EFUF2015 abstract book

Connecting the Street Tree to the Forest
Strengthening Nature for Urban Living

18th
European Forum on Urban Forestry
Brussels/Waterloo (Belgium) 10 12 June 2015

ABSTRACT BOOK
@EFUrbanForestry

Copyrights
Copyrights are with the respective authors
Image frontcover: Witteveen+Bos & Cluser, commissioned by LIFE+
OZON
Image backcover: Sabine Destrooper

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EFUF 2015 -‐ Connecting the Street Tree to the Forest p. 3/64

Organised by
BOS+ NGO, Inverde, the Flemish Agency for Nature and Forest, and
Brussels Environment
In collaboration with
Department of Nature & Forest of the Walloon Region

Organising Committee
Rik De Vreese (BOS+ & Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Chair)
Ine Lapierre (Inverde)
Patrick Huvenne (Flemish Agency for Nature and Forest)
Machteld Gryseels (Brussels Environment)

With the financial support of

Editors
Rik De Vreese & Ine Lapierre
Cite as
De Vreese R. & Lapiere I. (2015). Connecting the Street Tree to the
Forest Abstract book of the 18th European Forum on Urban Forestry,
Brussels/Waterloo (Belgium), 10 -‐ 12, 2015.

www.efuf2015.org

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Programme

Wednesday 10 June 2015 Connecting Urban and Nature from the
Street Tree to the Urban Forest
Venue: AM: BEL (Tour & Taxis site, Brussels Environment Agency,
http://bel.brussels, Avenue du Port 86c/3000, 1000 Brussels)
08:30 Bus is leaving from the hotel IBIS to BEL
09:00 Registration at the BEL & coffee
09:45 Welcome
o Rik De Vreese (BOS+, local organiser)
o Machteld Gryseels (Brussels Environment)
10:00 Key Note speeches (Chair: Machteld Gryseels)
o Dr. Peter Löffler (European Commission, DG ENV)
Urban Forestry and Green Infrastructure a European
perspective
o Marie-‐Céline Godin (Brussels Environment)
Connecting Citizens Participative Approaches to
Developing Nature in the Brussels Capital Region
o Prof. Dr. Cecil Konijnendijk van den Bosch (SLU
Sweden & University of Copenhagen, Denmark)
Societal Importance of Urban Forestry and Urban
Greening for Urban Living
o Patrick Huvenne (Flemish Agency for Nature and
Forest) A Structural Vision for the Sonian Forest
cooperating for the largest urban forest in Belgium
o Machteld Gryseels & Serge Kempeneers (Brussels
Environment) Introduction to the Connectivity
Experience

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o 12:00 Visit to the Tour & Taxis site (urban
regeneration) and the ParckFarm (winner of Public
Space Price 2015) with packed lunch
13:30 Start of the Connectivity Experience (moving from
the city centre to the peri-‐urban forest featuring multi-‐scale,
connectivity and Green Infrastructure principles, bus transfer)
14:45 Connectivity Experience theme
Reconnecting the urban (dweller) with Natura2000
o Group 1. Cultural-‐historic and recreational aspects
(Red Cloister)
o Group 2. Nature reserve at the urban fringe, grazing,
restoring ponds (Red Cloister)
o Group 3. Veteran trees, bats and green bridges
(Tournay-‐Solvay Parc)
17:45 Groups present their work (Red Cloister)
(20 minutes walking from Hermann-‐Debroux Metro station,
metro to Brussels city centre and Brussels-‐Central station)
18:30 Bus transfer to IBIS Waterloo (arrival 19:00) and
Brussels-‐North station & Tours&Taxis (arrival 19:15)
19:30 Belgian Dinner in Tennis Waterloo
22:00 dinner ends
train to Brussels leaves from Waterloo station at 20:12, 21:12, 22:12,
23:12 (last train); busses from Waterloo Petit Paris bus stop at 20:27,
21:27, 22:27 (last bus)

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Thursday 11 June 2015 -‐ Reconnecting the urban (dweller) with
Nature
Venue: Groenendaal site (Plenaries in Bosmuseum, Duboislaan 2, 1560
Hoeilaart; Parallels in Chateau; Duboislaan 1b, Hoeilaart)
08:30 Bus leaves from hotel IBIS Waterloo to Groenendaal
09:00 Presentation (in Bosmuseum)
Steven Vanonckelen (Flemish Agency for Nature and Forest) The
LIFE+ OZON project defragmentates the Sonian Forest
09:30 Pitches by EFUF participants
(Pecha Kucha style
participant)
Moderator: Prof. Dr. Cecil Konijnendijk van den Bosch (SLU Sweden
& University of Copenhagen, Denmark)
11:00 Coffee break (in Chateau Groenendaal)
11:30 Parallel sessions (in Chateau Groenendaal)
Theme 1. Fragmented urban green
infrastructure and its multiple function, and
strategic approaches to deal with this
Subsession 1a. Sustaining the green
infrastructure (Room: Attick/Zolder)
Theme 2. Re-‐connecting citizens,
stakeholders and local communities with
urban green infrastructure and the urban
forest
Session 2a. Urban forest users and stakeholders, their
perceptions and the role of communication (Room:
Zinnerzaal)
Session 2b. Governance, planning, regeneration and
partnership perspectives (Room: Van Wilderzaal)
13:00 Lunch

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14:00 Parallel sessions continue (in Chateau Groenendaal)
o Combined session
Theme 1. Fragmented urban green infrastructure and
its multiple function, and strategic approaches to deal
with this Subsession 1b. Monitoring and inventory
(Room: Attick/Zolder)
Theme 3. Natura 2000 and the urban forest
reconciling ecological qualities with urban use and
urban impact (Room: Attick/Zolder)
o Theme 2. Re-‐connecting citizens, stakeholders and local
communities with urban green infrastructure and the
urban forest (Room: Van Wilderzaal)
Session 2c. Reconnecting Soils, Plants & People (Van
Wilderzaal)
15:30 Coffee break (train to Brussels leaves from Groenendaal at
16:37)
16:00 Walk through the Sonian Forest
Themes: defragmentation through reconnecting, Sonian Forest as
UNESCO heritage, no-‐management forest reserves in the urban
forest, the LIFE+-‐project OZON
(train to Brussels leaves from Groenendaal at 18:37, 19:37)
19:00 Dinner in Sonian Forest (Groenendaal Hippo-‐Droom)
21:30 Shuttle to Hotel IBIS and Groenendaal railway station
(train to Brussels leaves from Groenendaal at 20:37, 21:37)

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Friday 12 June 2015 -‐ Financing Urban Nature looking for alternative
sources & project funding
Venue: Tennis Club Waterloo (next to hotel IBIS Waterloo), Boulevard
Henri Rollin 5b, 1410 Waterloo
09:00 Introduction to Financing Urban Nature Clive Davies
(MD2 Consulting Ltd)
09:10 European Funding for Urban Nature: an overview Rik De
Vreese (Project manager & grant writer, BOS+) & Clive Davies
(MD2 Consulting Ltd)
09:30 Delegates present their project ideas and the partners
searched for Moderator: Clive Davies (MD2 Consulting Ltd)
10:30 Break-‐out groups on selected project ideas towards an
EFUF-‐oriented European project
11:15 Coffee break
11:45 Bert De Somviele (Director BOS+ NGO) Crowdfunding and
social innovation activating private capital for afforestation and
sustainable forest management
12:00 Feedback from break-‐out groups & the way forward
12:30 Announcement of Awards
12:45 Announcing EFUF2016 (Andrej Verlic, Slovenian Forest
Service GOZDIS)
13:00 Lunch and farewell for the busy ones
13:45 Bus leaves for visit to Waterloo Battlefield site
16:30 Excursion in Sonian Forest Sustainable forest
management in the urban forest
18:30 Bus leaves for IBIS Waterloo & Waterloo railway station
20:00 Farewell dinner (KOBO Food, 4 Rue François Libert, 1410
Waterloo; 600m walking from the hotel)

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Key Note speeches

Urban Forestry and Green Infrastructure a European
perspective
Peter Löffler, PhD, European Commission, Directorate-‐General for
Environment, peter.loeffler@ec.europa.eu
Keywords: Planetary boundaries, EU policy, EU Forest Strategy
Abstract
The history of urban forests in Europe is long and rich. Three out of four
Europeans live in or around cities, and the quality of the built and
natural environment in which they live including street trees and
urban forests -‐ is an important factor for their quality of life. But urban
forestry and green infrastructure also play a role for the achievement
of wider environmental policy objectives of the EU under the motto
'living well within the limits of our planet'. This talk will position and
discuss urban forestry in the wider EU policy context; outline the green
infrastructure concept and its implications for street trees and urban
forestry; examine the links with the EU Forest Strategy; and highlight
gaps to fill and opportunities to seize in the coming years.

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Connecting Citizens Participative Approaches to Developing Nature
in the Brussels Capital Region
Marie-‐Céline Godin, Project Manager, Brussels Environment,
mcgodin@environnement.irisnet.be, www.environnement.brussels
Keywords: Plan development, Citizen Involvement, urban biodiversity
Abstract
How could the Brussels-‐Capital Region increase the support base of the
future biodiversity strategy and, in the meantime, ensure the quality of
the document? It soon became apparent that the organization of a
broad participation process was the appropriate way to win the

Environment Minister, Evelyne Huytebroeck, charged Brussels
Environment to organize a broad participation process. The process
happened in three phases, beginning with the implication of the Nature
Council, continuing with two open plenary sessions and four
workshops, and ending with a public consultation.

All in all, it took more than two years hard work but we can already
affirm that it has helped participants to better know each other and to
reinforce the links between local and regional representatives as well
as across departments. Thanks to this process, Brussels LBSAP gained
much support. We now feel in a better position to transform this
enthusiasm into actions in the field.

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Implication of the nature council
The purpose of the work with the Nature Council was three-‐fold:
To identify the more important challenges for nature and
biodiversity in Brussels
To elaborate an ambitious but specific vision to 2050
To propose strategic goals to 2020
This Council is composed of regional administrations representatives,
influential NGOs and academics. It seemed important to us to first give
the floor to specialists and develop the entire process with their views.
We first began with the examination of Brussels Biodiversity report
prepared by Brussels Environment, the draft of which could be
improved thanks to the valuable comments given by the Council
Members.
This report gives a synthesis of monitoring data, evaluates the main
threats to biodiversity in Brussels, recalls and critically examines the
already existing regulations and initiatives, formulates
recommendations in response to the identified challenges.
The Council then worked over two days to formulate its vision and
goals for nature and biodiversity in the Brussels-‐Capital Region that
were presented to a broader panel of stakeholders during the kick-‐off
meeting of the second phase of the process.
Open workshops and ateliers
The participative process then continued with a more diverse public
among which environment and mobility specialists, city planners, CEPA
and patrimony specialists. About a hundred representatives from large
but also smal
research institutions, regional, federal and local administrations
participated at minimum one of the six meetings that were organized.
Even some people from the economic sector participated. They were
all invited to express their views on:
The relevance of tentative goals with regard to the challenges
identified by Brussels Environment and the Nature Council;

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The relevance of a list of proposed measures to attain the goals;
The feasibility of the proposed measures;
The need of support to implement them out on the field.
We were really enthusiastic of the result of the workshops, compiled in
a 66-‐page report. Another source of satisfaction was the great
implication of the representatives from local administrations (about
25% of the participants). Together with the NGOs and the Nature
Council, they form the beginning of a strong support platform for the
implementation of Brussels LBSAP.
Public consultation
Nine months after the closure of the second phase of the participation
Government of the Brussels-‐Capital Region adopted a project strategy
to be submitted to a broad public consultation along with a strategic
environment assessment.
The consultation took place from 15th February to 15th April 2014.
During this period of time, the LBSAP and the ad hoc strategic
environmental assessment were made available for consultation in the
19 communities of the Brussels-‐Capital Region and in Brussels
Environment. Four information sessions were also organized by
consortium of communities, in partnership with the Region.
More than 800 citizens, 12 NGOs and 14 Institutions participated and
gave their views.
Brussels Environment is now synthetizing all the remarks and
suggestions received and formulating propositions of adaptation. Those
propositions will be submitted to the Brussels Government in the
coming month. As a result of the participation process, everyone is
impatient to begin with the implementation out in the field and
reinforce Brussels nature and biodiversity now and for the future.

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Societal Importance of Urban Forestry and Urban
Greening for Urban Living
Prof. Dr. Cecil Konijnendijk van den Bosch, Head, Department of
Landscape Architecture, Planning and Management, SLU, Sweden &
professor, Department of Geosciences and Natural Resource
Management, University of Copenhagen, Denmark,
cecil.konijnendijk@slu.se
Keywords: cultural ecosystem services, social cohesion, place identity,
research strategy
Abstract
An important global discourse in urban forestry and urban greening is
that of the provision of ecosystem services. Moreover, there is greater
interest from both research and practice in assessing, quantifying and
valuing these urban ecosystem services. Here work on regulatory
services such as climate change mitigation, air pollution reduction and
stormwater management is dominant. Decision-‐support tools such as i-‐
Tree also tend to focus on these services.
been strong within the social sciences and humanities. However,
research on cultural ecosystem services of urban forests and other
green components does not have the same presence in the literature,
especially where service quantification and valuation are concerned.
Most cultural ecosystem services are difficult to assess and especially
quantify. Valuation will often have to be done in non-‐monetary terms.

This presentation reiterates the societal importance of urban forests
and urban green spaces. Focus is on the state-‐of-‐art of research on
cultural ecosystem services, with particular attention for so-‐far less-‐
studied topics such as social cohesion and place identity. A case will be
made for more research, as well as for better integration of knowledge
on cultural ecosystem services in decision-‐making. Examples of how
this can be achieved will be presented.

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A Structural Vision for the Sonian Forest cooperating for the largest
urban forest in Belgium
Patrick Huvenne, Regional Manager, Flemish Agency for Nature and
Forests, Belgium, patrick.huvenne@lne.vlaanderen.be,
www.natuurenbos.be, www.zonienwoud.be
Steven Vanonckelen, Projectcoordinator LIFE+ OZON, Flemish Agency
for Nature and Forests, Belgium,
steven.vanonckelen@lne.vlaanderen.be
Anouschka Kuijsters, Project Supporter LIFE+ OZON, Flemish Agency for
Nature and Forests, Belgium, anouschka.kuijsters@lne.vlaanderen.be
Gregory Reinbold, Green Area Division, Brussels Environment, Belgium,
gregory.reinbold@environnement.irisnet.be
Jean-‐François Plumier, Head Forester, Department of Nature & Forest,
Walloon Region, Belgium, jeanfrancois.plumier@spw.wallonie.be
Keywords: interregional cooperation, intersectoral cooperation,
stakeholders, public participation
Abstract
The Sonian Forest consists of 4.400 hectares top European nature and
is connected to Brussels. The total forest complex is more than 5.000
ha. It is the destination of several million visitors each year and the
habitat of Natura 2000 species. In 1980, the management of the forest
was transferred to the three Belgian regions: 56% to the Flemish
Region, 38% to the Brussels-‐Capital Region and 6% to the Walloon
Region. However, in 2008, the Flemish, Walloon and Brussels-‐Capital
Regions decided to cooperate and better coordinate the various
functions of the forest and its uses.
more intensively in order to strengthen the Sonian Forest. The cross-‐
regional cooperation triggered the process to establish a recreational
network and five gates where visitors will be welcomed in the forest
and informed on Natura 2000, forest management and future projects.
In order to enhance the mutual ecological, economic, and social

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benefits, more cooperative projects will start between the three
regions, different users and municipalities involved in the forest.
The real innovation of the project are the collaborations with many
stakeholder
roads, universities, municipal and provincial
-‐term
goal, we reach beyond our individual goals.

Result of the common efforts
Between 2005 and 2008, a common structural vision for the Sonian
forest was prepared, which was sealed by a Memorandum of the three
ministers in 2009. This structural vision delineated an ecological
structure based on research and analysis. Five themes were developed
in the structural vision, which were in turn translated into concrete
actions:
(1) Strengthening the core zone and ecological biodiversity of the
forest;
(2) Steering recreation towards well-‐developed recreational gates
in the interest of visitors and nature;
(3) Ecological networks linking the forest with the surrounding
environment;
(4) Limiting the distortions and spatial fragmentation by
infrastructure;
(5) Working towards one recognizable identity of the forest by
harmonizing the different regional approaches.
The first theme ensured a stronger protection of the most sensitive
ecological areas, including the expansion of nature reserves. More
specifically, the adapted management of rare habitats was anchored in
the management plans.
Secondly, the cross-‐regional collaboration was the start of a process to
achieve a recreational network in the Sonian Forest. Therefore, the
reception of visitors is concentrated in five entrances to the forest,
which are maximally accessible by public transport. The recreational

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gates are pleasant places to stay, with leisure and eating facilities, so
that the local economy can profit from it. The recreational gates Red
Monastery in Oudergem and Spanish House in Tervuren were realized
between 2010-‐2013. Moreover, studies on future recreational gates in
Groenendaal and Watermael-‐Boitsfort have started in 2014.
Thirdly, the connection between the Sonian Forest and the surrounding
ecological network was improved between 2010-‐2014. For example,
the HORIZON project of different partners started in 2014 to enhance
the connectivity between the Sonian Forest and the surrounding
municipalities.
Fourthly, the ecological fragmentation of the forest was tackled. Since
2010, the fragmentation was improved by the construction of
infrastructures such as a wildlife crossing or ecoduct, tunnels and bat
caves in 2011-‐2012, a tree bridge in 2013 and amphibian tunnels in
2014-‐2015. Moreover, the LIFE+ OZON project will build an extra
wildlife crossing and 3 tunnels in 2015-‐2016.
Finally, the evolution of different regional approaches towards a
common vision was realized by the development of a unified and
recognizable identity of the forest. In the period 2010-‐2011, a
corporate identity was designed which has been in use by the three
regions for several years now. This style is part of a joint
communication strategy that is translated into four languages and a
unified communication that includes:
An inter-‐regional walking brochure of 2012, the first joint
information folder of the Sonian Forest since 1993. Every year, an
update of this folder is developed and printed;
The official website of the forest in four languages
(http://www.sonianforest.be/);
A magazine (twice a year)
A participatory approach to promote an environmentally friendly
attitude to visitors: a shared folder 'XII works of the Sonian Forest'
with behavior rules (2014);
A new and consistent design for forest furniture and information
panels.

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Commitment of other policy domains
The preparation of a common vision for the Sonian Forest involved
intense collaboration between the three administrative regions. This
federal state: each region and administration has its own habits, rules
and regulations. The intensified cooperation started in 2005 by
organizing a steering committee every two months. Moreover, a
consultation group which consisted of local governments and other
responsible administrations started to meet annually. This resulted in
improved collaboration in many projects. For example, foresters
cooperated to collect data for the yearly deer inventories.
, the most exceptional result of
our collaboration was the involvement and commitment of other
policy domains. Several domains outside the nature sector were willing
to cooperate in many projects. In 2015, the Flemish Heritage Institute
started a new project to support the UNESCO recognition by the
employment of a research team. Moreover, six ministers of the
respective governments of Belgium have signed an interregional
agreement in 2014 to nominate the Sonian Forest as UNESCO World
Heritage. Since February 2015, Sonian is on the tentative UNESCO list.
Furthermore, several domains even independently started with new
projects on the Sonian Forest. In the context of defragmentation, the
Agency for Roads and Traffic conducted a study on defragmentation
measures in the forest (2009). Afterwards, the Agency was eager to
participate in new projects such as LIFE+ OZON. This would not have
been possible without the collaboration mentioned above.
On top of that, the collaboration has extended to all regional and
(inter)national levels. This is even exceptional in a European context.
This is the real innovation of the project: the start of consultations of
The collaboration with stakeholders was anchored in an official
participatory platform in 2012 which allows public participation and
concrete actions. For example, a working group was established which
stimulated structural collaboration between associations working
around Sonian. These associations would normally not interact due to
the language barrier. It is the intention of the forest managers to

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anchor this unique and versatile form of collaboration structurally in an
innovative open structure: the Sonian Forest Foundation. This
structure will support the further process of consultation and
collaboration. Political consultations were conducted in 2014 to start
the Foundation in 2015 or 2016.

Conclusions
The spatial and ecological well-‐founded common vision has led to a
sustainable nature enhancement
and involvement in the forest:
1. important investments that strengthen the forest internally;
2. an improved protection of the different sections of the Sonian
Forest;
3. external forest expansion;
4. a wider support and creation of the 'Sonian Forest-‐community';
5. a broader network of organisations and administrations that invest
in the forest.

Finally, the success story in the Sonian Forest sends an important signal
to the society: inter-‐regional cooperation, or in a broader sence:
cooperation between administrative and political entities and levels is
possible and improves nature conservation

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LIFE+ OZON project defragmentates the Sonian Forest
Steven Vanonckelen, Projectcoordinator LIFE+ OZON, Flemish Agency
for Nature and Forests, Belgium,
steven.vanonckelen@lne.vlaanderen.be
Anouschka Kuijsters, Project Supporter LIFE+ OZON, Flemish Agency for
Nature and Forests, Belgium, anouschka.kuijsters@lne.vlaanderen.be
Keywords: Natura 2000, LIFE+, ecotunnel, fragementation, biodiversity
hotspot, ecoduct
Abstract
Despite its great natural structure and high level of (protected*)
biodiversity, the Sonian forest is divided in several smaller entities
which are separated by harsh barriers such as roads and railways. In
the last decade, the Brussels part of the Sonian Forest worked hard to
counter the fragmentation by the railway Brussels-‐Luxembourg. A
wildlife crossing, ecotunnel and tunnels for mixed use (animals and
pedestrians) now help to reduce the fragmentation of the forest. The
LIFE + OZON (Ontsnippering ZONiënwoud) project, which was officially
launched in October 2013, gives a new boost to the defragmentation of
the entire Sonian forest.

During the next 3 years, the OZON project will reconnect the natural
habitats of the Sonian Forest by constructing several environmental
infrastructures such as a wildlife crossing. By connecting the habitats of
the animals in the forest again, animals will be able to migrate without
having to cross the existing roads which will greatly improve road
safety. OZON realizes several green infrastructures (e.g. a wildlife
crossing and ecotunnels), increases the nature-‐friendliness of local
forest management (e.g. by restoring forest edges along the Brussels
Ringroad) and redirects recreation to less sensitive areas.

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A budget of 6.7 million euro is available to finance the defragmentation
of the Sonian Forest, of which the EU will contribute half. In addition to
the Agency for Nature and Forest, the Agency for Roads and Traffic and
Brussels Environment, also the municipalities Hoeilaart, Tervuren and
Overijse and the Department of Environment, Nature and Energy of the
Flemish government will finance parts of the project. Recently, the
OZON project also received symbolic support of UNEP.
For further information you can visit the website
http://www.zonienwoud.be/lifeozon/

*Natura 2000 species living in the area are e.g.: Daubenton's Bat
(Myotis daubentonii), Leisler's Bat (Nyctalus leisleri), European pine
marten (Martes martes), Ground beetle (Carabus coriaceus), Palmate
Newt (Lissotriton helveticus) and Eurasian beaver (Castor fiber).

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European Funding for Urban Nature: an Overview
Rik De Vreese, BOS+ Vlaanderen ngo, rik.devreese@bosplus.be,
www.bosplus.be
Clive Davies, MD Consulting Ltd, clive.davies@md2.org.uk
Keywords: project funding, grant writing
Abstract
The presentation will give a concise overview of European funding
schemes with anchor points towards urban forestry, green
infrastructure and urban greening. Europe offers a whole range of
funding schemes, some very strict and topic-‐oriented, others rather
broad and open to innovative ideas. The presentation will include a
discussion of environment-‐oriented funds such as LIFE+, but also
openings within e.g. InterReg of ERASMUS+ will be discussed.

We will also very briefly touch upon challenges and threats to grant
writing for European projects, not in the least finding co-‐financing.

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Crowdfunding and social innovation activating
private capital for afforestation and sustainable forest
management
Bert De Somviele, BOS+ Vlaanderen ngo, bert.desomviele@bosplus.be,
www.bosplus.be
Keywords: private capital, venture philantrophy, fundraising, social
media
Abstract
This presentation will tell the story of BOS+, a rather small but
ambitious environmental NGO focussing on forest and trees in Flanders
(Northern Belgium) and Latin-‐America. We strive for forest
conservation, afforestation and sustainable and multiple forest use.
In a climate of increasing threats to forests, and within the emerging
need to protect woods for climate regulation, BOS+ was confronted
with a rather high dependency of public funds for achieving its goals. In
a timeframe of less than 10 year however, we achieved to broaden the
funding base and saw public funding decreasing from 65% to 35% of
our annual income.
The reason for this shift in funding sources was only to a limited extent
related to the global economic crisis. The shift is also related to a more
intense and dynamic communication model, in which we apply
cooperate communication methods and make use of the potential of
social media. This move resulted in a broader network of sympathizers
within civil society organisations and private companies, people who
feel a sympathy for the trees and forests around us, e.g. within the 10
million tree campaign we are running in Flanders.
It is only recent that Belgium and Flanders arrived into the era of
austerity. BOS+ is rather well prepared to the serious decline in public
funds for NGOs and nature-‐related projects and activities.
Nevertheless, it is still a challenge to activate our sympathizers and to
raise the funds we need for fulfilling our mission.

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Subsession 1a. Sustaining the green infrastructure
Parallel Sessions
Theme 1. Fragmented urban green infrastructure and its multiple
function, and strategic approaches to deal with this
Subsession 1a. Sustaining the green infrastructure (Attick/Zolder)
Mitigating climate change: the role of urban green
infrastructure in offsetting carbon emissions in 35
major Chinese cities
Wendy Chen, The University of Hong Kong, wychen@hku.hk
Keywords: urban green infrastructure, climate change mitigation,
carbon sequestration
Abstract
The carbon balance in urban areas has become a major research
challenge and a principal policy concern in efforts to address
anthropogenic climate change. Rapid urbanization and industrialization
in China urge the search for integrated strategies to mitigate and adapt
to climate change, which not only limit to traditional infrastructure
sectors, but also cover urban green infrastructure, because plants and
soils function as carbon sinks through biotic sequestration. This study
presents a nationwide study about how urban green infrastructure
could contribute to the carbon balance in 35 major Chinese cities. By
the end of 2010, the total area of urban green spaces (the dominant
components of urban green infrastructure) accounts for 6.38% of the
total land area of these cities and represented 51.7% of the total urban
green spaces of all 657 cities in China. Based on empirical data from the
literature, the total amount of carbon stored in the vegetation of the
urban green infrastructure of 35 cities was estimated at 18.7 million
tons, with an average carbon density of 21.34 t/ha. In 2010, the
amount of carbon sequestration totaled 1.90 million tons with an
average carbon sequestration rate of 2.16 t/ha/year. Collectively, only
0.33% of the carbon emissions from fossil fuel combustion can be
offset, ranging from 0.01% in Hohhot to 22.45% in Haikou.
Nevertheless, the dominance of young vegetation stands in Chinese
urban green infrastructure suggests this small carbon sequestration

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efficiency could become substantial in the near future, given that
appropriate policies and management practices are adopted to
promote urban green infrastructure for climate change mitigation.

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Fragmentation and rehabilitation of urban forests in
relation to new town development
C.Y. Jim, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, hragjcy@hku.hk,
http://geog.hku.hk/staff_FT_jim.html
Keywords: Urban forest, Peri-‐urban forest, Forest fragmentation,
Forest restoration, Forest patch coalescence, Plantation forest
Abstract
Hong Kong has experienced fast population growth in recent decades
that demands corresponding intensification of land use in existing city
areas and its countryside envelope. New towns have been built since
the 1970s on previous rural lands occupied by villages, farms and
adjacent hillslopes, in tandem with new lands created by reclamation
from the sea using earth fills. Due to the rugged hilly topography, new
town development involves sprawling up the slopes which may contain
valuable forests. The massive urban growth of nine new towns
accommodating 2 million people has brought extensive intrusion into
farmlands and natural hill slopes, and imposed widespread influence on
pre-‐urbanization natural and cultural vegetation. The conservation
policy emphasizes protecting areas of high ecological value, which
include woodlands dominated by native and mature trees. Recently,
the urban planning mindset and practice have shifted to a sympathetic
and synergistic attitude towards the natural landscape, especially at the
city-‐countryside interface. The study aimed at tracking the changes in
the distribution and pattern of forest canopy cover before and after the
inception of Tai Po new town development in 1979 using sequential
aerial photographs, maps and documents. The following aspects of the
urban tree cover were explored: nature and magnitude of the positive
and negative vegetation changes, geometric pattern and distribution of
forest cover dynamics, fragmentation and coalescence of forest
patches, present forest condition and performance, and factors and
processes leading to vegetation modification and restoration. The
spatial variations in forest cover were characterized by patch geometry
and size, and evaluated in relation to the different stages and forms of
new town development. Both the core urban areas (urban forest) and
the countryside hinterland (peri-‐urban forest) were studied. The
concepts of precision land use zoning, green infilling and assisted relay

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floristic in urban forestry work were proposed. The implications of the
findings to the preservation and creation of high quality nature in
compact urban development were discussed. The forest restoration
could contribute to carbon sequestration and climate-‐change
adaptation in the quest for sustainable development. The findings and
implications of the case study could throw light on nature conservation
and restoration associated with new towns developments in the
developing world.

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Forest in the City - City in the Forest - How planning
principles in forestry could be applied to urban trees in
cities and towns
Astrid Hamm, Citybranchings, Germany, a.hamm@citybranchings.com,
http://www.citybranchings.com
Keywords: urban tree protection, forestry strategies, sustainable urban
tree development, urban human wellbeing
Abstract
In forestry, a change of attitude over the past decades has successfully
lead to positive developments of recreational and commercially used
forests. A tendency towards a higher complexity in forests including
species, structural, and age diversity has shown effective development
of stable and sustainable forests capable to face current and future
challenges of climate change.
However, the situation is quite different for urban trees not part of a
forest, such as street and avenue trees, or individual trees in urban
parks and gardens. Increasing coverage of soils with impervious
materials and land consumption by housing and commercial/ industrial
development, and the infrastructure along with it, are adding
cumulative pressures on urban tree survival. Along with various
negative effects of climate change, urban tree living and survival
conditions are decreasing rapidly. More and more old trees in urban
areas are removed for urban development, or because they have been
damaged and, therefore, are -‐ or are perceived to be -‐ dangerous.
Although many trees have been planted during the past 30 years, more
than 50% of these will not reach their mature age, due to extensive
damages they already experience at a young age. To sustain an
adequate urban forest in highly urbanised areas, administrators and
planers may have to consider new strategies in order to deal with these
issues, using various principles forestry has successfully applied over
the past decades. This presentation will outline current problems, and
how a change of strategy towards a more sustainable urban forest in
the urban landscape could meet future challenges and ensure urban
human wellbeing.

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Key references
Arens, D. (2010). Der Deutsche Wald, Fackelträger-‐Verlag Köln,
Germany 2010 Balder H., Ehlebracht K., Mahler E. (1997).
Strassenbäume. Patzer Verlag, Berlin, Germany.
1. Auflage September 1997
Baron, U., Lenk, E., Hercher, W. (2005): Plenterwald, ein Spross aus
Bauernwald und Weißtanne. Forstliche Versuchs-‐ und
Forschungsanstalt Baden-‐Württemberg (FVA) Germany 2005
Bruce R. F. New Concepts for Street Tree Planting. The F.A. Bartlett
Tree Expert Co. Bartlett Tree Research Laboratories Corporate
Headquarters
Hartje, V. (2013). Grüne Infrastruktur -‐ Modethema oder ein relevanter
Bereich der Infrastrukturdiskussion ? Technische Universität Berlin
Germany 2013
Stiftung DIE GRÜNE STADT (2014). Bäume in der Stadt. Stiftung DIE
GRÜNE STADT Düsseldorf Germany 2014
Wolf K. (1998). Urban Forest Values: Economic Benefits of Trees in
Cities. Center for Urban Horticulture, University of Washington, USA
1998
Zingg, A. (2003): Dauerwald -‐ ein neues altes Thema der
Waldwachstumsforschung. -‐ Inf.bl. Forsch.bereich Wald 15: 1-‐3. Eidg.
Forschungsanstalt WSL Bestandesdynamik und Waldbau Switzerland
2003

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The tree lined streets as green areas connectors
Txomin Diaz, Spain, Provincial Council of Biscay, Forest Service,
txomin.diaz@gmail.com, http://www.bizkaia.net
Keywords: tree lined streets, fragmentations, green corridors
Abstract
When my daughter was a baby and I was going for a walk with her, I
used to listen a song composed by Ron Sexsmith, a Canadian musician.
beauty all year around... Later on, we moved to one of those streets
with big and old trees, the kind of street that looks like a forest. That
made me I understand lyrics much better and I share more deeply
feelings of the songwriter.
In the process of city planning green areas appear in pieces, in
fragments, in form of gardens, parks, squares, groves, roundabouts,
etc. and in most of the cases, the green infrastructure we find is
scattered, inaccessible, disconnected and unequally divided.
In order to enhance the situation in cities from the environmental point
of view and to deal with the lack of green areas´ connectivity, I think
that it is more important to provide the streets with trees than to
increase the number and size of the green areas that already exist.
Streets are communication channels of our cities. They are places
where we move and walk and the nearest places from the houses
where we live. Properly designed and wooded streets could play the
role of green corridors, giving a bigger coherence and solving the
problem of fragmentation.
In that way, if streets become a relevant part of the urban green
infrastructure, the spatial distribution of the green areas would change
remarkably and it would become more compact, accessible, organized,
equitable. It would be like setting a green net over the city map and it
means that citizens interested in enjoying the nature wouldn´t have to
go to the park or gardens but to enjoy simply by walking in the street
where they live.

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I am a forest engineer and I work in management of the public
mountains. At my work I usually need to reforest mountains that
previously have been cut, to restore the vegetal coverage of degraded
areas and to enhance the general situation of mountains. The present
communication is based on my professional experience and I have
proposed some forest measures to be applied in urban areas with a
goal to reforest streets of our cities

Urban Forestry in Pristina and i-Tree assessment
Sami Kryeziu, Kosovo
Keywords: Urban areas, ownership, type of trees, fund of trees. CO2,
SO2
Abstract
With the growth of the world population there is increased demands
for green space and trees in urban areas. At the same time, Kosovo is
faced with growing urban pressure with construction of new and larger
buildings, and loss of green space as a result of a growing population,
especially in the cities. The main goals of this research has been to
investigate the current value of trees in Pristina, the species
composition, the number of trees, the distribution in term of public and
private ownership, and among other things, how much CO2, and SO2 is
absorbed by trees. The investigation was done using the city of Chicago
as a model. The method of sampling was been randomized, Google
Earth applied to locate sample points, and the US Forest Service
software program used for data processing. The investigation was
carried out during the year 2014.

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Subsession 1b. Monitoring and inventory
Theme 1. Fragmented urban green infrastructure and its multiple
function, and strategic approaches to deal with this
Subsession 1b. Monitoring and inventory (Attick/Zolder)

The mobile monitoring of the temperature of districts
and green areas in the urban context through the use
of bicycles
Simone Parisi, Accademia Italiana di Scienze Forestali -‐ University of
Milano, Italy, meteoclima@hotmail.it
Giovanni Sanesi, University of Bari DISAAT, Italy,
giovanni.sanesi@uniba.it, www.greenspace.it
Gabriela Cola, University of Milano, Italy, gab.cola@gmail.com
Raffaele Lafortezza, University of Bari, Italy,
raffaele.lafortezza@uniba.it
Giuseppe Colangelo, University of Bari DISAAT, Italy,
giu.colangelo@gmail.com
Luigi Mariani, Accademia Italiana di Scienze Forestali, Italy,
luigimariani957@gmail.com
Keywords: Heat Island Effect, Urban temperature mapping, Green
spaces cooling effect
Abstract
The use of multiple bicycles in micrometeorological monitoring allows
to obtain precise and synchronous data which are useful for describing
the urban microclimate where various structures are present: urban
parks, urban canyons with different building-‐road height/width ratios.
In this context we provide the case of the Metropolitan area of Milan.
The monitoring activities presented in this work took place during the
summer of 2014 in Parco Nord Milano and the neighboring urban areas
of Cinisello Balsamo and the district of Milan Bicocca. The course
transects were structured to allow a double passage at each point of
the area, yielding more robust measures. The monitoring covered a 24-‐

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hour period characterized by high pressure, hence low breezes, winds
and intense solar radiation. The measurements were conducted from 6
a.m. to 11 p.m. with observation every 2 hours. The transect bike route
was 9 km long, a journey time of 40 minutes and with a total mileage of
over 70 km. High-‐precision thermometers with very low response time
(c -‐PT100 sensors) were used for the micrometeorological
survey, The thermometers were protected by a solar shield and
equipped with data loggers (10-‐second sampling time). These
instruments were placed on the bicycles to acquire 20-‐meter-‐step
temperature data. The data collected during the experimental survey
demonstrated the significant cooling action of the park in the wooded
area where during the hottest hours of the day the temperature falls by
about 3°C compared to areas exposed to direct solar radiation. In urban
canyons, soon after sunset, the transfer of sensible heat from built
surfaces was very slow. In this period the heat island registered
maximum values in numerical terms, exceeding a 5°C difference
between the temperatures measured in the urban park and those
measured in the central area of Cinisello.

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Urban Forests in Europe What can National Forest
Inventories tell us?
Anders Busse Nielsen, University of Copenhagen, Denmark,
abn@ign.ku.dk, http://www.ign.ku.dk
Nathalie Gulsrod, University of Copenhagen, Denmark, nagu@ign.ku.dk
Mariagrazia Agrimi, University of Tuscia, Italy, agrimi@unitus.it
Robert Hostnik, Slovenian Forest Service, Slovenia,
Robert.hostnik@zgs.si
Fabio Salbitano, University of Florence, Italy, fabio.salbitano@unifi.it
Naomi Zurcher, International Society of Arboriculture, Switzerland,
treerap@sprintmail.com
Keywords: Governance, GreenInUrbs, Policy, National Forest inventory,
Urban woodlands
Abstract
Urban areas are expanding their influence on an increasingly large
proportion of forested land located in and around cities and towns.
These forested lands are normally referred to as Urban Forest. It is
currently thought that Urban Forests are under-‐represented in policy
and practice. Data to quantify and characterize the resource are still, by
and large, lacking or fragmentary. An expansion of National Forest
Inventories (NFI) to include Urban Forests will be a major step forward
in their recognition, preservation and protection. Inclusion of Urban
Forests in NFI would be in line with the evolution of forest inventories
as multipurpose resource surveys, broadening their scope to include
additional variables and to encompass non-‐traditional components.
The COST Action FP1204 GreenInUrbs (www.greeninurbs.com) has
therefore initiated a pan-‐European survey to establish a baseline
understanding of how urban forest resources are either considered or
presently recorded in National Forest Inventories. This research is the
first attempt to create such a comprehensive overview. Preliminary
results show that in many countries, valid national overviews of the
woodland component of urban forest resources can be established by

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extracting and analyzing existing data from the NFI. The presentation
will describe and assess:
The type of data parameters that can be extracted from current
NFI data sets and their validity compared to urban planners, -‐
foresters and -‐
Recommend cost-‐effective expansions of NFI methodologies
encompassment of urban forests.
Suggest standards /procedures for a comprehensive definition of
the urban forest and its data collection.
The results can inform and support potential future expansion of
National Forest Inventories to include urban forests and to recognize
their critical contribution to the quality of the urban environment and
the well-‐being of urban dwellers.
The survey is supported by European Environment Agency (EEA),
European Forest Institute (EFI), Food and Agriculture Organization of
the United Nations (FAO), and Nordic-‐Baltic Centre of Advanced
Research on Forestry Serving Urbanised Societies II (CARe-‐FOR-‐US)

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Monitoring of the urban forest - implementation and
realization of the project. A case study of Poznan
(Poland)
Sandra Wajchman, University of Life Sciences, Poland,
Sandra_wajchman@tlen.pl
Roman Jaszczak, University of Life Sciences, Poland,
romanj@up.poznan.pl
Keywords: urban forest, multiple function of urban forest, monitoring
of forest environment
Abstract
protective forests. In the case of urban forests a particular problem is
the lack of proper legal regulations and authorizations the Forest
Service, the inability of obtaining funds from the forest fund for
environmental education and tourism development. The other
problems that occur are connected with the main function of these
areas which is recreation (eg. littering and devastation of
infrastructure). A relatively new problem is motocross racing in the
forests.
The project of urban forests' monitoring is the new tool to deal with
the fragmented urban green infrastructure and its multiple function. It
is led by the Department of Forestry Management of University of Life
Sciences and the forest administrator -‐
The specificity of urban forests and stressful factors result in the need
to monitoring the condition of the forest in order to observe the
changes taking place in it.
Main goals of the project:
determination of the spatial differentiation of forest stand damage
degree,

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identification and analysis of cause and effect relationships
between a health condition of forest stands and biotic and abiotic
features of the environment,
assessment of silviculture system,
indication short-‐term (for the next few years) forecasts of changes
in forest health.
Due to the fact that the project concerns the urban forests, there have
been identified also other fields of activities, eg.:
inventory and evaluation of tourism and recreational
development,
identification, inventory and restoration of degraded areas.

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Subsession 2a. Urban forest users and stakeholders, their perceptions and communication
Theme 2. Re-‐connecting citizens, stakeholders and local communities
with urban green infrastructure and the urban forest
Subsession 2a. Urban forest users and stakeholders, their perceptions
and the role of communication (Zinnerzaal)
User conflicts and awareness of climate change in an
urban forest the case study of the Grunewald in
Berlin, Germany
Neele Larondelle, PIK Postdam and HU Berlin, Germany,
n.larondelle@gmail.com
Dagmar Haase, HU Berlin and UFZ Leipzig, Germany,
dagmar.haase@ufz.de
Keywords: Urban forest, Berlin, climate change, local stakeholders,
forest visitors, survey
Abstract
This talk presents results of a large survey conducted in Grunewald, a
3000 ha forest area in the South-‐West of Berlin, Germany. The survey
was developed in close cooperation with the local forestry
administration and aimed at uncovering user specific needs and climate
change related conflicts. The results were analyzed in order to build up
an improved communication strategy between the administration and
users, which in the past proved to be difficult.
The survey, conducted in summer 2014 in the field and during entire
2014 also as a complementary online version, sheds light on questions
around the urban forest stakeholder
More than 1300 valid answers have been analyzed, making it possible
to
1. Identify and characterize different user groups,
2. Identify knowledge gaps concerning local forestry
measurements for users,
3. Identify reasons for a urban forest visit and,
4. Detect needs for infrastructure and information, and

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5. Reflect on used methods.
Some very interesting findings include (1) reasons for a visit very much
coincide with especially forest-‐related properties, while wishes for
infrastructure reveal the wish towards a managed green space; (2) the
awareness of climate change and respective forestry measurements is
critically low on the local level and (3) answers taken from the field
differ significantly from this taken online in various respects and
suggest a mix of method as a major advantage for future studies.

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Perception of Forest Management in Urban Woodlands
Gerd Lupp, Chair for Strategic Landscape Planning and Management,
TU München, Germany, gerd.lupp@tum.de,
http://www.landschaftsentwicklung.wzw.tum.de/
Lea Seidel, Chair for Strategic Landscape Planning and Management, TU
München, Germany, lea.seidel@mytum.de
Stefanie Raab, Chair for Strategic Landscape Planning and
Management, TU München, Germany, stefanie.raab@tum.de
Claudia Käufer, Chair for Strategic Landscape Planning and
Management, TU München, Germany, claudia.kaeufer@tum.de
Valerie Kantelberg, Bavarian State Institute of Forestry, Germany,
valerie.kantelberg@lwf.bayern.de, http://www.lwf.bayern.de/
Günter Weber, Chair for Strategic Landscape Planning and
Management, TU München, guenter.weber@lrz.tu-‐muenchen.de,
http://www.landschaftsentwicklung.tum.de
Stephan Pauleit, Chair for Strategic Landscape Planning and
Management, TU München, Germany, pauleit@wzw.tum.de,
Keywords: Integrated mutlifunctional forest management, Timber
harvesting, Perception, Lay public
Abstract
Management objectives for state owned urban woodlands in Munich
are to integrate sustainable timber production, nature conservation
and recreation for almost all forest stands. In qualitative interviews
with foresters in charge of urban woodlands, a number of challenges
and conflicts for this integrated management including recreation were
reported. Conflicts with recreationists mainly arise from timber
harvesting activities. We studied the perception of such logging
activities to detect the perception and attitudes of lay persons. A
planned logging in the north of Munich (Hasenbergl) was selected for
the study in November 2014. The logging took place in a forest situated
in between a residential area with high-‐rise blocks and a motorway.
Interviews with recreationists passing by were conducted during the

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three days of harvesting. Almost all interviewees were regular visitors
to this place, 58% claimed being in this forest every day. 31% stated,
that they did not made an observation, 28% of the interviewees noted
recreation activity
Directly asked, 49 % were neutral to the logging activities, 31 %
perceived it negative and 20% considered it positive. Forest
management activities were announced in the local newspapers and an
information leaflet was put close to the trail. 42 % felt informed, 42 %
didn´t and 16 % gave no statements. Most of the interviewees consider
water and air purification to be the most important feature of this
forest, recreation ranked second, nature conservation third, timber
production is important only for 5%. The main threat for this forest was
seen in being logged for new infrastructure and housing or damaged by
communication of state forest authorities, the interviewees only had
results indicate a demand for better and improved communication with
recreationists as well as more involvement of local people in the
management of the neighboring forests. Communication strategies
therefore should emphasize on necessary management activities to
preserve the goods and services of urban woodlands.

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Indicators of urban forests' ecosystem services: a
communication tool for connecting local stakeholders,
citizens and forest administrations?
Marion Jay, Professur für Forst-‐ und Umweltpolitik, Albert-‐Ludwigs-‐
Universität Freiburg, Germany, marion.jay@ifp.uni-‐freiburg.de
Andy Selter, Professur für Forst-‐ und Umweltpolitik, Albert-‐Ludwigs-‐
Universität Freiburg, Germany, andy.selter@ifp.uni-‐freiburg.de
Ulrich Schraml, Forstliche Versuchs-‐ und Forschungsanstalt Baden-‐
Württemberg, Germany, ulrich.schraml@forst.bwl.de
Keywords: -‐
Westphalia, Participation, Communication instruments
Abstract
Urban forest ecosystems provide many goods and services that
influence the well-‐being of city populations, such as clean air or water,
open spaces for recreation, reduced effects of urban heat islands,
mitigation of the impact of extreme flood events on settlements and
infrastructure, carbon sequestration etc.

Urban forest ecosystem services rely on complex correlations between
various ecosystem components and the interactions and trade-‐offs
with other urban ecosystems. The project presented here targets at
representing these highly complex ecosystem services in an
understandable way for a broader public. For this purpose, indicators
for some ecosystem services of the urban forest have been developed
jointly with experts from various institutions. Adequate indicators, the
involved experts believe, should enable cities and their administration
to better communicate about the outstanding services urban forests
can provide for the well-‐being of citizens. Such indicators could be used
as a means of support in discussions or round tables, especially during
public participation processes or involvement of different groups of
laypersons or experts.

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The project grounds in the participative TEEB-‐methodology (The
Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity) that seeks at a better
integration of ecosystem services in local and regional decision making.
In North Rhine-‐Westphalia, four pilot cities between ca. 110.000 and
one million inhabitants take part in the present project: Bochum, Essen,
Remscheid and Cologne. Experts in the fields of forest management,
water, climate, health, environmental education and biodiversity
worked together during local meetings to discuss upon and rank
suitable indicators for various ecosystem services. Afterwards the
results were analysed and discussed during a regional meeting
involving the local experts, the Ministry of environment, climate,
representatives of other North Rhine-‐Westphalian cities.

Based on the revised indicators, the ecosystem services were
exemplary assessed and displayed in a geographic information system.
During a second regional meeting, the maps and results were critically
reviewed. Three main aspects are of greater importance: Do the
indicators strengthen communication with and consciousness of the
city population and stakeholders for the various services provided by
urban forests? Do they strengthen the position of the city forest
administrations and the role ecosystem services play in local and
regional decision making processes? Can indicators be a useful planning
tool for prioritising measures and actions at city level?

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Shades of Green: clarifying terminological ambiguities
in urban forestry to enable citizens, stakeholders and
local communities to understand how to garden for
urban sustainability
Sue Hobley, University of Sydney, Australia,
susan.hobley@sydney.edu.au
Keywords: sustainability, urban forestry, green, gardening practices
Abstract
It is well-‐appreciated that the urban forest plays a key role in urban
sustainability. Nevertheless, the origins of many environmental
problems lie in historical landscaping practices that remain popular
today. Connecting people with urban green infrastructure and the
urban forest must therefore address unsustainable gardening
traditions. This presentation focuses on the problematic English word
green which is commonly used to mean environmentally beneficial and
frequently applied to activities and concepts involving urban forest
resources. Green has several common meanings that describe
landscape approaches that are not necessarily sustainable and this can
leads to confusion and conflicts about what sustainability involves. The
presentation discusses the origins of meanings of green that arose
historically in relation to urban forestry practices and evaluates those
practices against the principles of sustainability. It shows that different
meanings relate to particular choices about plant resources that have
very different outcomes in terms of sustainability. The origins of
significant environmental problems relate to historical practices in
urban forestry that are still popular today and continue to cause
environmental degradation in cities like Sydney, Australia. This calls for
a clearly defined term in urban forestry that establishes the criteria that
are to be met for a concept or action to be classed as green under the
paradigm of sustainability.

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Subsession 2b. Governance, planning, regeneration and partnerships perspectives
Subsession 2b. Governance, planning, regeneration and partnerships
perspectives (Van Wilderzaal)
Trees and Woods in Scottish Towns: Pressures and
opportunities at local government level
Alexander van der Jagt, Forest Research, UK,
alexander.vanderjagt@forestry.gsi.gov.uk
Anna Lawrence, Forest Research, UK, anna@randomforest.ink
Keywords: urban forestry, community participation, local government,
proactive management
Abstract
In a time where an increasing body of evidence demonstrates the
economic, environmental and health benefits of urban trees and
woodlands, local governments in Scotland face severe budget
pressures. Local authorities are the major landowners in many cities
and a key actor in urban forest governance (Lawrence, De Vreese et al.,
2013). Consequently, there are likely to be tensions between statutory
requirements, mainly focused on managing risk, and proactive
management of the urban forest. Direct evidence to support such a
claim is, however, lacking. In partnership with stakeholders from
Forestry Commission Scotland, Arboricultural Association and several
Scottish local authorities, the Trees and Woods in Scottish Towns
(TWIST) study aimed to provide an insight into the state of urban tree
management in Scotland.

We identified a need for research in the following key areas: a) the
location of urban trees and their extent, b) the ownership of trees, and
c) the condition of urban trees. Insights were also needed into the
current staff and financial resources allocated to tree management by
local authorities. We employed a mixed-‐methods approach to address
these questions. This comprised semi-‐structured interviews with tree
officers of nine local authorities regarding tree management in specific

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towns, varying in size and age of tree stock, and a document analysis. In
addition, we also carried out a short survey that was distributed to all
32 Scottish local authorities (response rate: 68.8%). This had a strong
overlap with the Trees in Towns II survey capturing the situation in
England (Britt & Johnston, 2008).

A number of key findings emerged from data analysis, together
painting a sobering picture of the state of urban tree management in
Scotland: (1) trees tend to be perceived as a liability, not as an asset,
resulting in reactive tree management, (2) data on trees is limited,
incomplete and difficult to access, and (3) budgets, already experienced
to be inadequate, are further dwindling. On a positive note, the
majority of local authorities engage in multiple activities focused on
involving communities in urban trees and woodlands. Opportunities for
improving the current situation through knowledge exchange,
development of town-‐specific tree and woodland management plans,
valuation of socio-‐economic tree benefits and community-‐led tree and
woodland management are identified.

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What time is this space?-the role that trees can play in
reclaiming our urban streets as places and destinations
for our culture, creativity and community
Alan Simson, Leeds Beckett University, UK,
a.simson@leedsbeckett.ac.uk, www.leedsbeckett.ac.uk
Keywords: urban streets, urban forestry, green streets, community
Abstract
In his book What Time is this Place?, Kevin Lynch [1976] suggested that
our sense of place is inextricably meshed with our sense of time, this
being a biological rhythm that may follow a very different beat than
that dictated by 'official' time and place. This biological rhythm affects
the way we human beings view change, especially change in our
physical environment, and particularly that in our towns and cities.

City streets are the most fundamental of our shared public spaces, but
they are also amongst the most contested and overlooked. We take it
for granted that so many of them are primarily areas for motor
vehicles, parking and transport -‐ places where people are deemed to be
of secondary importance. This used not to be the case -‐ even a
relatively few years ago, streets were the prime constituent of the
public realm in cities, where social, political, cultural and commercial
uses were to the fore, and which very much shaped and influenced our
personal and mental physical landscapes. You only have to look at the
names of our older streets -‐ history, places, famous local people and
events and other matters of local significance were all recorded in the
names of our streets.

Cities are changing rapidly as the 21st century progresses however, and
along with these changes is a change in our urban streets, the role they
play in the everyday lives of people, the activities that take place there
and our expectations of experiential quality. Streets are returning to be
places of social interaction, but unlike the streets of history, these new
streets function best if they include elements of urban forestry as part
of that experiential quality.

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This illustrated paper will present action research associated with the
concept of 'Green Streets', a series of projects currently being planned
and implemented in several parts of the UK, sometimes in conjunction
with public transport routes, where street trees, other tree planting,
rain gardens, green roofs and wall, urban orchards, natural habitats and
green ways are all deployed with the help of local communities to
rejuvenate their public realms, and return their streets back into places
-‐ destinations for culture, creativity and community. Trees are now
deemed to be LVLO's in the city -‐ 'largest visual living organisms', and
demand the appropriate respect for carrying out this role.

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Reconnecting Bankside Bankside Urban Forest
Valerie Beirne, Better Banside, UK, vb@betterbankside.co.uk,
www.betterbankside.co.uk/buf
Keywords: Green Infrastructure, Mixed Communities, Business led,
London, Regeneration
Abstract
Roman times. Today the area is a dense inner London neighbourhood,
which supports a thriving and mixed community of business, residential
and cultural uses. Due in part to its geographic location, and its history
as a primarily commercial district, the area is deficient in large green
spaces, and in access to nature.
Since 2000, the area has undergone massive culture-‐led regeneration,
the banks of the River Thames. Some 6,000 people live here, 60,000
people commute to work in Bankside every day, and annually well over
10,000,000 people visit the area. This recent large scale regeneration of
Bankside, has meant rapid physical change in the neighbourhood and
increased pressure on our existing network of streets and green spaces.
In 2007, a strategy, Bankside Urban Forest, was developed in
partnership between the public authorities, the local businesses and
local residents, to plan for a better connected public realm across the
area, to ensure that the economic, environmental and social benefits of
regeneration were spread deeper into the surrounding areas,
connecting to other areas of growth.
8 years on, the Bankside Urban Forest strategy continues to thrive as a
long term programme of large and small projects that deliver multiple
benefits from increased urban greening, to improved pedestrian
environments, to temporary creative interventions, to improved
biodiversity.
This practice-‐based presentation will give an overview of how this
innovative partnership and strategy came about, how the local business
community is coordinating the partnership, and will outline the
benefits it is bringing to local businesses, residents and visitors to the
area. It will also give an insight to its future priorities and projects.

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Development of Urban Forests in Urban and Suburban
Areas of Switzerland SUBURBFOR
Michael Schulze, HSR Hochschule für Technik Rapperswil, Switzerland,
mschulze@hsr.ch, www.gtla.hsr.ch
Keywords: Recreation forest, Suburban development, Good practices
in Switzerland
Abstract
Settlement development in Switzerland over the past few decades
caused great loss of landscape and intensified use of natural areas. This
applies both to dense urban areas inside cities, as well as suburban
growth areas. The densification of urban areas leads to an increase of
the population's need for attractive open and green areas near
settlements. Urban forest in the vicinity of settlements can provide an
attractive opportunity for local recreation.
The leisure and recreational use of forests is growing and the
evaluations of the importance of forests use have already been
substantiated in many studies (BERNASCONI, SCHROFF 2008).
In the research project "S5-‐City. Agglomeration in the center",
significance and perception of natural areas are examined in a
densifying settlement region. Recreation areas are crucial for the
and should be the starting point for urban and suburban development
(RAUCH-‐SCHWEGLER, BLUMER 2010).
The goal of the research project SUBURBFOR, with a duration of two
years (2015 to 2016), is to establish, together with pilot municipalities,
innovative blueprints for suburban recreation forests. As a COST (COST
Action FP 1204) financed project under the leadership of Prof. Dr
Susanne Karn, the different preferences of use of recreation areas and
recreation forests, as well as possible relationships between forest
management, design, and recreation, will be ascertained and compiled.
Through a collection of good practices, a typology of recreation forests
in Switzerland will be developed, and the conditions under which the
types of forest in urban and particularly in suburban contexts can be
applied will be examined. The next step is the coordination of the

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different types of forest with requirements of local recreation. It will
develop quality criteria for urban forest concepts and recreation
forests, and guidelines for interviews with experts. With the aid of
actual experience with the requirements and user groups of recreation
forests, test areas in Switzerland will be developed. Finally, innovative
blueprints for suburban recreation forests will be established. The
blueprints will be discussed in workshops with municipal and scientific
partners. The goal is to draw conclusions for conception, design, and
management of recreation forests, as well to set conditions for
innovative urban forests and recreation forests in Switzerland. The
results will be compiled as good practices and recommendations for
the regional planning, realization and development of urban forests,
and published as guidelines.

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World Urban Parks
Dr. Anna Steidle, World Urban Parks, steidle@posteo.de,
www.worldurbanparks.org.
Keywords: umbrella organisation, think-‐thank, partnership
Abstract
World Urban Parks is the new international representative body for the
urban parks, open space and recreation sector. It was created from
IFPRA and Parks for Life.
IFPRA was a unique international organisation, since 1957, providing a
forum for people, organisations and cities managing parks, recreation,
conservation, ecology and allied fields and fostering international and
national cooperation.
Parks for Life was an international alliance of professional and peak
park and recreation associations from the USA, Canada, UK, Australia
and New Zealand. It had an interest in advocacy and aligning global
activities, such as World Parks Day.
WORLD URBAN PARKS is the organisation for the urban parks, open
space and recreation community, for: national associations,
government agencies, city departments, non-‐governmental
organisations, universities & research institutions, businesses,
community groups, professionals and community individuals, and allied
sectors (health, tourism, & resource management)
WORLD URBAN PARKS creates the World Community:
Advocating for access to urban parks, open space and recreation;
researching and demonstrating the health and social benefits of
urban parks; and promoting conservation and effective
management of natural and cultural values to create healthy,
liveable and sustainable communities and a healthy planet
-‐
individuals to credibly advance and advocate for the cause of
urban parks
Partnering with like-‐minded global bodies and sectors to advance
common agendas.
WORLD URBAN PARKS is recognized as the global unified voice for
urban parks, open space and recreation

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Subsession 2c. Reconnecting Soils, Plants & People
Subsession 2c. Reconnecting Soils, Plants & People (Van Wilderzaal)
Quick Urban Forest: A Forest for the Cities of Southern
Europe
Susana Dominguez-‐Lerena, SDL Investigacion y Divulgacion del Medio
Ambiente S.L., Spain, susanad@sdlmedioambiente.com,
http://www.sdlmedioambiente.com/
Rodrigo Gomez, CESEFOR, Spain, rodrigo.gomez@cesefor.com,
www.cesefor.com
Carlota Tarin, ICLAVES, Spain, carlotatarin@iclaves.es, www.iclaves.es
Rafael Rivera, ICLAVES, Spain, rafaelrivera@iclaves.es
Dori Sanz, CESEFOR, Spain, dori.sanz@cesefor.com
Keywords: forestation, dissemination, technology
Abstract
The QUF (Quick Urban Forest) project is a European project, funded by
the Life + Programme of the European Commission, which aims at
contributing to the improvement of the life and environment of
European urban industrial areas by testing and demonstrating the
feasibility of combining forestation related techniques in degradated
areas. These techniques, include the use of mycorrhiza and water
retainers, with the objective of reducing watering requirements,
increase biomass production and improve soil conditions. 30,000 plants
of 6 mediterranean native species have been planted, between 2014
and 2015, using three kinds of treatments (mycorrhizal, retainers and
both together) in demonstration site in the city of Valladolid.
The experimental design of the project consist in control plots and
transepts in which survival and growth dynamics at tree-‐level are
measured periodically. Apart from field data, the impact of the
different treatments is tracked using automatic remote sensing
techniques. Survival rate is calculated applying i) non-‐ parametric Cox
model and Gompertz parametric model controlling the results by

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control plot and ii) Kaplan Meier graphical model (adapted) to the
gathered field data.
The results are being calculated at control plot level and transept level
for i) each specie, ii) each treatment and iii) specie-‐treatment to
analyse the variability and interaction among hierarchical levels. At
species level, our previous results indicate that almond tree is the more
robust presenting, as expected, high survival rate for the existing data
period (starting in June 2014). However, the number of field
observations is rather low comparing to the sensor data, so we expect
to get more information in the coming months. At treatment level, the
main finding is that, on average, Mycorrhiza is the less effective
method and is only slightly significant comparing to Mixed (mycorrhiza
and water retainer together) and Retainer which increase the survival
rate between 40% and 50%.
In this phase of 3-‐year QUF project, we sum up the results concluding
that the applied restoration techniques provide significant
enhancements in Juniperus thurifera, Quercus faginea and Quercus ilex
trees while Mycorrhiza is only effective for Quercus faginea. We have
observed that the combination of both treatments, Mixed, do not
improve water retainers efficiency even though the presence of
mycorrhiza led us to expect better results for this treatment at first.

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Connecting Community and the Urban Forest: A Pilot
Project of an Urban Forest Health Monitoring Volunteer
Program in Oakville, Ontario, Canada
Joe Meating, BioForest Technologies Inc., Canada,
jmeating@bioforest.ca, www.bioforest.ca
Vanessa Chaimbrone, BioForest Technologies Inc., Canada,
vchaimbrone@bioforest.ca
Allison Winmill, BioForest Technologies Inc., Canada,
awinmill@bioforest.ca
Allison Craig, BioForest Technologies Inc., Canada, acraig@bioforest.ca
Keywords: urban forestry, community engagement, early detection
Abstract
Urban forestry in Canada is very diverse and complex. Canada itself is
composed of several forest regions ranging from montane to
deciduous, spread from coast to coast across ten provinces and three
territories. Within this large expanse, the vast majority of the
population dwells in urban and peri-‐urban settings. As a result, urban
forestry is becoming increasingly important to maintain the connection
between people and nature, and the numerous ecosystem services
trees provide. The urban forest is considered green infrastructure
which requires long term management planning, maintenance, and
monitoring to maximize its economic, environmental, and social
returns. In order to increase awareness of urban forestry at the
community level, BioForest Technologies Inc. has developed an Urban
Forest Health Monitoring Volunteer Program (UFHMVP). A main goal of
the program is to harness the enthusiasm of individuals passionate
about the health of their local environment and provide a meaningful
way to be involved. The UFHMVP is an adaptable model for
municipalities, conservation authorities, neighbourhood associations,
and woodlot owners. The program is a tool designed for reconnecting
citizens and local communities with their urban forest. Through training
and educational opportunities, participants are taught how to visually
assess tree health. A hands-‐on active learning approach is used to teach
basic forestry skills such as tree identification, visual assessment of
stem and crown conditions, identification of local pests and diseases,

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and detection of major disturbances. Volunteers are assigned trees
near their property or in their neighbourhood, allowing them to be
stewards of their resident trees. As a result, they develop the ability to
discuss urban forestry issues with other community members and
spread the word about the importance of healthy urban trees. In
addition, trained volunteers can be an asset in the early detection of
invasive pests. A primary goal of the program is for volunteers to
develop a keen eye for forest health and become confident at
identifying tree decline, not only when conducting the survey, but in
everyday life activities. In 2014, a pilot of this program was launched in
Oakville, Ontario, Canada. It generated a positive response with the
community with 100% participant satisfaction. The program has a long
term vision and will run again in 2015. Through participation in the
UFHMVP, community members are able to make a positive
contribution to the management, maintenance, and monitoring of their
green infrastructure.

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Re-connecting plants and people: the restoration of
Kinshasa botanic garden (Democratic Republic of
Congo)
Francesca Lanata, Botanic Garden Meise, Belgium, frlanata@yahoo.it,
www.botanicgarden.be
Steven Dessein, Botanic Garden Meise, Belgium,
dessein.steven@br.fgov.be
Keywords: botanic gardens, biodiversity, environmental education,
landscaping, cooperation, capacity building, North South partnerships,
DRC
Abstract
In the Democratic Republic of Congo about 40 million people depend
on wild and cultivated plants for their daily needs. Nevertheless this
natural capital is threatened by growing populations and by
unsustainable economic activities. At the same time much traditional
plant knowledge is lost due to urbanization.
For young urban African people, the first -‐ but quite often the only -‐
contact with nature is held in the green areas in the city.
The importance of educational and recreational functions of
arboretums, botanical gardens and urban parks is becoming more and
more important in Central Africa to raise awareness about nature
conservation and sustainable management of biodiversity in central
Africa cities.
During the past ten years, Botanic Garden Meise (MBG) played an
important role in fundraising and implementing the restoration of
major Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) gardens.
In March 2010, BGM started restoration work on the 7 ha garden in
Kinshasa. This botanical garden, placed right in the centre of the town,
used to plays an important educational role especially for young people
but it was completely unmanaged. The activities in the garden could
have a considerable impact on the perception on management of
nature by future generations
MBG staff and an environmental NGO with the help of young people

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living in the slums and the streets adjacent to the garden implemented
the restoration of the Garden. This work has shown a glimmer of hope
that activities in botanical gardens can contribute to poverty reduction
by creating jobs.
President Kabila reopened the Kinshasa garden in June 2010, as part of
the celebrations to mark 50 years independence.
Botanic gardens in DRC are symbols of both hope and resilience. During
the past thirty years Congolese botanists and technicians have worked
under harsh conditions: infrastructure was all-‐but destroyed by its lack
of maintenance or by war; living collections were left untended and
needed urgent care; while government failed to allocate financial
resources. Despite this, a core group of devoted researchers and
technici
potential.
Efforts in all DRC gardens aim to reinforce education and awareness in
a country hosting the second largest tropical forest in the world. The
challenge for the coming years will be to support the gardens in a
technical, scientific and financial way to fulfil their mandates.

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Subsession 3. Natura2000 and the urban forest

Theme 3. Natura2000 and the urban forest reconciling ecological
qualities with urban use and urban impact (Attick/Zolder)
Impacts of Geocaching on Urban Woodlands
Gerd Lupp, Chair for Strategic Landscape Planning and Management,
TU München, Germany, gerd.lupp@tum.de,
http://www.landschaftsentwicklung.wzw.tum.de/
Martina Brockard, Chair for Strategic Landscape Planning and
Management, TU München, Germany, martina.brockard@gmail.com
Markus Melber, Applied Zoology and Nature Conservation, Ernst Moritz
Arndt University, Greifswald, Germany, markus.melber@uni-‐
greifswald.de, http://www.mnf.uni-‐greifswald.de/institute/fr-‐
biologie.html
Valerie Kantelberg, Bavarian State Institute of Forestry, Germany,
valerie.kantelberg@lwf.bayern.de, http://www.lwf.bayern.de/
Günter Weber, Chair for Strategic Landscape Planning and
Management, TU München, guenter.weber@lrz.tu-‐muenchen.de,
Stephan Pauleit, Chair for Strategic Landscape Planning and
Management, TU München, Germany, pauleit@wzw.tum.de,
Keywords: Geocaching, urban woodlands, nature conservation,
impacts, Natura 2000, Munich, Würzburg
Abstract
Starting in 2000, geocaching is now widespread all over the world with
still growing numbers of players. In 2014, in Germany around 343.000
active geocachers are registered on the geocaching.com platform and
around 327.000 different caches are available.
In our study, the use and impact of this recreation activity was
assessed. The Forstenrieder Park, a forest and landscape protection
area situated approximately 10 km south from the city center of
Munich was selected as a study area. It is 3.700 ha in size and 45 caches

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caches were selected for a closer assessment. Each of these analyzed
caches was logged between 0.12 and 0.55 times per day on average.
Existing and possible impacts were documented and weighted,
considering nature conservation issues such as trampling of vegetation,
soil erosion, interference with wildlife, nesting birds and bats as well as
interference of other recreationists.
Though the assessed geocaches in Forstenrieder Park seem to have
little to moderate impacts on nature conservation issues, many
examples of severe conflicts can be found. The Guttenberger Wald, an
urban proximate forest 4-‐5 km away from Würzburg´s city center, is
protected as a Natura 2000 site. Old and deadwood trees provide
shelter for a huge variety of animal and plant species, e.g. bats and
different fungi. In late 2012, a series of nine geocaches were detected
on the geocaching.com platform. The locations of all those caches were
on tree tops of a documented hom
(Myotis bechsteinii). To access and log the caches, Geocachers had to
climb these habitat trees using ropes and harnesses. All of those nine
caches had been logged in average 23.6 times (± 3.9) within 35 days
after being published, which is almost twice as often as the average
frequentation of much easier to access geocaches in the Forstenrieder
Park. This case also demonstrated the challenges for urban forest
managers to get in contact with the owner of such caches and to
remove them. Only a few guidelines exist until today and they only
contain general statements and no spatial explicit information about
the suitability of certain sites. Spatial information for suitable and
unsuitable sites as well as training offers for reviewers seem to be a
suitable approach to minimize conflicts with nature conservation
issues.

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Natura 2000 Forests as Urban Forests in Hungary
Katalin Tuba, University of West-‐Hungary, Hungary,
tuba.katalin@emk.nyme.hu
Géza Kelemen, University of West-‐Hungary, Hungary,
ge.kelemen@gmail.com
Keywords: ownership categories, recreation facilities, environmental
education, thematic paths, protection of natural values
Abstract
Natura 2000 ecological network covers 1.99 million hectares in
Natura 2000. It is a higher rate compared to the average of European
countries. The forests cover 829,000 hectares of it which takes up 40
percent of the country.
In our work the advantages and the disadvantages of direct association
of Natura 2000 areas and the inclusion of Natura 2000 areas in towns /
cities were investigated. Fifteen cities were examined considering the
area of the urban forest around or in the city, the ownership
categories, recreation facilities, free time activities, their social
functions and role in the environmental education.
The size of the urban forest of the chosen cities was determined based
on the number of inhabitants, frequency of tourist and thematic paths,
town centre was also taken into consideration.
Both Natura 2000 forests and Natura 2000 urban forests are
predominantly state-‐owned. The chosen cities and towns are situated
near riverbanks or in hilly regions, which are particularly rich in not only
health, environmental and educational services but also provide
amusement, sports and recreation facilities for adults and kids alike. In
Natura 2000 urban forests the ratio of environmental education, the
number of hospitals treating chronic diseases, the chapels and
sanctuaries are significant.
The difficulty in establishing cultural services and recreation facilities in
Natura 2000 forests is that it requires a long and complex official

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procedure to receive the permits. The large number of visitors set back
the protection of natural values.
In the last two or three years the state forest companies have spent
substantial amounts of money on the development of recreation
Hungary is fortunate since several its Natura 2000 forests are located
right next to or at the edge of towns or cities.

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