Ecosystem services from green corridor

Abstract

If vegetation changes at the landscape level, it may threaten the capacity of beneficial insects and animals to survive in urban set up or have a substantial implications on production of food, provision of biodiversity and ecosystem services. Pollinator mortality has a negative impact on quality of ecosystem, including human health and well-being, sports, recreational activities, education, tourism, and culture. Lucknow's uncontrolled expansion has resulted in a steady loss of open space and green space as a result of the city's fast population increase and chaotic development. Lucknow is one of the country's most populous cities, and uncontrolled growth has had a negative influence on the city's natural spaces. The focus of the study is to estimate the Ecosystem Services provided by Green Corridors considering different elements (forests, and Trees outside Forests, vegetation and cropland) in a quantitative manner thereby presenting benefits of creating a corridor to enhance and sustain these services. In case of Lucknow, 5 levels of classifications have been made to assess the hierarchy of green and open spaces within municipal limits with help of URDPFI Guidelines, viz., 1118 Neighbourhood parks with 253 ha, 42 ward level parks with an area covering 92.63 ha, 21 Zonal parks with an extent of 214 ha, city level parks which are 4 in number have a total area of 192 ha. Ecosystem services obtained from these road verges, parks and gardens, have been used to create Benchmarking for a greenery within open/green spaces. Benchmarking alone cannot be the solution, the study further examines the probable Green Corridor to connect the fragmented open/ green spaces and increase the ecosystem services. In case of Lucknow, 5 levels of classifications have been made to assess the hierarchy of green and open spaces within municipal limits with help of URDPFI Guidelines, viz., 1118 Neighbourhood parks with 253 ha, 42 ward level parks with an area covering 92.63 ha, 21 Zonal parks with an extent of 214 ha, city level parks which are 4 in number have a total area of 192 ha. For proposal, the road verges were calculated for their areas, and different urban design and planning strategies like Miyawaki Technique, ECOPlan concept has been proposed in specific locations across the city.