Urban Forests in Megacities from the Perspective of Ecosystem Services Using the Timiryazevsky Forest Park, Moscow, as a Case Study

Abstract

This study analyses different links between the urban forest as an element of green infrastructure and green space production in megacities using an urban forest park in Moscow as a case study. It illustrates the different functions and meanings of urban forest parks and assesses their social, ecological and economic values using the concept of ecosystem services. Such evaluation and assessment of green areas highlight the importance of the city green in coping with high anthropogenic loads and reveal the need to not only maintain but also significantly improve their environmental condition. There is great urgency to develop approaches to ensure sustainable development in Moscow based on the concepts of urban green infrastructure and ecosystem services. Although ecosystem services provided by forests have been assessed already for Russia at the national level, the identification and evaluation of ecosystem services at the city level, especially those provided by urban forests, is a relatively new research field in Russia. Such assessments demonstrate the values that are ‘invisible’ to developers that must be compensated for during housing development. Therefore, recognition of ecological and economic arguments representing the market value of urban forests might help avoid their replacement by more profitable land uses.