ASSESSMENT OF ECOSYSTEM SERVICES OF URBAN TREES: THE CASE OF JIMMA CITY

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