ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on urban forests, and considers the role of environmental planners in their planning and management. The chapter shows the importance of urban forests in providing ecological services. It demonstrates the fragmented policy response towards urban forest issues. The chapter highlights exemplary responses to the management of urban forests. It also explains how knowledge from new technologies can contribute to improved management strategies. Environmental planners are gradually recognising that green infrastructure such as urban forests can ameliorate a wide range of negative environmental impacts associated with urbanisation. Ecosystem services provided by urban forests include: noise abatement, light diffusion, wind protection, soil stabilisation, carbon sequestration and pollutant interception. In most urban areas of Australia, local government is largely responsible for the day-to-day regulation or management of urban forests. Roadside vegetation can also play a role as pathways linking urban green areas and facilitating the movement of wildlife between habitats.
