In developing countries, the best agricultural and forest areas are nowadays converted to building houses with less concern and almost no conservation measures for Urban Plant Ecology. To mitigate this "What best methods are easily applicable for Urban Plant Ecology management during Urban expansion? "
You need to be part of the planning process for the urban development. Using the 30%UN criterion, endeavour to ensure than no more than 70% of the land is earmarked for development, leaving at least 30% as greenspace, wildlife corridors and nature reserves. Influencing the planning process is absolutely essential.
The short answer is more involvement in the planning process as Michael pointed out. But, in order to have better results in regards to that planning is by way of policy accountability. In order to have more accountability in policy we need more education about better sustainability practices in urban areas, what a better policy would like in developing areas, and our overall ability to lessen our carbon footprints as individuals.
Dear David Pittman,
Thank you for your comment. The idea of policy accountability is a good idea, but what I am trying to find is that, if scientific scholars and academicians with more education and better sustainability practices in urban areas want to take action-based measurements. Which strategy or method do they have to use until they take a policy accountability role?
Apart from policy accountability itself, It is then more or less a zoning issue that involves more support for the idea that we need more land in urban areas set apart for Nondevelopement, in relation to industrial areas and residential. The "NIMBY" principle comes in to play here as well. The conclusion is that, in order to combat the further development of areas that are otherwise needed for ecosystem balance and sustainability, we have to be more involved in the decision making process as to when, how and where development should continue. On a municipal level, there should be some committee in charge of holding a sometimes quasi town meeting that votes on these issues. Essentially, the more people that get involved in the voting/law making process in their local chambers, the more the mindset for the general public will shift. The harder part is getting more people involved that are adversely affected by industrialization. And, by that same token, making the meetings for these issues more accessible for the public.
Does that answer the question? It seems that the answer is a bit more political than what most of us would like. However, in this day and age, that's what it would take to have a more substantial and sustainable impact (most countries have a similar structure, including the U.S.).
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