Institutionalizing urban forestry as a ‘‘biotechnology’’ to improve environmental quality

Urban forests can serve as a natural “biotechnology” to mitigate some of the adverse effects of urbanization. This paper presents the air pollution removal, carbon sequestration, and streamflow effects of urban forests in a number of U.S. and international cities as calculated with the UFORE model. The potential for trees to be used as components of Clean Air Act State Implementation Plans, to meet requirements of the Clean Water Act, and to support the Kyoto Protocol is discussed.