Context: Greater focus on forest and forest like areas in Urban settings have increased interest in Arboriculture.
About Arboriculture
- Arboriculture is a branch of horticulture involved in cultivating and managing and maintaining trees, shrubs and other woody plants in urban and suburban settings.
- Arboriculture differs from urban forestry in the sense that urban forestry deals with the management of forests as systems (or groups of trees) in an urban setting.
- Arboriculture deals with the planting of trees, management through mulching, thinning and tending, ‘training’, fertilizer application, irrigation, pruning, and disease and pest management.
- Arboriculture also means assessing existing trees and vegetation to ensure protection to the valued in this category. Valuable trees within an urban area cannot be lost. Very often older trees may need careful pruning and tending to.
- Amenity Trees: The main focus of Arboriculture is on so-called ‘Amenity Trees’. Amenity trees are maintained primarily for landscape purposes for the benefit of human beings Amenity Trees are found those found in private gardens, public parks and open spaces, schools, churchyards, playgrounds, urban woodlands and nature reserves and alongside roads, railway lines and routes for utilities like electricity pylons.
Significance of Arboriculture
Environment
- Trees and shrubs are very effective in urban settings, for sequestering carbon and accumulating it in the form of biomass in the soil.
- Healthy trees and shrubs act as a hedge against disproportionate heating of the urban landscape (Heat Island).
Preserving Habitats
- Trees are home to a host of species. Trees and plants offer shelter and food to insects, birds, squirrels and more.
Aesthetics
- An urban landscape dotted with healthy plants and shrubs adds to the aesthetics of the locality. It also acts as a catalyst for overall wellbeing of the residents.
Challenges
According to present-day thinking, planting trees cannot be an unplanned activity to meet green targets.
- Planting wrong trees at the wrong place can affect the soil, water flows, biodiversity, and air quality.
- Valuable trees within an urban area cannot be lost. Very often older trees may need careful pruning and tending too. However more focus is given to new plantation.