(The original version of this article was written for ISA Hong Kong Chapter Newsletter Vol. 1)
The terms
“Urban forest” (「城市森林」or「都市林」) and Urban Forestry (「城市林務」) have gained promotion by the
government and are gradually adopted the industry recently. The boundary of these terms, however, appears
blurred to most people. Even
practitioners may find it confusing or may sometime mis-used “Urban Forest(ry)”
as an interchangeable term with arboriculture, landscape and urban greening. They are different fundamentally.
Urban Forestry was defined as early in 1974 by Erik Joegensen as "… a specialized branch of forestry and
has, as its objectives, the cultivation and management of trees for their
present and potential contribution to the physiological, sociological and
economic well-being of urban society. These contributions include the over-all
ameliorating effect of trees on their environment, as well as their
recreational and general amenity value."
This implies that the term was derived from the traditional “Forestry”,
in which the management of trees are usually (if not mainly) for economical
purposes (e.g. wood harvesting). In
urban scenario, however, policy and action of forest management was
reconfigured to benefit the daily living of city dwellers (i.e. urban services),
not necessarily from tangible products.
In this sense, the scope of urban forestry appears wider with
involvement of more related professions and coordination with much more stake-holders. Many trees in urban Hong Kong have been
planted and or managed in different extent since WWII. Such human manipulation (government as the
major stakeholder) occurred sporadically along our history due to specific
needs. This has shaped our current urban
forest asset and formed the primordial management model, which is expected to
be further enhanced to tackle increasing challenge. Urban forestry, in this sense, should not be
played as just a fancy term or old wine in new bottles. This concept, however, provides a
comprehensive framework for further transformation of the current management
model.
It is important to first understand our urban forest asset before we
manage it. Moeller (1977) had laid down
the boundary of urban forest as “a
flexible concept that encompasses rows of street trees and clusters of trees in
city parks, green belts between cities, and eventually forests that are more
remote from the inner city. The urban
forest occupies that part of urban ecosystem made up of vegetation and related
natural resources found in urban, suburban, and adjacent lands, regardless of
ownership”. Nowadays, the Food and
Agriculture Organization (FAO) of United Nation (2016) has refined the
definition of urban forest as:
Networks or systems comprising all woodlands,
groups of trees, and individual trees located in urban and peri-urban areas;
they include, therefore, forests, street trees, trees in parks and gardens, and
trees in derelict corners. Urban forests are the backbone of the green
infrastructure, bridging rural and urban areas and ameliorating a city’s
environmental footprint.
With reference to FAO’s classification, 5 main types of urban forest can
be classified in Hong Kong:
1.
Peri-urban forests and plantation woodlands
(e.g. country parks, public)
2.
City parks (public)
3.
Pocket parks, gardens and amenity areas with
trees (public/private)
4.
Roadside planting (mainly
public)
5.
Other green spaces with trees
(public/private)
There are two important concepts here.
With focus on function, vegetation with trees as framework is regarded
as part of our urban forest regardless of ownership or management
responsibility – no matter it is public or private. In addition, forest and vegetation which are not
within the built-up area, but benefiting the daily life of city dwellers (e.g.
water source, remediating microclimate) are also part of the urban forest by
definition. A good example is Country
Parks of Hong Kong, which are also popular for recreation, and are of very
close proximity to our citizens. They
are one of, if not the most important urban forest component for this small
city with >7.3 million population.
As an infrastructure of a city while having an important role in
improving the quality of life of urban dwellers, urban forest’s functions are
furthers emphasized by FAO in 16 aspects (Table 1) depending on the status of
cities. In the scenario of Hong Kong, with
food security and poverty as exceptions, all aspects apply. In fact citizens have been enjoying from many
of them (e.g. improved landscape degradation, conserving water resources,
increased recreational opportunities) for decades with or without notice.
TABLE 1. Potential benefits of urban forests elaborated by FAO (adopted
from Salbitano,
et al. 2016)
In urban forestry trees, tree groups or forests are usually referred as
“green infrastructure”, comparable to other infrastructures - such as road
works, water supply, electricity, drainage - that are essential to the normal
function and liveability of a city. This
is to emphasize that trees should no longer be treated as an optional
ornament. Our urban forest should be
well-planned and maintained like other essential urban elements, so that their
performance (services to the city dwellers) can be maximized.
As a response to population bloom in urban areas globally, FAO has been
promoting the wise planning and management of urban forests in recent years through
supports on the development of Urban and Peri-urban Forestry
actions, projects and strategic planning tools.
In Asia-Pacific region 2 important meetings were held in April 2016 and September
2017 at Zhuhai and Seoul respectively. It
is the honour of ISAHK to be participating and witnessing the promulgation of 2
ground-breaking documents – the Zhuhai Declaration and Seoul Action Plan. These documents will form the key reference
and guideline for the development of urban forestry strategy by different
municipalities in this region. For more
details, please stay in tune ISAHK’s channels or visit FAO’s website.
Chiky Wong
Immediate Past
President, ISA Hong Kong Chapter
Reference:
Jorgensen, E. 1974. Towards an
urban forestry concept. Proceedings of the 10th Commonwealth Forestry Conference.
Ottawa, Canada; Forestry Service.
Salbitano,
F., Borelli, S., Conigliaro, M. and Chen, Y. 2016. Guidelines on Urban and Peri-urban Forestry. FAO, United Nations,
Rome.
Wong, C.Y.
2017. Change of Forest Role and the
Approach of Management in Hong Kong. Proceeding of 2nd Asia Pacific Urban
Forestry Meeting. Food and Agriculture Organization, UN
