1
URBAN GREENING AND HUMAN–WILDLIFE RELATIONS IN PHILADELPHIA: FROM ANIMAL CONTROL TO MULTISPECIES COEXISTENCE?
CHOOSE PARTICIPANTS
Included private and public sector professionals: 2 urban greening researchers, 5 private-sector landscape architects, 4 municipal environmental educators, 1 statehouse legislative aide and 3 officials from municipal agencies invo ved in green infrastructure design and implementation The sample included 8 women and 7 men Of 15 participants, 10 were white, 4 African-Amer can and 1 Latinx
DATA COLLECTION
Four major municipal planning reports on green infrastructure, urban green-ing and urban susta nability were consulted to determine considerat on of wildlife and wildl fe habitat in urban greening policy deve opment
GREEN CITY, CLEAN WATERS: NATURE AS A DISPENSARY OF ECOSYSTEM SERVICES
Philadelphia s Combined Sewer Overf ow Long-Term Control Plan, Green City, Clean Waters, is set to invest near y 3 b llion do lars in green infrastructure by the m d-2030s, in order to bring the city into compliance with federal water quality standards, now routinely vio ated when untreated runoff and combined sewer overflows are diverted into creeks and rivers dur ng rainstorms
RESULT :
Lead loss to marine life And also gives rise to water borne diseases which directly affect human life
Moreover create bad environment
PLAN :
The plan calls for installing 9,564 greened acres at hundreds of public and private sites across the city by 2036
A greened acre manages at least the first inch of rainfall over an acre of hard surfaces, typically achieved through a comb nation of
nterview data were analysed using a modified grounded theory approach , a qualitative approach to social research where themes are not selected a pr ori but where developing theory is connected to the process of data collection and analysis.
3. PUBLIC HEALTH: STRENGTHENING CONNECTIONS WITH NATURE
Consider the urban heat is and effect: on hot summer days, ‘temperatures in areas of North Phi adelphia near industry, highways, and few f any green areas can cl mb up to 22 degrees Fahrenheit higher than in eafier neighbourhoods in the northwest part of the city
Residents of neighbour-hoods with no tree canopy are far more vulnerable to heat-related stress than residents of neighbourhoods w th tree- ined streets and yards
Moreover due to reduce in green cover , there is very less space for w ldlife habitat and hence they enter to the the resident al area creating problem for people
SOLUTION :
Moreover it increases space for natural habitat and increase human and wild life interaction
n order to address such vu nerabilities, the Philadelphia Parks & Recreation Department’s ‘Tree Philly’ initiative seeks to increase tree canopy cover-age to thirty percent in every neighbourhood, with the programme ’ s focus shifting from tree-saturated neighbourhoods to low-canopy areas of the city
4. BIODIVERSITY: REIMAGINING THE CITY AS WILDLIFE HABITAT
Focuses on more wild life friendly infrastructure Many people, including those who ive in cities, enjoy spending time in nature Numerous studies have shown ‘that urbanresidents can gain considerable enjoyment from encounters with urban wi dlife or from shar ng the ocal env ronment with a species’
Rain gardens Tree trenches
Porous pavement Green roofs reducing runoff pollution by more than 85% Moreover, some installations (such as stormwater wetlands)
A LEED-certif ed skyscrapers whose reflective glass façades routinely kill migrating songbirds, as if the buildings had been designed as bird kil ing machines So ution, urban design informed by scientific understanding of animal behaviour
2. ANIMAL CONTROL: POLICING HUMAN–WILDLIFE BOUNDARIES
‘There has to be a reason they’re coming out of nowhere infesting these neighborhoods’, City Councilman Kenyatta Johnson speculated about the abundance of raccoons in his southwest Philade phia district in January 2017, in response to complaints from constituents
‘poorest big city’ w th an offic al poverty rate of 26%
On this mode , knowledge of the mundane detai s of how species travel through cityscapes n pursuit of resources informs design for b ological organisms and generates infrastructure that is less deadly to wild ife while a so generating ecosystem services that benef t humans
B Bu ldings covered with living walls or green roofs may function as sites that introduce their residents to plants and animals in an urban setting and that engage the public to recognise the connections between the bui t environment and the natural world
Observe the routine movements of wild an ma s
Secure your trash
Leave no food outside
Keep the homes in good repair
city’s impoverished neighbourhoods are n poor physical condition Damaged
SOLUTION : 4:
C Emphasis on green corridors, and on tools such as ‘biodiversity maps ’ , signals the awareness of the significance of habitat size, scale and connectivity for ecosystem function
JNU is part of the Southern R dge of Arava i Hi ls and houses various species of wi d fauna These range from Common Palm Civets Smal Indian Civet, Indian Golden Jackal, Indian Crested Porcupine, Blue Bul s, Rufus Tailed Hare, various izards & varieties of snakes, birds & butterf ies etc
n recent years JNU has taken steps for animal centric design and also provided support for research where animal models are employed Now JNU has ts own an mal handling mechanism [Central Laboratory Animal Resources (CLAR), JNU] The infrastructure is registered under the Committee for the Purpose of Control and Supervis on of Experiments on Animals (CPCSEA), Ministry of Environment and Forest, GOI which provides professional and techn ca services for conduct of animal research.
STRAY BUDDIES - 1
What has been done?
A row broke out months back at the university between people who want to feed the dogs and those who want to stop them University administration has now forbidden feeding dogs Guards alleged y broke feed ng and drinking bowls Canine lovers have vowed to take their case to the High Court if they are prevented from caring for the canines
There are over 800 stray dogs prowling the 1,000 acre Delhi campus
2. FLYING SPECIES -
The Jawaharla Nehru University campus is a unique campus which habours not only the natural ridge ecosystem but also a huge avifaunal biodiversity The survey was done for a period of three years from January 2013 to December 2016. Data was collected using line transects in different habitats a l across the campus
A total of 114 bird species belonging to 19 orders and 52 fami ies were identified during the study period, inc uding 3 near threatened species, 2 vagrants, 3 summer vis tors, 4 passage migrants, 26 winter visitors and 79 resident species Of these, 47 species were insectivorous, 33 species were omnivorous, 14 species were carnivorous, 7 species were frugivorous, 6 species were gramnivorous, 4 species were herbivorous, 2 spec es were p scivorous and 1 species was nectarivorous
Various feeding spots and watering holes for dogs, birds and other animals are identif ed Campus residents, as well visitors, place items for the benefit of the animals
An official at the varsity, request ng anonymity said, "Most students who encounter these animals during their routine ife get scared and, in fear, try to kil them There are rare species of wi d animals, cats, deer, fox, peacock, butterfly, jackal and rare species of snakes However, some of them are poisonous too That's why the university management wil d sseminate information about animals in the admission application form "
In order to avoid any unwanted incident where students, out of fear, tend to harm these species present on the campus, they will also be imparted with ski ls to handle such situations.
If you are applying for a course at Jawaharlal Nehru Un vers ty (JNU) in the upcoming academic year, you will be provided with a list of rare species of fauna along with your admission app ication form In order to protect the rare animals present on campus, the varsity admin stration has taken such a step to release informat on about the rare inhabitants and var ed species of animals on the campus
It was observed that the Jawaharlal Nehru University campus supported very rich and diverse avian fauna assemblages all year round due to the presence of the ridge ecosystems Long-term conservation programmes must be adopted in order to protect the natural ecosystems and bird d vers ty present in the campus
BUT WHY ??
The bird species recorded in the JNU campus is comparatively more than that reported in areas with similar vegetation structure and composition like Aravali Hi l (72 species)18, New campus of J N V University, Jodhpur, Rajasthan etc
This high species diversity is because of ample number of thorny trees and shrubs which attract large numbers of birds
The fruits and flowers of shrubs like Agave americana, Carrisa spinarum, Hibiscus rosa sinensis Lantana camara, Zizyphus nummularia support d verse varieties of birds Th s is also the reason for such high diversity of birds in the campus Another reason for high bird diversity in the JNU campus may be because the human disturbance and habitat modification is less in this area as compared to the other areas of the Delhi region
The species is mainly restricted on y to the water reservoir n Paschimabad. Th s is a good indicator as the reservoir is near to the residential quarters of JNU, indicating that this species is human tolerant.
In addition to this, sma l water bodies are found in and around the ridge ecosystems which makes the area more suitable for different species of birds to survive and thrive on.
The forest cover will not be hampered
More trees will be planted and the forest will be maintained proper y
Birds and their habitats will be studied mor often y to make proper conservation plan accord ng y Woter bodies w ll be maintained and dry one will be replanished
BUT WHY DO BIRDS COLLIDE ??
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS CHAMPAIN, URBANA
The bird that hit Alexander’s window was not an isolated incident, but rather indicative of a larger phenomenon across campus
According to the survey, during the course of two three-week periods at the height of fa l migration, more than 450 birds had died from colliding with buildings on campus
" Earlier this year, Emmarie Alexander, junior in ACES, sat at her desk in her room in her second-floor apartment, taking one of her Zoom classes Alexander was startled by a loud noise, quickly turning her attention away from her class. She investigated the noise and realized a bird had col ided with her window, now laid on the ground below "
“(Birds have) evolved over millions and millions of years, but they never had to deal with g ass before,” Luro said “If you think about (the) Beckman Institute, where the windows are mirrored, they’re seeing trees. They’re not seeing a window, something to avoid, they’re seeing images of things they’d normally fly to.”
Beckman Institute, with its mirrored windows stationed behind a line of trees, has been the site of a startling number of bird collisions on campus According to the bird window strike survey, 159 of the identified birds died after colliding with Beckman
Part of the reason why so many birds collide with bui dings on campus is due to the geographical location of Champaign-Urbana Every fall, around late September to early October, billions of North American birds migrate south for the winter. One of the main migratory paths birds take, the Mississippi Flyway, passes right through ChampaignUrbana
What is being done ?
To help combat this issue, the Wildlife Society has begun petitioning the University of Illinois System Board of Trustees to adopt bird-safe building measures. These measures include requiring all new buildings to feature glass that matches the standards of the American Bird Conservancy and to retrofit existing buildings to be bird-friendly
Tempera paint or soap Marking the outside of the window with soap or tempera paint, which is inexpensive and long lasting A grid pattern no more than 4 inches by 2 inches is used and creative paint patterns or artwork done on window of few buildings
Acopian Bird Savers Also known as “ zen curtains,” these closely spaced ropes hang down over windows and also did the work of tape or decals Products such as Collidescape permit people on the inside to see out, but makes the window appear opaque on the outside They are installed to reduce the amount of light that comes in the window
Clear Tape