Urban Community Power: Enhancing Urban Forest Diversity and Reversing Ecosystem Disservices in Zomba City, Malawi

Patrick J Likongwe,Lois Kamuyango,Hesekia Garekae,Frank B Chimaimba,Treaser Mandevu,Sosten S Chiotha

doi:10.3390/land10111258

Patrick J Likongwe, Lois Kamuyango + Show 4 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/land10111258

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Journal: Land	Publication Date: Nov 17, 2021
Citations: 1	License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: Rhodes University, University of Malawi

Abstract

Tree species diversity in urban green spaces supports the provision of a wide range of urban ecosystem services, well studied in developed countries and less so in developing countries, where little is discussed concerning the role of urban communities in addressing the eminent threat facing green spaces. A study was, therefore, conducted to assess the impact of community involvement in the management of urban green spaces, which is mostly left in the hands of the central government in most developing countries. Two hills, namely, Sadzi and Chiperoni hills, were selected within Zomba city, where the latter has no community involvement in managing it. Trees with diameters at breast height (DBH) of ≥5 cm were measured and identified to species level from 25 sampled plots (20 × 20 m each). The results found a total of 51 species, 40 genera and 17 families, with the Fabaceae family dominant in both hills. A Shannon index of above 3.0 was recorded from both hills, with a greater tree density for Sadzi hill at 695 trees/ha. Sadzi hill has gained more than a twofold increase in green cover, while Chiperoni has lost 10%. Despite being in the regenerating phase, the community management is contributing to urban green space provision, ecosystem services and biodiversity conservation.

Highlights

In pursuit of sustainable cities, urban green spaces (UGS) are increasingly recognized worldwide as a fundamental resource [1,2,3]
With the successes scored from Sadzi hill, urban community management has illustrated its importance in natural resource management and its resulting contribution towards biodiversity conservation, the availability of urban green spaces and the related ecosystem services and disservices
With the higher estimated potential of species richness for Chiperoni hill, supported with community management, the hill can highly compete with Sadzi hill in biodiversity conservation, provision of green spaces and a myriad of ecosystem services

Summary

Introduction

In pursuit of sustainable cities, urban green spaces (UGS) are increasingly recognized worldwide as a fundamental resource [1,2,3]. Urban green spaces are known to provide cultural benefits including, among others, spiritual and religious significance, symbolic values, educational values, recreational values and property value improvement [5,6]. They are recognized in regulating local weather [7], reducing water runoff [8], improving air quality [9,10] and conserving biodiversity. Central to these urban green spaces are trees and forests which bring an important vegetation component [11,12]. Statistics indicate that urban green spaces are depleting at an alarming rate across the globe [13]

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