Sustainable Urban Forestry in Nigerian Built Environments

Ezeabasili, A. C. C.; Iloghalu, I. E.; Okoro, B. U.; Manafa, Ifeyinwa F.

doi:10.9734/jsrr/2015/14613

Cited by 4 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 2 publications

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“…Many researchers have concurred that urban green spaces create a cooling effect [4,5,6] which lasts up to a certain distance [7,8]. Additionally, the urban green spaces also reduce the incident solar radiation [9].…”

Section: Previousmentioning

confidence: 99%

Qualitative Analysis of the Cooling Potential of the Streetside Vegetation of Kharagpur, West Bengal, India

Chowdhury,

Bhattacharya

2023

JSRR

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The urban heat island (UHI) effect is a major challenge in contemporary urban planning. The large number of paved surfaces, anthropogenic activities and combustion of fossil fuels are the major contributors of this phenomenon. Urban green spaces are known to mitigate the UHI. Since streets constitute a major portion of the urban areas, greening the streets can help reduce heat stress significantly. To study the impact of orientation and density of the street side vegetation on their cooling potential in Kharagpur, West Bengal, India. A suitable site, meeting the orientation and the density of vegetation criteria, was chosen for collecting the primary data through an instrument survey. Ambient temperature, surface temperature and solar radiation data was collected from the thirteen cross-sections marked across the site. As part of the preliminary data processing, relative variations of ambient temperature, surface temperature and the solar radiation attenuation was calculated. The values pertaining to these three secondary parameters were used to form matrices corresponding to each of the trees of each of the cross-sections. These matrices were then compared with their corresponding matrices to estimate which side exhibited a higher cooling potential. Besides, a colour-coded matrix was also generated from the calculated shade index to evaluate the amount of incident solar radiation blocked by each of these trees. This study corroborates the previous findings that the shade providing trees can alter the microclimate of the area. Besides, it was also observed that the Northern pavements of the east-west oriented streets are cooler than the Southern pavement. Furthermore, it was also noticed that if the crown of the tree is present at a greater height from the ground, then lower solar angle results in less blockage of the incident solar radiation. Also, it was evident that a higher density of tall, shade providing trees, maximally block incident solar radiation on a street. This study can help in understanding the pattern of cooling potential of the street side vegetation in a warm and humid climatic zone like Kharagpur so that the plantation can be planned judiciously.

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Section: Previousmentioning

confidence: 99%

Qualitative Analysis of the Cooling Potential of the Streetside Vegetation of Kharagpur, West Bengal, India

Chowdhury,

Bhattacharya

2023

JSRR

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“…Another important aspect of a functioning city is its urban forest [4,5] and green spaces [6]. This is because green spaces provide an extensive range of benefits, such as climate adaptation [7], climate mitigation [8,9], erosion control, and physical and psychological comfort [10], and because they affect human senses such as sight, smell, sound, taste, and touch [11].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of Forest on Birdsong and Human Acoustic Perception in Urban Parks: A Case Study in Nigeria

Nwankwo

Meng

Yang

et al. 2022

Forests

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The quality of the natural sound environment is important for the well-being of humans and for urban sustainability. Therefore, it is important to study how the soundscape of the natural environment affects humans with respect to the different densities of vegetation, and how this affects the frequency of singing events and the sound pressure levels of common birds that generate natural sounds in a commonly visited urban park in Abuja, Nigeria. This study involves the recording of birdsongs, the measurement of sound pressure levels, and a questionnaire evaluation of sound perception and the degree of acoustic comfort in the park. Acoustic comfort, which affects humans, describes the fundamental feelings of users towards the acoustic environment. The results show that first, there is a significant difference between the frequency of singing events of birds for each category of vegetation density (low, medium, and high density) under cloudy and sunny weather conditions, but there is no significant difference during rainy weather. Secondly, the measured sound pressure levels of the birdsongs are affected by vegetation density. This study shows a significant difference between the sound pressure levels of birdsongs and the vegetation density under cloudy, sunny, and rainy weather conditions. In addition, the frequency of singing events of birds is affected by the sound pressure levels of birdsongs with respect to different vegetation densities under different weather conditions. Thirdly, the results from the respondents (N = 160) in this study indicated that the acoustic perception of the park was described as being pleasant, vibrant, eventful, calming, and not considered to be chaotic or annoying in any sense. It also shows that the human perception of birdsong in the park was moderately to strongly correlated with different densities of vegetation, and that demographics play an important role in how natural sounds are perceived in the environment under different weather conditions.

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“…However, due to rapid and unplanned urban sprawl, development of social amenities, infrastructure, population pressure and the poor design and implementation of forest policies, Nigerian cities are characterized by a critical loss of urban trees and by extension environmental services (Ezeabasili et al 2015, Wendell et al 2012, Wolch et al 2014.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For instance, Dirisu et al (2015) on a study on Land Use Land Cover Change in Benin City, Nigeria reported a significant decrease in green areas from 53.45% (646.44Km 2 ) of the total land area in 1987 to 24.03% (280.55Km 2 ) in 2013, representing an annual decrease of 2.12%. Another reason is that town planners, government and policy makers are not giving adequate attention to trees and its inclusion in infrastructure and other land allocation priorities (Ezeabasili et al 2015, Mell et al 2013. This is because more attention is given to the tangible market products, primarily timber and fuel wood, discounting its non-commercial environmental service values (Dumenu 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Willingness-to-pay for Environmental Services Provided By Trees in Core and Fringe Areas of Benin City, Nigeria 1

2019

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Economic valuation of environmental services has emerged as a new and more direct argument and incentive for protection of trees and sustenance of environmental quality. This study's aim was to estimate the monetary value for conservation of urban trees and environmental services in Benin City, Nigeria. A Contingent Valuation Method involving a survey of 350 residents was adopted for the study. Flooding and erosion control, scenic beauty, provision of shade and regulation of local temperature received positive rankings and high scores. Thus, an average of US$1.20/month, which yielded an aggregate value of US$1 200 000 to US$1 860 00, was the amount Benin City residents were willing to contribute towards the conservation of trees. This study identified profession, years of residency and indigenous knowledge of ES as significant predictors that can influence willingness-to-pay. The findings provided quantitative data to demonstrate the importance of conserving trees to town planners, forest managers, policy makers and the urban community.

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Sustainable Urban Forestry in Nigerian Built Environments

Cited by 4 publications

References 2 publications

Qualitative Analysis of the Cooling Potential of the Streetside Vegetation of Kharagpur, West Bengal, India

Qualitative Analysis of the Cooling Potential of the Streetside Vegetation of Kharagpur, West Bengal, India

Effects of Forest on Birdsong and Human Acoustic Perception in Urban Parks: A Case Study in Nigeria

Willingness-to-pay for Environmental Services Provided By Trees in Core and Fringe Areas of Benin City, Nigeria 1

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