Kent |
| author_sort | Martin Hartigan |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Urban forests provide many ecosystem services, such as reducing heat, improving air quality, treatment of stormwater, carbon sequestration, as well as biodiversity benefits. These benefits have resulted in increasing demand for urban forests and strategies to maintain and enhance this natural infrastructure. In response to a broader resilience strategy for Melbourne, Australia, we outline how a metropolitan-wide urban forest strategy (<i>Living Melbourne</i>) was developed, encompassing multiple jurisdictions and all land tenures. To this end, we mapped tree cover within the Melbourne metropolitan area, modelled potential habitat for some bird species, and investigated the role of tree cover for urban heat island mitigation. We outline the consultation and governance frameworks used to develop the strategy, the vision, goals and actions recommended, including canopy and shrub cover targets for different parts of the metropolitan area. The metropolitan-wide urban forest strategy acts as an overarching framework to guide local government authorities and various stakeholders towards a shared objective of increasing tree cover in Melbourne and we discuss the outcomes and lessons from this approach. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T08:40:14Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-a1f8ca838150458c88a43623630b672f |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2073-445X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T08:40:14Z |
| publishDate | 2021-08-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Land |
| spelling | doaj.art-a1f8ca838150458c88a43623630b672f2023-11-22T08:20:45ZengMDPI AGLand2073-445X2021-08-0110880910.3390/land10080809Developing a Metropolitan-Wide Urban Forest Strategy for a Large, Expanding and Densifying Capital City: Lessons from Melbourne, AustraliaMartin Hartigan0James Fitzsimons1Maree Grenfell2Toby Kent3The Nature Conservancy, Suite 2-01, 60 Leicester Street, Carlton 3053, AustraliaThe Nature Conservancy, Suite 2-01, 60 Leicester Street, Carlton 3053, AustraliaResilient Melbourne, City of Melbourne, GPO Box 1603, Melbourne 3001, AustraliaResilient Melbourne, City of Melbourne, GPO Box 1603, Melbourne 3001, AustraliaUrban forests provide many ecosystem services, such as reducing heat, improving air quality, treatment of stormwater, carbon sequestration, as well as biodiversity benefits. These benefits have resulted in increasing demand for urban forests and strategies to maintain and enhance this natural infrastructure. In response to a broader resilience strategy for Melbourne, Australia, we outline how a metropolitan-wide urban forest strategy (<i>Living Melbourne</i>) was developed, encompassing multiple jurisdictions and all land tenures. To this end, we mapped tree cover within the Melbourne metropolitan area, modelled potential habitat for some bird species, and investigated the role of tree cover for urban heat island mitigation. We outline the consultation and governance frameworks used to develop the strategy, the vision, goals and actions recommended, including canopy and shrub cover targets for different parts of the metropolitan area. The metropolitan-wide urban forest strategy acts as an overarching framework to guide local government authorities and various stakeholders towards a shared objective of increasing tree cover in Melbourne and we discuss the outcomes and lessons from this approach.https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/10/8/809canopy covervegetation mappingconnectivityheat mappingtargets |
| spellingShingle | Martin Hartigan James Fitzsimons Maree Grenfell Toby Kent Developing a Metropolitan-Wide Urban Forest Strategy for a Large, Expanding and Densifying Capital City: Lessons from Melbourne, Australia Land canopy cover vegetation mapping connectivity heat mapping targets |
| title | Developing a Metropolitan-Wide Urban Forest Strategy for a Large, Expanding and Densifying Capital City: Lessons from Melbourne, Australia |
| title_full | Developing a Metropolitan-Wide Urban Forest Strategy for a Large, Expanding and Densifying Capital City: Lessons from Melbourne, Australia |
| title_fullStr | Developing a Metropolitan-Wide Urban Forest Strategy for a Large, Expanding and Densifying Capital City: Lessons from Melbourne, Australia |
| title_full_unstemmed | Developing a Metropolitan-Wide Urban Forest Strategy for a Large, Expanding and Densifying Capital City: Lessons from Melbourne, Australia |
| title_short | Developing a Metropolitan-Wide Urban Forest Strategy for a Large, Expanding and Densifying Capital City: Lessons from Melbourne, Australia |
| title_sort | developing a metropolitan wide urban forest strategy for a large expanding and densifying capital city lessons from melbourne australia |
| topic | canopy cover vegetation mapping connectivity heat mapping targets |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/10/8/809 |
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