Trends in forest terminology Urban forestry
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Transcript of Trends in forest terminology Urban forestry
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Trends in forest terminologyTrends in forest terminologyUrban forestryUrban forestry
Michèle Kaennel DobbertinSwiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL
IUFRO Working Party 6.03.02
Renate PrüllerSilvaVoc Special Project on multilingual forest terminology
IUFRO
Trends in forest terminology - Urban forestry
• Terminological resources at IUFRO• SilvaVoc and Working Party 6.03.02
• Common guidelines
• Urban forestry: an analytical presentation of definitions
• Methodology
• Results
• Exploration of related concepts• Overview
• Community forest(ry)
• Urban green(ing) – urban forest(ry)
• Conclusions and recommendations
Two complementary initiatives
SilvaVoc• A service within the IUFRO
Secretariat
• A clearing-house for terminological resources in forestry
• A partner in discussions with other international bodies
WP 6.03.02• A unit within the IUFRO
Structure
• A “network within the network”
• A self-defined programme of activities based on the commitment of volunteers
SilvaVoc
• Information and documentation
• On-line Bibliography of dictionaries and glossaries
• Cooperation with the IUFRO Structure
• Editorial activities• On-line terminological database SilvaTerm (English,
French, Spanish, German, Italian, Portuguese, Hungarian, Swahili, Japanese)
WP 6.03.02 “Trends in forest terminology”
• On-line Directory of experts• Electronic discussion groups (B. Haddon, Canada)
• Old-growth forests, natural forests, primary forests
• Reforestation, afforestation, deforestation
• Low forest cover
• Forest health
• Terminological awareness (J. Helms, USA)
Common guidelines
• Show terminological differences
• Apply descriptive rather than prescriptive principles
• Include all languages (in so far it is technically possible)
• Benefit to and from the cooperation with IUFRO forest experts
Can urban forest(ry) be defined?
• Over the years, much time has been spent (and perhaps wasted) in trying to define urban forestry. (G.W. Grey, 1996)
• The term urban forestry is applied to many different situations in a variety of countries; not surprisingly this has led to imprecise definition. (B.G. Hibberd, 1995)
• To date the term ‘urban forest’ is little used in Europe, nor in Sweden in particular. (R. Gustavsson et al., 1999)
• As in all relatively new professions, a lot of effort has been spent trying to define Urban Forestry. (G. Kuchelmeister, 1996)
Urban forestry: an analytical presentation of definitions
Methodology• A corpus of 90 printed and on-line documents, mostly in
English, was searched for explicit or embedded definitions of “urban forest” or “urban forestry”
• A questionnaire was sent to all authors of papers and posters at this Conference
• The 55 resulting sources (=texts + pers. comm.) were analysed for presence or absence of semantic elements of definitions:
What is an urban forest? Where is the urban forest? What are the objectives of urban forestry? What are the benefits and values of urban
forest(ry)?
Results1. What is an urban forest?
CanadaBritish Columbia
Ontario
Europe
Croatia Denmark
GermanyHungaryIcelandIreland
NetherlandsSloveniaSweden
Iran
Asia-Pacific RegionIndia
fore
sts,
fore
st e
cosy
stem
all (
rela
ted)
veg
etat
ion
/ org
anis
ms
Sahel
sing
le tr
ees,
gro
ups
of t
rees
, woo
dy v
eget
atio
n
city
par
ks, g
reen
law
ns, g
reen
spac
e
woo
dlan
ds
North America
Developing countries
Finland
USA
n.d.
n.d.
United Kingdom
• Mentioned in 81% of the analysed sources.
• In Europe, (tree-)related vegetation and organisms are not mentioned.
• In developing countries, the urban forest tends to include mostly trees and parks.
• “Woodlands” do not seem to belong to the North-American urban forest.
Results2. Where is the urban forest?
with
in c
ities
arou
nd c
ities
/ pe
ri-ur
ban,
sub
-urb
an a
reas
/ ur
ban
fring
es
North America
CanadaOntario
Europe
DenmarkHungaryIcelandIreland
ItalyNetherlands
SloveniaSweden
Developing countries
Asia-Pacific RegionIndia
Sahel
clos
e to
urb
an a
reas
tow
ns, v
illag
es /
smal
l com
mun
ities
areas
urban(ized)
n.d.
USA
n.d.
United Kingdom
• Mentioned in 65% of the analysed sources.
• In North-America vs. Europe and developing countries, the urban forest includes green space (or forest) in small communities.
• In North-America vs. Europe and developing countries, the urban forest is not located “close to” urban areas.
Results3. What is urban forest(ry) good for?
• Mentioned in only 62% of the analysed sources.
• Grey blocks: generic typology of benefits.
• Economic benefits are secondary in European countries.
• Difficult to analyse definitions containing only generic typology of benefits -> what can non-specialists and new comers understand behind these definitions?
Canada
n.d.
IcelandIreland
SloveniaSweden
Egypt
Asia-Pacific RegionIndia
Indonesia
economicenvironmental
Finland
United Kingdom
n.d.
Sahel
Germanyla
ndsc
ape
desi
gn
aest
hetic
/ sc
enic
val
ue
recr
eatio
n / o
utdo
or a
ctiv
ities
(mic
ro-)
clim
ate
cont
rol
air p
ollu
tion
and
nois
e co
ntro
l
was
te(w
ater
) rec
yclin
g
fuel
/ bu
ildin
g m
ater
ial
biod
iver
sity
con
serv
atio
n
n.d.
USA
North America
Europe
Developing countries
sociological
publ
ic h
ealth
/ hu
man
wel
l-bei
ng
woo
d pr
oduc
tion
non-
woo
dy p
rodu
cts
shel
ter
Related concepts: overview
• Methodology• Concepts related to UF were listed from corpus and
answers to questionnaire
• Subjective interpretation of definitions was made and frequency of occurrence of various elements was highlighted in order to reveal trends.
• Coverage of the concepts was presented using similar elements as in overall analytical representation.
• Questions• Can synonyms be identified?
• Can generic terms be identified?
• Do other terms need clarification in this context, e.g. urban/urbanized areas, rural, peri-urban, town, woodlands, community forest(ry)?
Related concepts: overview
Partici-pation
Tree
s
Woo
dlan
ds
Oth
er
Ope
n sp
ace
In c
ities
aro
und
rura
l are
as
Rec
reat
ion
Food
/woo
d su
pply
Orn
amen
t
Env
ironm
ent
Pub
lic
Priv
ate
Urban forest(ry)Urban green(ing) urban greenery urban green space public greenArboricultureUrban gardeningGreen belt park belt agricultural belt woodland beltGreenwaysTown forestUrban agriculture(Urban) social forestryCommunity forest(ry)
Owner-ship
Structuralelements
Location Purpose
Related concepts:Community forest(ry)
“The notion of community is a fundamental idea with a myriad of definitions surrounding the concept.” (W.F. Elmendorf)
Related concepts:Community forest(ry)
Community:
1 A group of people who reside in a specific locality, share government, and often have a common cultural and historical heritage.
2 A locality inhabited by such a group.
3 A social, religious, occupational, or other group sharing common characteristics or interests: the business community.
4 The public; society.
5 Joint possession, enjoyment, liability, etc.: community of property.
(Random House Webster’s College Dictionary, 1992)
Related concepts:Community forest(ry)
• Community is diversely defined (if at all).
• Location is a significant element in Europe and in N.A.
• Participation is not essential in Europe.
• Benefits go to the community in developing countries.
• Ownership by the community is the main element in developing countries; it is not even mentioned in N.A. and Europe.
Europe 60
Developing countries3
45
Communal forest(ry)
n.d.
Benefits
North-America36
5455
Europe3740
Developing countries5053
Africa 52Cameroun 49
Asia 594344
Nepal 2442
recr
eatio
nal/e
nviro
nmen
tal
Owner-ship
by th
e co
mm
unity
publ
ic
othe
r
n.d.
USA
United Kingdom
Indiam
anag
emen
t by
the
com
mun
ity
urba
n(iz
ed)
area
s
rura
l are
as (
=sm
all c
.)
shar
ed b
y th
e co
mm
unity
1 2 3 4 parti
cipa
tion
esse
ntia
l
Community forest(ry)
5
Community Locationdefinition #
Related concepts:Urban greening - urban forestry
• “Urban greening is a newer concept and field of study than urban forestry and shares this more people concentrated view.” (J. Park, Trees for Africa)
• “Today there is a consensus among practicians that the term urban forestry can be used interchangeably with urban greening.” (G. Kuchelmeister, Tree City, Germany)
Related conceptsUrban greening - urban forestry
• Confusion about the concept:• Is urban greening = urban forestry?• Is urban greening a part of urban forestry ?• Is urban forestry a part of urban greening ?
• Elements in definitions might allow better distinction:• Green - forest• Environmental aspects • People participation
Partici-pation
Tree
s
Woo
dlan
ds
Oth
er
Ope
n sp
ace
In c
ities
aro
und
rura
l are
as
Rec
reat
ion
Food
/woo
d su
pply
Orn
amen
t
Env
ironm
ent
Pub
lic
Priv
ate
Urban forest(ry)Urban green(ing) urban greenery urban green space public green
Owner-ship
Structuralelements
Location Purpose
Conclusions
• Urban forests can be anything from large peri-urban forests to virtual collections of street and park trees.
• Benefits of urban forest(ry) potentially meet the full range of human and environmental needs, but these needs have different priorities over the world.
• Related concepts and pseudo-synonyms increase the confusion.
Recommendations
• Pseudo-synonyms should be avoided.
• Conversely, concepts covering a scope too large throughout the world should be designated by different terms.
• Universal definitions will necessarily be vague. Geographical and cultural differences in use should instead be highlighted in widespread definitions.