Assessment of carbon storage potential of trees and soil in the urban parks A step towards climate change mitigation

Climate change is widely recognized not just as an environmental issue but one with severe socioeconomic implications across the globe. The living space in urban areas are becoming rapidly jumbled and disorganised, as concrete jungles continue to degrade the natural and aesthetic environment and turning it into heat islands. There is an urgent need to revive the urban green efforts. Urban parks and tree cover play a fundamentally important role in improving the environmental quality, energy efficiency, aesthetic appeal, biodiversity and are regulating climatic hazards. In the present investigation, carbon storage potential of trees and soil was measured encompassing the three major urban parks in Ulhasnagar.Non-destructive methods were used to study the carbon storage potential. Total AGB of the gardens was 1696.49 Kgs/2.27ha; Total BGB 441.08 Kgs/2.27 ha and total biomass was 2137.57 Kgs/2.27 ha. Total carbon stored in trees and of the soil was 51.55 tons ha-1. GIS based map shows the location and value of above and below ground biomass for each tree species in the study area. Samanea saman was the dominant tree in the study area with large DBH and with biomass of 758.1594 Kgs, almost contributing 35% of the total biomass. This study concluded that the carbon stock value of urban parks in Ulhasnagar is thin and occasional.