Simone BorelliAgroforestry/Urban and peri-urban forestry Officer

Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN

Urban parks:balancing city and nature

Side event: Large green spaces and urban forests, key public infrastructure for equitable, healthy andsustainable citiesDate: 17th October 2016, Quito (Ecuador)

“The urban forest of a city is the

network comprising all parks,

woodlands, groups of trees, and

individual trees located in urban

and peri-urban areas”

Provisioning services Regulating services

Cultural servicesSupporting services Economic services

Large urban parks play a unique role in:

protecting watersheds and increasing water quality

conserving local biodiversity

mitigating climate change effects

improving air quality

supporting environmental education

bridging rural and urban areas

maintaining natural ecosystems functionality

Vancouver, Canada

Capivari-Monos national park, San Paulo, Brasil

Nairobi National Park, Kenya

providing access to green and public spaces supporting biodiversity conservation

mitigating the heat-island effect

capturing traffic pollutants

cooling buildings

providing citizens with recreational areas

functionally, physically and ecologically connecting larger urban parks towards

…however, also smaller green areas and individual trees play a key role incontributing to the livelihood of the urban community by:

Indicators A.4Availability of local public open areas and services

“Number of inhabitants living within 300 m of open areas or service divided bytotal number of inhabitant”

European common indicators: towards a local sustainabilityprofile Indicators

Target 11.7by 2030, provide universal access to safe, inclusive and accessible, green and publicspaces, particularly for women and children, older persons and persons withdisabilities

International dialogue on urban sustainability:

Milan Green River Project (Italy)Vitoria-Gasteiz’s GI (Spain)

WOODLAND

SCRUBLAND

MEADOWS

CROP FIELD

HORTICULTURAL GARDENS

PUBLIC FACILITIES

LAKES AND WETLANDS

RIVERS AND STREAMS

NEW DEVIATIONS

Planned growth

Rapid and unplanned growth

FAO Guidelines on Urban and Peri-urban Forestry (2016)

Aim: Assist in developing urban and peri-urban forests as a way of meeting the present and future needs of cities for environmental services, especially in developing countries.

Audience: urban and peri-urban decision-makers, civil servants, policy advisors and other stakeholders

Scale: global, regional, national, local

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Overview of areas where attention is needed in developing an enabling environment for urban and peri-urban forestry: governancepolicieslegal framework

Guidance on planning, designing and managingurban and peri-urban forests to optimize the provision of goods and environmental services for local communities.

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Guidelines for planning and supporting the implementation of accompanying measures, including:

• communication and awareness-raising

• community engagement • development of alliances

and partnerships• identification of research

needs and perspectives

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Guidelines for maximizing the contributions of urban and peri-urban forests to local and global challenges, including:

• climate-change mitigation and adaptation

• food security• health and well-being• employment and income• biodiversity conservation• watershed management• disaster risk reduction• etc.

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Source: European Commission, 2013

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Contact: simone.borelli@fao.org

Thank you for your kind attention