Johan Östberg is a researcher and lecturer at the Swedish University of Agricultural Science (SLU). His work focusses on urban forestry and the opportunities and the problems this can cause, and how municipalities and other organizations best can maintain the urban trees.

More than 75% of Europe’s population live in cities, which are places where radical landscape change has replaced natural surfaces with impermeable paving and buildings and where human activities that generate pollution are concentrated. Green infrastructure (parks, lawns, trees, etc.) can offset many of the undesirable aspects of urban environments and is increasingly integrated into city planning.

Trees in particular provide a host of environmental functions including shade, wind control, air quality, carbon sequestration, noise control, hydrological management and biodiversity. In addition they have been linked to improved health and well-being. On the other hand, if not managed, they can damage pavements and buildings and disrupt underground pipes and networks.

This event focusses on the population of trees in cities that comprise an urban forest. It provides a introduction to a collaborative project on Mapping Dublin’s Tree Canopy; the partners include UCD (Geography), Dublin City Council, Fingal County Council, South Dublin County Council, Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown Council and the Office of Public Works. The outcomes of the project will provide a baseline that will allow us to estimate the ecosystem services provided by Dublin’s forest, compare ourselves to other cities and influence strategic management of this resource.

More information on the project can be found at the project website https://dublintrees.wordpress.com/

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