Enhancing Carbon Sink: Challenges in Urban Forestry of Major Cities in Tamil Nadu, India
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Keywords:
Urban forestry, Cities, Carbon Sequestration, Climate Mitigation, Tamil NaduAbstract
Recognizing the crucial role of green cover in mitigating climate change and improving
environmental sustainability, the research aims to evaluate the existing potential urban green cover and its
carbon sequestration potential, including Soil Organic Carbon (SOC) in the 21 Municipal Corporations of
Tamil Nadu. The study employs latest geospatial technologies to analyze satellite imagery using NDVI and
generate accurate data on the extent and distribution of green spaces in the selected cities. Additionally,
field surveys and vegetation sampling are conducted to estimate the carbon stock of the identified green
areas. It is observed that 11 cities (Avadi, Chennai, Coimbatore, Dindigul, Kancheepuram, Madurai,
Tambaram, Thanjavur, Tirunelveli, and Tiruppur) out of the 21 cities do not meet the minimum
recommendation of the World Health Organisation of 9 sq.m of urban green space per person, and is a
critical point of consideration. The least proportion is found in the completely urbanized Greater Chennai
Corporation, while Nagercoil is the only city with the highest proportion of urban green cover. The total
biomass carbon sequestration by all the cities of Tamil Nadu was 4.25 Tg of CO2-eq. In general, the total
carbon stock in all the cities is very less when compared to the total carbon stock in the forests of Tamil
Nadu. Therefore, there is an urgent need to improve the carbon stock in light to reduce the discomfort level,
offset the emissions, and also to increase soil fertility. From the comprehensive assessment of green cover
in all the 21 cities of Tamil Nadu, it is inferred that though urban forestry is man-made, there isn’t much
attention given to urban forest management. Hence, municipal authorities must pay heavy attention to
increasing the green cover as a seamless effort involving the Forest Department, Urban Development
Departments, and Non-Governmental Organisations.
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