Abstract:
The rapid growth of urbanization and global climate change calls for the elaboration and
evaluation of dif erent adaptation and mitigation strategies in climatic circumstances. One of the most important strategies is the planting and preservation of trees and other
green spaces. Trees in the urban environment provide various benefits in climate change
mitigation and urban runof reduction. Therefore, this study aims to assess the ecosystem
services of Jimma City trees using the i-Tree Eco model. Urban trees in Jimma city
sequestered 16.5 kt of carbon and tree species such as Spatodea campanulata, Grevillea
robusta, Borassus aethiopum, Casuarinas cunninghamiana, and Juniperus sequester
high percentage of carbon which was approximately 21.20, 17.62, 8.66, 8.30 and 6.16%
of all annually sequestered carbon respectively. Besides, urban trees of the city were
estimated to store 414.27 kt of carbon; the most carbons were stored by the species such
as Grevillea robusta, Spatodea campanulata, Borassus aethiopum, Casuarinas
cunninghamiana, and Juniperus procera that stores approximately 15.60, 11.30, 10.50, 9.20 and 7.80% of all stored carbon respectively. Trees in Jimma city were estimated to
remove 463.27 tons of air pollution due to CO, NO2, O3, SO2, PM10, and PM2.5 per
year. Additionally, 23.46 m3
/m2
/yr runof was avoided. In the city, the monetary value of
Jimma urban trees in terms of carbon storage, carbon sequestration, pollution removal
and avoid runof was estimated to 69,540,662, 2,769,027, 156,541.20, and 54.95 USD/yr
respectively. To increasing the life quality of urban areas; platforms should be provided
to increase the number of urban trees and increase green area spaces
