A Bioeconomy Science Institute-led paper, published recently, highlights the growing need to protect and improve urban forests.

Priorities, concerns, and potential compromises amongst Urban Forest Stakeholders: International lessons from Aotearoa New Zealand outlines the benefits of urban forests – including providing habitat for wildlife, improving human health and preventing and mitigating climate change impacts.

Published in the Urban Ecosystems journal in September, it also outlines the challenges involved with establishing and maintaining such forests and why these are increasing.

These insights are based on results from the inaugural Urban Forest Futures Symposium that aimed to identify the priorities and challenges of New Zealand stakeholder groups such as planners, arborists and indigenous peoples.

The paper had 28 co-authors from 18 different organisations, as well as several iwi, showing the importance many sectors place on urban forests and the need to address the associated challenges.

Further urban forests content:

• Recordings of the Urban Forest Futures Symposium sessions
• Research set to drive urban greening revolution in Aotearoa