India: Mumbai’s urban forest
Development preys on Mumbai’s urban forest.
Mumbai, India, is struggling to prevent its growing population of 17 million from infringing on the world’s largest urban forest. This threatens the biodiversity of the forest as well as the security of the inhabitants, as people have been killed by strayed leopards because of the blurred distinction between the city and the countryside.
The larger context of forests ownership and conservation in India is controversial. Forty million of India’s poorest people live in forests, and some of them are pressured by gangs to engage in poaching activities. The government has passed a law to grant forest ownership to long-time forest dwellers, but conservationists fear new illegal settlers might try to take advantage of this measure. Conservation and pro-poor policies are sometimes seen as antithetical.
To read more about Mumbai’s urban forest, and Indian forest conservation in general, see the Financial Express.
Ajax Urban Forestry Study
The implementation of the Urban Forestry Cover Study was approved at Ajax Town Council in June , 2008 - the initial step in the Town’s Urban Forestry Strategy. The study contract was awarded to the Toronto Region Conservation Authority (TRCA).
This is a key corporate initiative that supports the reduction of Greenhouse Gas Emissions throughout the Town. Ajax’s urban forest plays a vital role in the Town’s overall urban health. This study will provide the Town with crucial information on how to build up the local urban forest, and most importantly, how to sustain it.
An urban forest is defined as the sum of all woody and associated vegetation in and around dense human settlements. This study will produce a profile of the Town’s current urban forest, also known as the tree canopy cover.
The study began in late July 2008. Both privately and municipally owned trees, including those on streets, in parks, and trees growing on commercial or private property, are included in the study.
Through a GPS mapping program, 200 plots were randomly selected across Ajax. Each plot has a radius of about 11 metres. Each day, TRCA forestry technicians arrive at a plot at approximately 7 a.m. By observing the plot, the forestry technicians classify tree species, and measure the tree height and crown width. Each tree survey takes about an hour and is an unobtrusive process without any disturbance to the property.
The Town has sent letters to private property owners located within the study areas, informing them about the program and requesting their permission to enter their property in order to conduct the study. The study will be completed by the fall of this year.
When TRCA establishes its findings, they will advise the Town on how our urban forest is functioning in its present state, how it can be built upon, and how it can be maintained in order to sustain it.
The Town will hold a public open house in November 2008 to report its findings, and gain resident’s insight and ideas about the proposed Urban Forestry Strategy. The final draft of the strategy will go to Council in December.