The plantation forestry is economically a very important industry in South Africa because it promotes the upliftment of many rural South African communities. However, afforestation has significant impacts on water use and biodiversity in a catchment. Thus, understanding the effects of afforestation on water resources at the catchment level is fundamental for optimal water resource allocation, long-term sustainable use, development and conservation. Much of the Limpopo Province is climatically and physiographically suitable for plantation forestry but it only contains approximately 4.7 % of the total existing plantation area in South Africa. For example, the size of the Letaba Catchment of the Limpopo Province is 13 669 km² but only approximately 484 km² of it is currently afforested. This study aims to identify potential areas for further afforestation in the Letaba Catchment using the Water Resources Modelling Platform (WReMP) model to determine if afforestation can be expanded here to promote development in South Africa‟s poorest Province. / Geography / M. Sc. (Geography)

The daunting tasks of responding to climate change and ensuring sustainable development (SD) are high on the political agenda among world leaders. From the onset, the clean development mechanisms (CDM) outlined in Article 12 of the Kyoto Protocol (KP), state that CDM activities should contribute to SD in the host country while reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emission. Nevertheless, many scholars have criticized CDM for failing to deliver on its twin objectives. In Ethiopia in particular, there was lack of afforestation/reforestation (A/R) CDM research specific to the nation; specifically, research as to whether A/R-CDM met the stipulated twin objectives of SD and mitigation (reducing GHG). This study was conducted in the Humbo district of Wolyaita Zone, Southern Nations - Nationality and People Regional (SNNPR) state of Ethiopia, where A/R-CDM was implemented in pursuit of these twin objectives. Humbo is located between 6°46’48.47 and 6°41’04.28N; and between 37°48’35.44 and 37° 55’14.51E, between altitudinal gradients 1200 and 1900 m.a.s.l. The climate of the study area is characterized by annual temperatures between 25°C and 28°C, and by total annual rainfall between 800 to 1000 mm. The objectives of the study were to quantify the change of above ground and below ground carbon pools of native tree species; to assess the attractiveness of FMNR forestry practices; to examine A/R-CDM contributions to community level SD; and to assess the effectiveness of climate change mitigation policy founded on native tree species-based A/R-CDM. Data regarding above ground biomass (AGB) and below ground biomass (BGB) carbon pools of native tree species was collected through non-destructive techniques to quantify the change in carbon sequestration and associated carbon trading. A multi-stage random cluster household (HH) sampling approach was used to assess the attractiveness of farmer managed natural regeneration (FMNR) forestry practice. To examine the contribution of A/R-CDM to community level SD, three dimensions of SD were evaluated, namely; (local) environmental, social, and economic. Two indicators were considered per each dimension. With regard to local environmental SD, community access to natural resources, as well as changes to the local climate were considered. With regard to the social dimension, job creation and changes to social support structures were considered. With regard to the economic dimension, economic activities of the area and local skill development were considered. Focus group discussions and key informant interviews were used to triangulate the survey as well as to assess policy perspectives. Results revealed that the Humbo native tree species based A/R-CDM, which employed FMNR forestry practices, sequestered a net total of 73,138; 84,848; 103,769 and 111,657 tCO2e along 2011, 2014, 2015 and 2016 years, respectively, across 2,728 ha. In terms of carbon leakage due to fuel wood collection activity displacement, a net zero was found since the average volume of fuelwood collected from the project area, after the area was closed off, was found to be 5.1 - 6.1 M3, while before the area was closed off, that number was 4.3 M3. This was due to the project employing FMNR forestry practices. Similarly, the leakage due to livestock grazing activity displacement also was found to be a net zero, since the number of animals grazing on land adjacent to the project area after four years of the area’s being closed off reached 11,383 cattle, 429 donkeys and 4,108 goats, unlike 8,684 cattle and 2,288 goats before the project. In other words, the number of livestock owned by farmers on the land adjacent to the project site was not adversely affected by the closing off of the site, which prevented grazing on the area allocated to A/R-CDM. The livestock management training provided by project developer improved the farmers’ rearing efficiency. Another expected leakage due to soil pitting for A/R was also found to be nil since soil disturbance did not take place because of FMNR practices. These results indicated that systematic regeneration of native tree species through FMNR forestry practices is an effective method to develop carbon sinks. From the point of view of FMNR attractiveness, the results revealed that the practice improved land cover change. The use of FMNR avoided the projected eight years reforestation investment cost of US$ 2,751,312.00 which could have been used if plantation forestry was undertaken. This showed that Humbo A/R-CDM might not have happened if FMNR is had not been introduced, as CDM has no pre-finance mechanism. With regard to community level SD contributions, the establishment of forest protection and development farmers’ cooperatives, as well as the granting of communal land-user rights certification, resulted in legal ownership of the land to the community, whereas before, the land was considered “no man’s land,” and subject to open access. The land-user rights and carbon ownership in turn empowered the community to sign a contract with an international carbon credit buyer. In terms of the local microclimate, the regeneration of native tree species was correlated with increased rainfall in the area in June, July, August and September (JJAS) and March, April and May (MAM). This suggested that the native tree species based A/R-CDM project played a role in improving the local microclimate. In terms of sociological SD, the study showed that new employment opportunities were created including tree pruning, thinning, forest guarding, and jobs at the community warehouse and community flourmill. The availability of employment opportunities was significantly higher for those who participated in the Humbo A/R-CDM, when compared to those who didn’t. In terms of social support structures, in less than ten years, seven Humbo A/R-CDM project owner farmers’ cooperatives, initially established as owners of the project, evolved into one forest protection and development Union. This enabled the institutionalization of grassroots organizations towards a common communal and international agenda of care for the environment. In terms of economic effects, the project enabled a carbon credit contract worth a total of US$ 3,873,298.00, signed at the sell rate of US$ 4.4 per tCO2e, for a total of 880,295 tCO2e across a 30 year crediting period. This is a new business model for the community, the country, and global businesses, all doing their part in climate change mitigation - CDM. As of the first A/R-CDM verification, the community received a total of US$ 321,807.2 in 2011. Consequently, the community received 373,331.2 in 2014, 456,583.6 in 2015 and 491,290.8 in 2016. In terms of revenue from logging, selective harvesting is planned to take place in years 12, 24 and 36. The community is projected to earn at least US$ 15,150.00 per ha1 (a total of US$ 3.9 million) from the first forest harvest in year 12 alone. These benefits in emission reduction (ER) and SD suggest that massive cross-dimensional benefits were foregone due to the country’s refusal to welcome A/R-CDM in its first commitment period, despite having 36,434,400 ha of land eligible for A/R. The research results in the area of policy perspectives indicated that the Humbo A/R-CDM project, the only one of its kind in Ethiopia, was made possible by environment related constitutional provisions, especially those pertaining to land-user rights, and the existence of a nationally standardized definition of forest that complies with international range. Additionally, the timely ratification of the Kyoto Protocol (KP), the establishment of a designated national authority (DNA) and a letter of approval by the DNA to the project developer were found to be enablers. Yet, defining land use, clarifying carbon ownership rights and bringing an inclusive benefit sharing mechanism for forest carbon are among the key instruments the country has yet to put in place to prove local readiness for such development opportunities. The Humbo A/R-CDM also undertook voluntary assessments to obtain additional certification in the form of the Climate Community Biodiversity (CCB) certification, and was certified to be of gold standard for its premium. However, there were no benefits to the host community and project developer from the CCB gold standard certification. Such ambiguity could have been cleared from the onset. This implied whenever going for market and/or result based climate change mitigation, it is necessary to understand the provisions. This study revealed that the Humbo native tree species-based A/R-CDM via FMNR forestry practices met the CDM twin objectives as specified in Article 12 of the KP in 1997, namely the double aims of achieving mitigations of GHG emissions and assisting developing countries inSD. Yet, more research is needed to understand all eligible A/R carbon pools sequestered at Humbo A/R-CDM site. / Environmental Sciences / Ph. D. (Environmental Management)

Abstract In Paper [I], I develop the FOR-DICE model to analyze optimal global forest carbon management. The FOR-DICE is a simple framework for assessing the role of the boreal, tropical, and temperate forests as both a source of renewable energy and a resource to sequester and store carbon. I find that forests play an important role in reducing global emissions, especially under ambitious climate targets. At the global level, efforts should focus on increasing the stock of forest biomass rather than increasing the use of the forest for bioenergy production. The results also highlight the important role of reducing tropical deforestation to reduce climate change. In Paper [II], I develop the FRICE to investigate the role of two key efforts to increase the stock of forest biomass, namely, afforestation and avoided deforestation. FRICE is a multi-regional integrated assessment model that captures the dynamics of forest carbon sequestration in a transparent way and allows me to investigate the allocation of these actions across space and time. I find that global climate policy can benefit considerably from afforestation and avoided deforestation in tropical regions, and in particular in Africa. Avoided deforestation is particularly effective in the short run while afforestation provides the largest emissions reductions in the medium run. This paper also highlights the importance of not solely relying on avoided deforestation as its capacity to reduce emissions is more limited than afforestation, especially under more stringent temperature targets. In Paper [III], we investigate how uncertainties linked to the forest affect the optimal climate policy. We incorporate parameter uncertainty on the intrinsic growth rate and climate effects on the forest by using the state-contingent approach. Our results show that forest uncertainty matters. We find that the importance of including forest in climate policy increases when the forest is subject to uncertainty. This occurs because optimal forest response allows us to reduce the costs associated with uncertainty. In Paper [IV], we explore the implications of asymmetries in climate policy arising from not recognizing forest carbon emissions and sequestration in the decision-making process. We show that not fully including carbon values associated with the forest will have large effects on different forest controls and lead to an increase in emissions, higher carbon prices, and lower welfare.  We further find, by investigating the relative importance of forest emissions compared to sequestration, that recognizing forest emissions from bioenergy and deforestation is especially important for climate policy.

Today's arid and semi-arid zones of the Mediterranean are affected by desertification, resulting from various factors, including climatic variations and human activities such as overcultivation, overgrazing and deforestation. Afforestation programs are one of the most effective means in preventing desertification. For many years Libya has had afforestation programs in order to restore degraded land and in response to rapid desert encroachment in the north east of Libya, in the area called the Jabal Akhdar (Green Mountain), which has been investigated in this study. The purpose of this research was to investigate the relative roles of exotic compared to native tree species in preventing desertification and enhancing degraded land restoration in the Jabal Akhdar. The effect of environmental factors on exotic compared to native tree species have been assessed by observations on growth and reproductive success of the species, including variables of stocking rate, trunk diameter, tree height, crown diameter, tree coverage, natural mortality, felling and seedling regeneration, as well as calculated variables, derived from these measurements. The effects of methods and age of afforestation on the promotion of biological diversity have been investigated using the Shannon-Wiener diversity index. The effects of tree species on soil depth have also been investigated. Multivariate statistical analyses of site, species and environmental data, using both cluster analyses and factor analyses have been performed, with the aim of determining what is influencing the species, crops or differentiating between the sites, based on soil depth, angle of slope, altitude, rainfall and air temperature values. Pinus halepensis showed success in its growth and regeneration, particularly at higher altitudes and steeper slopes. Cupressus sempervirens was successful in growth and regeneration in the mountains. The exotic Eucalyptus gomphocephala was very successful in its growth, but did not regenerate well, while the exotic Acacia cyanophylla trees had a failure of both growth and regeneration. E. gomphocephala species appeared to favour relativley the flatter (non-mountain) sites, while A. Cyanophylla appeared to favour relativly the mountain sites. All the species responded positively to greater rainfall and deep soil, but they differed in where they were most likely to be successful. Environmental factors such as climate, terrain and soil are the main determinants of species distribution in the study area, in addition to their impact on the growth of the main trees. There appeared not to be any relationship between biodiversity and whether the main trees were native or exotic, and only P. halepensis showed any negative effect on the abundance of shrubs. There was greater diversity of trees and shrubs generally at the younger sites than the old sites. The present study emphasises the current mismanagement of planted forests, particularly with overgrazing contributing to desertification, through preventing tree growth and eliminating most sapling regeneration. This study concludes by making recommendations for more effective choice of tree species to plant, and for subsequent management to improve afforestation programmes in the Jabal Akhdar area.

Master of Arts / Department of History / Bonnie Lynn-Sherow / In the second half of the nineteenth century, the Timber Culture Act (1873) and the development of the field of scientific forestry shifted the social conception of trees from a cultural icon, into living technological tools. Beginning with the antebellum publications of George Perkins Marsh, who argued for the preservation and restoration of forests for the benefit of all, scientists, railroad developers, and plains settlers advocated for the cultural importance of trees as a living tool. Assured by railroad-boosters, the budding Forestry Bureau, and pro-tree legislators that rainfall would follow their planting efforts, waves of emigrants who relocated to the grasslands from the eastern forested areas planted millions of trees in an attempt to afforest the open prairies, creating traceable environmental and social changes over time. Environmental historian Elliott West asserts, “Only people have tried on a massive scale to move imagined environments out of their heads and to duplicate them in the world where others live,” and the grasslands of Kansas is one of these environments. This thesis argues that the scientific field of forestry developed a system of prairie tree planting (afforestation) aimed at altering the environment of the Great Plains with artificial forests and created a technological construction of the Kansas environment. The enactment of the Timber Culture Act was a watershed moment because it elevated the social conceptions of trees to that of a living tool and created the need for a national Forestry Bureau. Primary source documents reveal that the general perception held in the nineteenth century was that the natural environment and climate was malleable. The development of profit-centered tree farms furthered the idea that forests were like any other manageable crop. The changes over time in the forest cover of Kansas resulted in an altered ecology and the introduction of invasive species, but most importantly, it altered the cultural perception of how Kansas should look.

A presença de áreas verdes nas cidades traz inúmeras melhorias a esta e melhora a qualidade de vida do cidadão. Os elementos vegetativos urbanos contribuem para a diminuição dos fenômenos conhecidos como ilhas de calor, amenização de inundações e de problemas respiratórios na população, além de exercerem funções estéticas, de lazer e educacional. Entretanto, o crescimento das cidades brasileiras não foi acompanhado por um planejamento urbano que conduzisse essa expansão e reservasse espaços para o verde, como é o caso da cidade de São Paulo. Uma metrópole que possui problemas sociais e ambientais que a cada dia ajudam a deteriorar a qualidade de vida de seus moradores, sendo vista como a capital do stress, poluição e violência. As ferramentas de geoprocessamento e sensoriamento remoto vem sendo utilizadas com sucesso para avaliar o tecido urbano e, em especial, a arborização presente na cidade. Assim, fez-se uso de imagens de alta resolução para indicar áreas prioritárias a serem arborizadas em três regiões da cidade de São Paulo, utilizando o conceito de corredores verdes: subprefeitura da Mooca, subprefeitura da Sé e subprefeitura de Pinheiros. Para isto foram avaliados diferentes métodos de obtenção de dados físicos do tecido urbano, por meio de técnicas classificação de imagens de alta resolução. O método de classificação que demonstrou ser o mais adequado para este trabalho foi o Stepwise Linear. Também foram estudadas e relacionadas variáveis que influenciam na presença do verde na cidade: índice de vegetação e declividade; e pontos de alagamento e quantidade de cobertura arbórea. Estas duas últimas variáveis não apresentaram correlação entre si. Por meio destas variáveis foi possível indicar áreas prioritárias para o desenvolvimento de corredores verdes. Foram comparadas imagens de satélite de diferentes anos para acompanhar e estudar a evolução das áreas verdes na cidade. Deste modo, oferecer diretrizes para guiar a cidade de São Paulo em direção à sustentabilidade urbana. / The presence of green areas in the cities brings uncountable improvements to them and also makes better citizens life. Urban vegetative elements contribute to reduce a phenomenon known as urban heat island; it softens inundations and peoples respiratory problems, besides its esthetical, leisure and educational functions. Although Brazilian cities growth was not supported by an urban planning that would have leaded expansion and also could have reserved green areas, as it is in São Paulo city. A metropolis which has social and environment problems that each day help to damage quality of people life with the image of the stress, pollution and violence center. Geoprocessing and remote sensing have been used successfully to evaluate urban area and, specially, urban forestry presence. Thus, it was used high definition images to indicate proprietary areas to be urban forestry in three zones of São Paulo, using the concept of greenways: Moocas administrative region, Sés administrative region and Pinheiross administrative region. For this, it was evaluated many methods to obtain physical data from São Paulo city urban area, through high-resolution image classification techniques. The method Stepwise Linear proved to be most appropriate for this research. Also it was evaluated variables studied that influence green presence in the city: vegetation index and slope; and flooding points and quantity of tree cover. These last two variables not showed correlation. By means of these variables were indicated priority areas for greenways. Satellite images from different periods were compared to observe and study green areas evolution in the city. Therefore, offering directions to guide São Paulo city toward to urban sustainability

Lietuvoje atkūrus nepriklausomybę pasikeitė žemės ūkio gamybos ekonominiai ryšiai, rinkos realizavimo bei ekonomikos sąlygos, kurių pagrindiniu prioritetu tapo žemės ūkio pelningumas. Pasekoje to, mažiau palankiose ūkininkauti teritorijose prasidėjo spartūs žemės ūkio naudmenų renatūralizacijos procesai. Viena iš teikiamų alternatyvų ūkininkaujantiems nenašiose bei mažiau palankiose ūkininkauti teritorijose tapo miškų įveisimas ne miško žemėje. Nenašių ir žemės ūkiui nenaudojamų žemės ūkio naudmenų apželdinimas mišku laikoma svarbia miškų ūkio plėtros priemone, kuri padėtų įgyvendinti Lietuvos miškų ūkio politikos strategijoje ir miškingumo didinimo programoje numatytus pagrindinius tikslus iki 2020 metų padidinti Lietuvos miškingumą 3 %. Darbe atliekamas tyrimas norint nustatyti nenašių žemių apželdinimo galimybes mišku Kauno apskrityje. Šiam tikslui pasiekti buvo nagrinėjama miškų įveisimą reglamentuojantys įstatymai bei kiti teisės aktai, nustatantys pagrindinius kriterijus miško įveisimui ne miško žemėje. Taip pat atliekant tyrimą nagrinėjamos GIS technologijų panaudojimo galimybės, kurių pagalba galima nesunkiai nustatyti tinkamiausias vietas miškams įveisti pagal visus pasirinktus kriterijus. Tyrimo metu paaiškėjo, kad Kauno apskrityje yra 39040,4 ha nenašių žemės ūkio naudmenų, kurių našumo balas yra mažesnis nei 32 balai. 31826,40 ha iš nenašių žemės ūkio naudmenų atitinka miško įveisimui keliamus pagrindinius kriterijus. Šį plotą įvertinus pagal žemės naudmenų... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / The Restoration of Lithuania’s independence changed the economic relations in agricultural production, sales market and economic conditions, with agricultural profitability becoming a key priority. As a consequence, processes of rapid agricultural land renaturalization began in the areas unfavourable to agriculture. One of the alternatives offered to farmers who own an infertile and less suitable land for farming is afforestation of a non-forest land. Afforestation of infertile and unused farmland is considered as an important means of forestry development that will help implement fundamental objectives of the Lithuanian Forestry Strategy and the Afforestation Programme to increase the Lithuanian forest coverage by 3 per cent by the year 2020. This research work is aimed at evaluating possibilities of infertile land afforestation in the Kaunas County. To achieve this objective, consideration was given to legislation regulating afforestation and establishing the basic criteria for afforestation of non-forest land. The study also looked into the use of GIS technology options that will allow to easily identify the most suitable sites for afforestation by all the selected criteria. The study showed that the Kaunas County has 39,040.4 hectares of infertile agricultural land whose performance score is less than 32. 31,826.40 hectares (81.5%) of the infertile lands meet the required essential criteria for afforestation. The assessment of the area by the actual land use established... [to full text]

No abstract available. / Thesis (M.Sc.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 1999.

Šiame moksliniame darbe siekiama ištirti Plungės rajono Platelių ir Žemaičių Kalvarijos seniūnijų teritorijų panaudojimo galimybes, vadovaujantis kaimo plėtros žemėtvarkos projektais. Iškeltiems uždaviniams išspręsti, naudojamasi žemės informacinės sistemos duomenų bazėmis. Vykdant sėkmingą kaimo plėtros įgyvendinimą, svarbu atsižvelgti į gamtinės aplinkos sukurtas sąlygas. Analizuojama teritorija pasižymi saugomų objektų gausa. Plungės rajone yra devynios saugomos teritorijos, kurių plotas sudaro 25 proc. visos Plungės rajono teritorijos. Tiriamų seniūnijų bendras plotas yra 26161 ha., abi seniūnijos patenka į Žemaitijos nacionalinį parką. Iš bendro analizuojamos teritorijos ploto, 15163 ha užima Žemaitijos nacionalinis parkas, tai sudaro beveik 58 proc. visos teritorijos. Tam, kad kaimo vietovėse teritorijų planavimas ir naudojimas neturėtų neigiamų pasekmių kraštovaizdžiui ir gamtinei aplinkai, vykdant planavimą privaloma vadovautis kaimo plėtros žemėtvarkos projektais, specialiosiomis žemės ir miško naudojimo sąlygomis, bei kitais teisės aktais. Iškelti uždaviniai išspręsti vadovaujantis kaimo plėtros žemėtvarkos projektų rengimo taisyklėmis, miško įveisimo ne miško žemėje taisyklėmis, Plungės rajono savivaldybės teritorijos bendruoju planu, Žemaitijos nacionalinio parko planavimo schema, išskirtos teritorijos tinkamos sodybos vietai parinkti bei miškui ne miško žemėje įveisti. Atliekant tyrimą ArcMap 10.2.1 programa, sudaryti du skirtingi modeliai, taip išskirtos... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / This thesis is aimed at exploring the possibilities to use the territories of Plateliai and Žemaičių Kalvarija in Plungė District pursuant to the organization of land exploitation plans of rural development. The databases of the land information system are used to solve the tasks. In pursuance of successful implementation of rural development, it is important to take the conditions created by natural environment into consideration. The territory under review characterizes for the abundance of protected objects. Plungė District includes nine protected territories, the area of which constitutes 25 percent of the entire territory of Plungė District. Total area of elderships under review is 26161 ha; both elderships are within the boundaries of Žemaitija National Park. Out of total territory area analyzed, 15163 ha are covered by Žemaitija National Park, which constitutes almost 58 percent of the entire territory. For the territorial planning and use in rural areas to not have negative consequences for the landscape and natural environment, while planning it is mandatory to follow the organization of land exploitation plans of rural development, special terms and conditions of land and forest use, as well as other legal acts. The tasks were solved pursuant to the rules of preparation of organization of land exploitation plans of rural development, the rules of afforestation in non-forest land, the general plan of the territory of Plungė District Municipality, the planning scheme... [to full text]

Made available in DSpace on 2015-03-13T17:10:36Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 MariluciSS.pdf: 2759550 bytes, checksum: fbdacf5e40d428485a9415374f1c8754 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2008-09-12 / Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cient?fico e Tecnol?gico / The current paper aims to check the environmental population perception of the two east side districts of Natal / RN (Rocas and Petr?polis) on its afforestation. The issues related to the environmental perception and afforestation of cities are gaining prominence in the many different areas of knowledge. However, the approaches and methodologies that are following an analytical perspective that by the rule aimed an policy of spatial planning not always responds to the aspirations and needs of the urban population. The research has been consisted of a preliminary survey, collecting data through the representative population of the neighborhoods in Petr?polis and Rocas, which were applied 210 forms (with the households), 130 in the neighborhood of Rocas and 80 in Petr?polis, which corresponds to 5% of the total households of the two districts, using as indicators, among many others, the income, the level of education and the environmental characteristics of the neighborhood. Through analysis sample was possible to verify that Petr?polis neighborhood that, 68% of interviewee believes their lives in the neighborhood where good and only 2% consider bad, in Rocas neighborhood, 57% considered life in his neighborhood good and only 5% consider bad. When asked about the main characteristics that remind the neighborhood Petr?polis, 90% of residents mentioned that one of its main advantages are the means of transport available, followed by 82% who quoted the ventilation as one of the main benefits of the neighborhood. In Rocas neighborhood, items mentioned by residents, were the ventilation with 47% of all interviewee and 32% said that peace is one of the most positive point of the neighborhood. From the description of some of the environmental needs of the neighborhoods Petr?polis and Rocas, it is possible to infer that environmental issues in general, and afforestation are always present in the speech of the residents, even indirect way, it shows that regardless of the education degree or the income, environmental quality is present as one of the basic needs of urban areas with implications both in the personal and social life as of its inhabitants. / O Presente trabalho tem por objetivo verificar a percep??o ambiental da popula??o de dois bairros da zona leste de Natal/RN (Rocas e Petr?polis) em rela??o a sua arboriza??o. As quest?es relacionados ? percep??o ambiental e a arboriza??o das cidades v?m ganhando destaque nas mais diversas ?reas do conhecimento. Contudo, as abordagens e as metodologias que os acompanham est?o impregnadas de uma perspectiva anal?tica que ,via de regra, visa a uma pol?tica de ordenamento espacial que nem sempre vai ao encontro dos anseios e das necessidades da popula??o urbana. A pesquisa foi constitu?da de um levantamento preliminar atrav?s da coleta de dados junto ? popula??o representativa dos bairros Petr?polis e Rocas, onde foram aplicados 210 formul?rios (com o respons?vel pelos domic?lios), sendo 130 no bairro das Rocas e 80 no bairro Petr?polis, o que corresponde a 5% do total de resid?ncias desses dois bairros, tendo por indicadores, dentre outros, a renda, o grau de escolaridade e as caracter?sticas ambientais do bairro. Atrav?s da an?lise amostral foi poss?vel verificar, que no que se refere ao bairro Petr?polis, 68% dos entrevistados consideram a vida no bairro em que moram boa e apenas 2 % a consideram p?ssima. J? no bairro das Rocas, 57% consideram a vida no seu bairro boa e apenas 5% a consideram ruim. Quando questionados sobre as principais caracter?sticas que lembravam o bairro Petr?polis 90% dos moradores mencionaram que uma das suas principais vantagens s?o os meios de transportes dispon?vel, seguidos de 82 % que mencionaram a ventila??o como sendo um dos principais benef?cios do bairro. No bairro das Rocas, os itens mencionados pelos moradores com maior freq??ncia, foram a ventila??o, com 47 % do total de entrevistados e 32 % disseram que a tranq?ilidade ? um dos pontos mais positivos do bairro. A partir da descri??o de algumas das necessidades ambientais dos bairros Petr?polis e Rocas, ? poss?vel inferir que as quest?es ambientais, de maneira geral, e a arboriza??o est?o sempre presentes na fala dos moradores, mesmo de forma indireta, isso demonstra que independente do grau de escolaridade ou da renda a qualidade ambiental se faz presente como uma das necessidades b?sicas do meio urbano com implica??es tanto na vida pessoal quanto social dos seus habitantes.