Trends in forest terminology Urban forestry Michèle Kaennel

Trends in forest terminology Urban forestry Michèle Kaennel Dobbertin Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL IUFRO Working Party 6. 03. 02 Renate Prüller Silva. Voc Special Project on multilingual forest terminology IUFRO 1

Trends in forest terminology - Urban forestry • Terminological resources at IUFRO • Silva. Voc 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 Silva. Voc WP 6. 03. 02 • A service within the IUFRO Secretariat • A unit within the IUFRO Structure • A clearing-house for terminological resources in forestry • A “network within the network” • A self-defined programme of activities based on the commitment of volunteers • A partner in discussions with other international bodies

Silva. Voc • • • Information and documentation On-line Bibliography of dictionaries and glossaries Cooperation with the IUFRO Structure Editorial activities On-line terminological database Silva. Term (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) • As in all relatively new professions, a lot of effort has been spent trying to define Urban Forestry. (G. Kuchelmeister, 1996) • To date the term ‘urban forest’ is little used in Europe, nor in Sweden in particular. (R. Gustavsson et al. , 1999)

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: l What is an urban forest? l Where is the urban forest? l What are the objectives of urban forestry? l What are the benefits and values of urban forest(ry)?

Results 1. What is an urban forest? • 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.

Results 2. Where is the urban forest? • 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.

Results 3. 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?

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

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.

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 concepts Urban 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

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.