CARBON SEQUESTRATION THROUGH URBAN GREEN RESERVE AND OPEN SPACE

Abstract

The world is experiencing rapid development and urbanisation of urban areas that cause an increase in the carbon emission which contributes to greenhouse gasses and global warming. The environment has been declining for the past few years while extreme weather has impacted some urban areas in Malaysia. In 2009, the Malaysian government pledged to achieve up to 40% voluntary reduction in carbon emission intensity by 2020. Now it is time to move forward by proposing the green and low-carbon way to offset carbon emission from both planning and landscaping perspectives. This research demonstrates how urban green reserves, being a vital land use component in the urban area, is effective in carbon sequestration to absorb and store carbon emission for an extended term. Through the natural process of photosynthesis, mature trees planted in urban green reserve and open space can act as a carbon sink. This research computes the volume of carbon sequestration of trees planted in urban green reserve and the open space within the study area. Through this study, the accurate allometric relationship for the total above-ground biomass with the tree diameter and height was developed to estimate the rate of carbon sequestration in Pasir Gudang. The results based on mature trees inventory revealed that the total amount of carbon sequestration contributed by both urban green reserve and open space were 2,238.183 tons of carbon per year. Within the design parameters of the case study area, the total contribution of carbon reduction was merely 3.15% per year compared to the target of 10% carbon reduction via carbon sequestration. The total balance of carbon reduction that needs to be offset via carbon sequestration is 6.85%. Therefore, there is a need to provide smart planning and consolidating of low carbon initiatives to increase the contribution of carbon sequestration for a healthier environment in the urban area.