Studies on preservation corresponding to the level of deforestation on urban fringes.

Abstract

Forests on urban fringes are very important resources to make the urban district safer and more attractive. However deforestation is unavoidable due to urban encroachment. Therefore it is necessary to find new successful strategies to maintain urban forests. Forests in urban districts decline as population density increases. Each urban district has its own deforestation trend. For example, the data for 34 municipalities in Osaka prefecture over 25 years show various deforestation trends, including deforestation predictions for a 10 percent increase in population in the year 1990 which varied with each district. The highest level of deforestation was 73 percent, with 4 municipalities having a deforestation rate of over 50 percent. On the other hand, there were 10 municipalities with a deforestation rate of less than 5 percent. In the districts with higher deforestation rates, it will be necessary to implement urgent, hard-hitting and expensive measures such as direct government controls. But in districts with lower deforestation rates, indirect and inexpensive means such as environmental monitoring or public information campaigns will be more effective in the long run. In general, it is very expensive to preserve forests in urban districts. But new ideas will save much money and be more successful in achieving this goal.