An urban forest encompasses the trees and shrubs in an urban area, including trees in yards, along streets and utility corridors, in protected areas, and in watersheds.This includes individual trees, street trees, green spaces with trees, and even the associated vegetation and the soil beneath the trees.Urban forest help to maintain Urban Biodiversity and that is vital to maintain City Resilience.

In many regions, urban forests are the most extensive, functional, and visible form of green infrastructure in cities. Green infrastructure is the natural and semi-natural infrastructure within a city that provides ecosystem services like stormwater management or air pollution abatement. Geen Infrastructure is a must in cities of countries like India.Many cities have forests in the heart of the city like Chennai.There are Green Belts in many cities and sometime they interact with rural urban fringe. There are many open spaces in cities like Aligarh.

What Challenges Do Urban Forests Face?

1. Difficult growing conditions. Urban environments create challenging conditions for tree growth. Exposure to pollutants, high temperatures, extreme drought and inundation, and limited space above- and below-ground inhibit proper root and crown formation and increase susceptibility to insects and disease.
2. Insufficient resources for proper care. Proper maintenance is critical to a thriving urban forest, but it demands time, resources, and coordination from municipal governments. It may also be difficult to prioritize for financially constrained private property owners. Limited resources also hinder efforts to inventory public and private green space. In some cases, the maintenance responsibility of trees and forests may be unclear due to limited details of land ownership or tenure.
3. Encroachment from development. Pressure from development—either as expansion or infill—often results in loss of urban forest canopy and other green spaces.
4. Incomplete public understanding of the benefits provided by the urban forest. Urban trees are often viewed as a financial burden or risk, but the benefits they provide may be poorly understood and undervalued by the public and by decision-makers.

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