Urban forests as essential infrastructure for climate resilience and biodiversity: A call to policymakers

By 2050, nearly 70% of the global population will live in cities (UN, 2018), increasing the demand for urban green spaces. Urban areas are facing increasing risks from climate change, including heatwaves, flooding, wildfires, and growing social inequality, which challenges urban planning and design. Urban forests form the backbone of green infrastructure supporting resilient, equitable, and sustainable cities. Importantly, their cost-effective benefits advance sustainable development, climate action, and biodiversity conservation. Urban forests include all woody and understorey vegetation within and around dense settlements, from cultivated trees in streets, parks, and gardens to self-sustaining stands in remnant and peri-urban woodlands (FAO, 2016). As essential nature-based solutions (Cohen-Shacham et al., 2016), urban forests provide multiple ecosystem services. They help cool urban temperatures, reduce air pollution, enhance soil infiltration, slow stormwater runoff, buffer extreme weather, and support human health (Livesley et al., 2016). They contribute significantly to climate adaptation and moderately to mitigation by reducing the energy demand for cooling (McPhearson et al., 2023). Urban forests also enhance biodiversity by providing habitats and climate refugia at multiple scales (Alvey, 2006). Trade-offs in urban forest benefits, costs, and the impacts of policy interventions, such as those related to measurement, outcomes, or implementation, remain complex (Vogt et al., 2015), but the loss of canopy reduces air quality, biodiversity, and resilience to floods, droughts, pests, and extreme heat (Nowak, 2018). Canopy loss impairs recreation and impacts physical and mental health (Carrus et al., 2015). Because urban forests are inherently dynamic systems, the death or removal of large and mature trees should be anticipated through proactive planning for their replacement, including careful consideration of which species are selected and why. Unequal access drives social-environmental injustice and health inequities, which can be addressed through greenspace expansion, equitable distribution, and better management (Esperon-Rodriguez et al., 2025). Urban forests are increasingly at risk due to significant stewardship gaps. Despite the existence of international management standards, ongoing tree losses result from pests introduced through trade, climate and pollution stress, inadequate legal protections, rapid urban densification, and insufficient maintenance (Esperon-Rodriguez et al., 2022; Paap et al., 2017; Vogt et al., 2015). Planting alone cannot offset accelerated mature tree losses or replace the vital functions these trees provide over their shortened lifespans in urban environments. Closing the stewardship gap demands urgent investment, robust funding, and stronger policy to sustain diverse and resilient urban forests. Urban forests are among the most effective, equitable nature-based solutions available. When protected and resourced, they cool neighborhoods, manage stormwater, store carbon, support biodiversity, and improve health, especially in underserved communities. Yet mature tree loss outpaces replacement amid increasing climate and biological stresses. We urge COP30 policymakers to treat urban forests as essential and critical city infrastructure: safeguard mature trees, set and finance SMART canopy, diversity and access targets, mainstream urban forests in climate and biodiversity plans, and fund long-term operations, monitoring, nursery capacity, and biosecurity. Implementing this visionary action delivers cooler, healthier, more biodiverse, and more equitable cities now and for future generations. MER and MGT led the initiative and drafted the letter. All authors provided feedback, edited, and agreed with the content of the letter. All authors, except MER and MGT, are listed alphabetically. MER received funding from Western Sydney University's Research Theme Program. KDP was supported by the Research Foundation Flanders (FWO, grant 12A0L25N). RMM was supported by a Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (project DE200100649), funded by the Australian Research Council of the Australian Government. JCS received funding from the Danish National Research Foundation (grant DNRF173) and EARTHKEEPER (Global South Biodiversity Leadership Initiative). CS's contribution was funded by the National Research Foundation of South Africa (grant no 84379). We declare no conflict of interest. There are no data associated with the article.

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Journal
Plants People Planet
Published
2025-11-06
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1002/ppp3.70125
Primary Topic
Urban Green Space and Health
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article
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0.00

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article

Urban forests as essential infrastructure for climate resilience and biodiversity: A call to policymakers

Harini Nagendra, Claire Farrell, Julie Messier, Jess Vogt et al.
Plants People Planet
Urban Green Space and Health
article

Urban forests as essential infrastructure for climate resilience and biodiversity: A call to policymakers

Harini Nagendra, Claire Farrell, Julie Messier, Jess Vogt, Natalie Love, Rachel Morgain, Matteo Clemente, Ingjerd Solfjeld, Robert I. McDonald, Pedro Calaza Martínez, Henrik Sjöman, Carlo Calfapietra, Elizaveta Litvak, Jürgen Bauhus, Stephen J. Livesley, Mark J Nieuwenhuijsen, Albert Bach, Mohammad A. Rahman, Morgane Dendoncker, Olivier Villemaire‐Côté, Linsheng Wen, Theodore A. Endreny, Ujala Ejaz, Gabriele Manoli, Rossano Schifanella, Lukas G. Olson, Johan Östberg, Rachael V. Gallagher, Sivajanani Sivarajah, Renée M. Marchin, Alessio Russo, Tiago Capela Lourenço, Peter B. Reich, Paloma Cariñanos, Paul D. Rymer, P.K. Sen, Sylvia Wood, Annick St‐Denis, Carly D. Ziter, Christian Messier, Ana Alice Eleutério, Kees de Hoogh, Timon McPhearson, Timothy J. Gates, Peta Jeffries, María Toledo‐Garibaldi, Nanamhla Gwedla, Geoffrey M. Williams, Michael Osei Asibey, Johanna Deak Sjöman, Tenley M. Conway, Karen De Pauw, Peter N. Duinker, Pierre Masselot, Vı́ctor L. Barradas, Benno A. Augustinus, Thomas B. Randrup, Diego Esperón Rodríguez, Linda J. Beaumont, Mark G. Tjoelker, Alexander J.F. Martin, Jonah Susskind, Matthew Brookhouse, Stefan K. Arndt, Mingxuan Wan, Mahmuda Sharmin, Sally A. Power, Cynnamon Dobbs, Diane E. Pataki, Charlie M. Shackleton, David Nicholas Barton, F. Richard Hauer, Manuel Esperón‐Rodríguez, Jean-Bosco Benewinde Zoungrana, Mónica Ballinas, Edith Juno, Sebastian Pfautsch, Martin Hermy, Christopher Szota, Zhengfei Guo, Jens‐Christian Svenning, Yuyu Zhou, Jean‐François Bissonnette, Hong Wu, Pengbo Yan, Nicholas Morrow Williams, Gervais Lee, Rachel Knudten, Megan Shooter, Davide Siclari, Ariane Wagenknecht, Subashini Anuradha Wijeratne
article en

Abstract

By 2050, nearly 70% of the global population will live in cities (UN, 2018), increasing the demand for urban green spaces. Urban areas are facing increasing risks from climate change, including heatwaves, flooding, wildfires, and growing social inequality, which challenges urban planning and design. Urban forests form the backbone of green infrastructure supporting resilient, equitable, and sustainable cities. Importantly, their cost-effective benefits advance sustainable development, climate action, and biodiversity conservation. Urban forests include all woody and understorey vegetation within and around dense settlements, from cultivated trees in streets, parks, and gardens to self-sustaining stands in remnant and peri-urban woodlands (FAO, 2016). As essential nature-based solutions (Cohen-Shacham et al., 2016), urban forests provide multiple ecosystem services. They help cool urban temperatures, reduce air pollution, enhance soil infiltration, slow stormwater runoff, buffer extreme weather, and support human health (Livesley et al., 2016). They contribute significantly to climate adaptation and moderately to mitigation by reducing the energy demand for cooling (McPhearson et al., 2023). Urban forests also enhance biodiversity by providing habitats and climate refugia at multiple scales (Alvey, 2006). Trade-offs in urban forest benefits, costs, and the impacts of policy interventions, such as those related to measurement, outcomes, or implementation, remain complex (Vogt et al., 2015), but the loss of canopy reduces air quality, biodiversity, and resilience to floods, droughts, pests, and extreme heat (Nowak, 2018). Canopy loss impairs recreation and impacts physical and mental health (Carrus et al., 2015). Because urban forests are inherently dynamic systems, the death or removal of large and mature trees should be anticipated through proactive planning for their replacement, including careful consideration of which species are selected and why. Unequal access drives social-environmental injustice and health inequities, which can be addressed through greenspace expansion, equitable distribution, and better management (Esperon-Rodriguez et al., 2025). Urban forests are increasingly at risk due to significant stewardship gaps. Despite the existence of international management standards, ongoing tree losses result from pests introduced through trade, climate and pollution stress, inadequate legal protections, rapid urban densification, and insufficient maintenance (Esperon-Rodriguez et al., 2022; Paap et al., 2017; Vogt et al., 2015). Planting alone cannot offset accelerated mature tree losses or replace the vital functions these trees provide over their shortened lifespans in urban environments. Closing the stewardship gap demands urgent investment, robust funding, and stronger policy to sustain diverse and resilient urban forests. Urban forests are among the most effective, equitable nature-based solutions available. When protected and resourced, they cool neighborhoods, manage stormwater, store carbon, support biodiversity, and improve health, especially in underserved communities. Yet mature tree loss outpaces replacement amid increasing climate and biological stresses. We urge COP30 policymakers to treat urban forests as essential and critical city infrastructure: safeguard mature trees, set and finance SMART canopy, diversity and access targets, mainstream urban forests in climate and biodiversity plans, and fund long-term operations, monitoring, nursery capacity, and biosecurity. Implementing this visionary action delivers cooler, healthier, more biodiverse, and more equitable cities now and for future generations. MER and MGT led the initiative and drafted the letter. All authors provided feedback, edited, and agreed with the content of the letter. All authors, except MER and MGT, are listed alphabetically. MER received funding from Western Sydney University's Research Theme Program. KDP was supported by the Research Foundation Flanders (FWO, grant 12A0L25N). RMM was supported by a Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (project DE200100649), funded by the Australian Research Council of the Australian Government. JCS received funding from the Danish National Research Foundation (grant DNRF173) and EARTHKEEPER (Global South Biodiversity Leadership Initiative). CS's contribution was funded by the National Research Foundation of South Africa (grant no 84379). We declare no conflict of interest. There are no data associated with the article.

Plants People PlanetVol. 8(1)
Purchase College (US), Fujian Normal University (CN), Australian National University (AU), DePaul University (US), Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (ES), The Nature Conservancy (US), Meise Botanic Garden (BE), Université Joseph Ki-Zerbo (BF), Dalhousie University (CA), University of Minnesota (US), Pennsylvania State University (US), National Wildlife Federation (US), Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (US), Shahjalal University of Science and Technology (BD), Institute for Scientific Interchange (IT), Stockholm Resilience Centre (SE), Università degli Studi della Tuscia (IT), Hong Kong Baptist University (HK), University of British Columbia (CA), Azim Premji University (IN), University of Waterloo (CA), Charles Sturt University (AU), SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry (US), Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute (CH), Université du Québec à Montréal (CA), Queensland University of Technology (AU), Stockholm University (SE), The University of Melbourne (AU), Universidade Federal da Integração Latino-Americana (BR), Universitat Pompeu Fabra (ES), Universidad de Granada (ES), University of Basel (CH), University of Toronto (CA), Universidad de Los Andes, Chile (CL), University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point (US), Universidad de Guadalajara (MX), Research Institute for Nature and Forest (BE), Rhodes University (ZA), Aarhus University (DK), University of Michigan (US), Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (GB), Bay Area Discovery Museum (US), Center for Plant Conservation (US), Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (GB), Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (CH), United Nations Human Settlements Programme (KE), Barcelona Biomedical Research Park (ES), General Electric (Canada) (CA), Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (GH), Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SE), Göteborgs Stads (SE), Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies (US), Ghent University (BE), Université du Québec en Outaouais (CA), Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (DE), University of Oxford (GB), The Nature Conservancy (CO), Sustainability Institute (ZA), Instituto Andaluz de Ciencias de la Tierra (ES), Centro Nacional de Información Geográfica (ES), College of Tourism (BG), National Institute for Demographic Studies (FR), Center for Northern Studies (CA), Spanish Clinical Research Network (ES), Faculty of Design (SI), Forest Research Institute (BG), Research Institute on Sustainable Economic Growth (IT), Centre de Géomatique du Québec (CA), Science Oxford (GB), Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ES), Norwegian Institute for Nature Research (NO), Instituto de Ecología (MX), Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Epidemiología y Salud Pública (ES), Ecosystem Sciences (AU), Chicago Botanic Garden, Guilin Tourism University, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (CH), Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NO), University of Turin (IT), Arizona State University (US), New York University (US), Concordia University (CA), Western Sydney University (AU), Michigan State University (US), University of Hong Kong (HK), Centro de Estudios Científicos (CL), Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (MX), UCLouvain (BE), Macquarie University (AU), KU Leuven (BE)
Australian Government, National Research Foundation, Danmarks Grundforskningsfond, Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek, Vlaamse regering, Western Sydney University
Openalex Percentile: Top 58%
Urban Green Space and Health
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