Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation in Urban Forests: A Framework for Sustainable Urban Forest Management 1 Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation in Urban Forests: A Framework for Sustainable Urban

Sustainable urban forest management is important to sustain the myriad values associated with urban trees. These values are threatened by the advent of climate change. Urban forests responses to this change should be framed appropriately in our interpretation of urban forest sustainability and its management. While the usual approach to address climate change in the urban forest setting has concentrated in climate mitigation, chiefly greenhouse gas emission reduction, much is to be desired about climate adaptation. It is argued here that any sustainable urban forest management framework fails to address the deep implications of urban forest sustainability if it does not address the climate question. This paper demonstrates that climate mitigation and adaptation can be integrated in a sustainable urban forest management framework that is inclusive of climate considerations and strives to sustain a strong array of environmental, social and economic values. It is shown here that such a framework may contain management practices that consider the net effect of both decreasing vulnerability and emissions. In the biophysical realm, these practices may include, but are not limited to: planting more trees, planting better adapted species to the future climate, reducing tree stress, among others. Management practices fit to the social and economic realm may include addressing institutions, ownership and valuation of ecosystem services, among others.