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Education for global change
Kevin Frediani
Former Head of Sustainable Land Use
Jadecliff National Production Manager
South East Region Tree Warden Forum
Saturday 19th September 2015
Wakehurst Place, Ardingly, Haywards Heath, West
Sussex RH17 6TN
Define
Frame discussion
Measure it
Evaluate
Inform
The art, science and technology of managing trees and forest resources in and around urban community ecosystems for the physiological, sociological, economic, and aesthetic benefits trees provide society.
Konijnendijk et. al. Urban Forestry & Urban Greening: Volume 4, Issues 3–4, 3/4/2006, Pp 93–103
In the year 2000, 47 percent of the world’s population lived in urban areas, compared to 30 percent in 1950.
Around 75% of the world’s population estimated to live in cities by 2050
We will be building the equivalent of a new city the size of Birmingham every week for the next 30 years.
Latent threats to urban trees:
Pressure on land from high density development
Austerity: reduced investment in planning and replacement of urban trees
Population per km2 of the European Union (after Saretok, 2006).
7,367,038,000 people @ 22:18 14/09/2015 Source: http://www.worldometers.info/world-population/
Climate change is happening and an increase in temperature of at least 2°C globally is now inevitable due to past emissions
Summers in the UK will be warmer and drier, and winters warmer and wetter
Extreme weather events will become more common
2,106,494 Forest loss this year (hectares)
2,835,910 Land lost to soil erosion this year (ha)
14,585,903,878 CO2 emissions this year (tons)
4,860,648 Desertification this year (hectares)
3,966,442 Toxic chemicals released in the environment this year
2,008,147 Water consumed this year (billion L)
351,226,651 Energy used today (MWh), of which 284,492,041- from non-renewable sources (MWh)
Source: http://www.worldometers.info/ on
28/05/2015 @ 21:31
Characteristics
Healthy (effective)
Zero waste
Self-regulation
Resilience & self renewal
Flexible
Ethical
Psychological fulfilment
Cooperative (coexistence)
Preparing for change: Understand the threats to urban forests
Invasive species,
Weather: flooding, drought & severe wind
Air pollution (ozone),
Lack of management capability,
Novel diseases,
New pests
Development pressures
Planning for urbanization of rural and peri-urban forests.
Directing management efforts to help reduce various threats and sustain important urban forest resources.
Plant new trees for resilient future forest
The changing climate is a challenge for planning and management because the projected increases in temperature, changes in the seasonality of rainfall, and an increased frequency of extreme events add complexity to species selection and arboricultural practice.
By actively adjusting (adapting) urban forest management now, to anticipate future changes, we can hope to increase resilience by reducing loss of trees and the goods and services that urban forests can provide for society.
The maps show changes in values rather than their absolute levels show
differences between the south eastern lowlands where increased
temperatures and decreased rainfall lead to reductions in income
(shown in red tones). In contrast upland areas where productivity and
hence incomes (shown in green tones).
http://www.cserge.ac.uk/current-research-projects/seer/research
30/70 public/private split (complete survey)
Lack of older large canopy trees
Dependence on Victorian and Edwardian plantings for Large canopy trees and therefore ES’s
Plane 30% : 60% ES
Source: Treeconomics and Forest Research various 2012-ongoing
See: Rogers et. Al. 2012 & Rumble, Rogers, Doick & Hutching in press
Fig1: London Victoria species
composition
Are they the same?
Density Diversity
Source: K. Rogers (2012)
Exploring vulnerability & strategies to cope…
• Exploring the resource –
• What exactly is vulnerable?
“One day everything will be well, that is our hope. Everything's
fine today, that is our illusion” ― Voltaire
• Extreme weather (UK)• Novel pest & diseases (latent &
new)• Development (pace, type & scale)• Dynamic urban ecology (soils, heat
island effect, hydrology, air, biodiversity…)
• Which is more resilient?
Thinking market not product!
Trees in Towns II report show that generally across the UK there has been a trend of planting smaller scale trees when replacing larger broadleaved specimens. Britt and Johnston (2008)
In theory, the risk of failure can be reduced to a number, probability of failure x cost of failure
• Most serious pests or problems are specific to certain families, genera, or species of plants
• Key to sustainability in urban forests lies not in the selection of any single cultivar with a particular set of characteristics but in biological diversity within populations in order to minimize plant maintenance needs and losses.
Journal of Arboriculture 25(3): Galvin, May 1999
Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result…
Albert Einstein
Definition of Insanity
A useful rule of thumb?
“For the education of the next generation, plant a catalpa, a hickory, a horse-chestnut, a sassafras and even a thorny honeylocust in park areas that can and should be used to stimulate an interest in the diversity of nature.” F. Santamour Jr.
To optimise the potential for plants to enhance the sites amenity provision to enhance wellbeing
Bark
Seasonal features
• Fruit
Flower as a seasonal feature
“What do the App developer, the big data architect, the social media intern, and the Zumba instructor have in common”?
They're all in jobs that in 2008 didn't exist.
In London, 10% of workers are employed in jobs that did not exist in 1990. And regional cities across the UK are quickly catching up.
Urban forests are managed with different uses in mind
Urban trees impact upon natural resources and provide benefits such as watersheds and wildlife habitat
Urban forests can be a source of production (timber / wood fuel) and non forest products to provide revenue & offset costs
Managing a community resource requires planning
Understanding the tree resource
Planning to optimise the benefits in space and over time
for replacement
for resilience to offset the impact of global change
Establish & maintain maximum tree cover
Maintain trees in a healthy condition through good cultural practices
Establish and maintain an optimal level of age and species diversity
Promote conservation of tree resource
Select, situate and maintain trees in the public interest (streets, parks and public gardens)
Coordinate tree management
Promote efficient management of urban forestry across an area
Foster community support
Sidmouth Arboretum
Caring for the trees of the Sid Valley
Ought to be new
habitat focus
corresponding to
the conditions of
the typical city
environment if we
want to find trees
suitable for the
tough and hard city
context.
Historical focus
on species
selection
Select material up 2o latitude south of site, and up to 5o
south as a small component of mixed provenance stock
in species of low frost sensitivity (i.e. Sidmouth)
Caucasus Mt.
Georgia
Carpathian Mt.
Romania
Appalachian Mt.
USA
Sierra
Nevada Mt.
USA
Adding value: well landscaped gardens with mature trees can add 10-15% more value
Although difficult to measure, trees have a positive affect on humans health and wellbeing Community well-being—Urban forests make important contributions to the economic vitality and character of a city, neighbourhood, or subdivision.
Reduce storm water runoff – manage episodic water
Reduce soil erosion
Produce food shelter for wildlife
Improving the air quality:
They help remove pollutants from the air. This is important since we take 23,000 breaths a day!
A 0.5 Ha of trees produces enough oxygen for 25 people
0.5 Ha of trees fixes enough CO2 in on year to offset a car driving 26000 miles
Trees can serve as barriers: Windbreaks in winter
Block unsightly views
Lowers sound pollutions
Cooling effect in summer
Protection from UV radiation
Most serious pests or problems are specific to certain families, genera, or species of plants
Key to sustainability in urban forests lies not in the selection of any single cultivar with a particular set of characteristics but in biological diversity within populations in order to minimize plant maintenance needs and losses.
Journal of Arboriculture 25(3):
Galvin, May 1999
Regional urban forest plans can help improve long-term resource and environmental sustainability by integrating vegetation management issues across a region.
Long-term planning and management can reduce the risks associated with various urban forest threats and ensure ecosystem services that will continue to improve urban environmental quality and enhance human quality of life and well-being.
The community (e.g. Sidmouth Arboretum & local landowners) working with the East Devon District Council, the Devon County Council & statutory bodies i.e. the Forestry Commission and ANOB.
Together, local and regional landowners, communities, and agencies can plan for sustainable growth while conserving the beauty and benefits of the living urban forest heritage.
The Dawn Redwood can be propagated by seed sowing and by vegetative
methods
Potential to work with a local
tree nursery & contract grow?
Strategic planning - decisions of today will influence the amount and types of benefits derived from the urban forest for future generations.
Tree & ecosystem knowledge – related to urban forest ecology and how to conserve these essential resources will be critical to developing appropriate management strategies to enhance optimal urban forest cover and to sustain urban forest health and benefits into the future.
Document writing and selling of financially resourced management plans to sustain or enhance healthy urban tree cover will be most successful when they incorporate local tree data and consider relevant local social and ecological factors and costs, including community desires relative to canopy cover and associated ecosystem services (tree benefits).
Personal and community engagement: Community engagement, for individual and collective growth and development through effective team building and change management is an essential skill
Education for sustainable development is key to developing the skills of the urban forester in a time of global change
Effective project management and evaluation is essential to implement plans and inform future changes that will be necessary to mitigate the unknown challenges ahead
Action learning and Action research: learning through doing and informing change
Choosing trees for future climate: http://www.righttrees4cc.org.uk/public.aspx
Education for sustainable development: http://www.qaa.ac.uk/en/Publications/Documents/Education-sustainable-development-Guidance-June-14.pdf
Urban Arboretum: http://www.trees.org.uk/aa/documents/amenitydocs/amconf14/wed/W_8_Kevin_Frediani.pdf
Urban tree diversity: http://www.urbantreediversity.com/sites/default/files/Urban%20Tree%20Diversity%20-%20Programme%20and%20abstract%20book%20A5.pdf
Resources to share
• http://pfaf.org/user/default.aspx
• http://www.forestry.gov.uk/website/forestresearch.nsf/searchtreespecies
• http://www.forestry.gov.uk/fr/treespecies
• http://www.trees4future.eu/transnational-accesses/fr-gis-based-species-site-climate-infrastructure.html
