Urban forests should be treated as ‘essential infrastructure’ amid climate crisis

A new study, led by Dr Manuel Esperon-Rodriguez, an urban ecologist at Bangor University, has issued a warning amid a summer that has seen a brutal heat wave grip Europe, breaking temperature records across the continent.

The paper, published by Public Library Science, argues that despite cities coming under increasing strain due to rising global temperatures one of our most effective forms of climate infrastructure is being lost.

It argues that immediate and sustained investment along with legal protection is crucial to safeguard urban forests, which includes both individual trees and woodland in cities, towns and suburbs, and that without key changes to the way they are managed, the ecological, social, and economic benefits they provide will remain under threat.