226 Sreetheran et al.: Street Tree Inventory and Tree Risk Assessment Arboriculture & Urban Forestry 2011. 37(5): 226–235 Street Tree Inventory and Tree Risk Assessment of Selected Major Roads in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia M. Sreetheran, M. Adnan, and A.K. Khairil Azuar Abstract. Tree planting programs in Malaysia have progressed as planned. However, the subsequent management of the street trees, par- ticularly at Kuala Lumpur City Hall, is not well undertaken due to inadequate information for management and maintenance purposes. There has never been a systematic tree survey conducted to inventory street trees in Kuala Lumpur. With this, a survey was conducted to collect comprehen- sive information on tree structure, species composition, species diversity, and tree defects and disorders. A total 2,191 street trees were surveyed. Key Words. Hazard Tree Management; Species Diversity; Tropics; Urban Trees; Urban Forest Management. Street trees have been an integral part of the urban landscape. It was the Italian Renaissance and French Baroque influence that introduced the concept of planting rows and avenues of trees (Chevallerie 1983). Avenue tree planting was then adopted in the style formal English gardens during the eighteenth century. Although urban roads form only a small fraction of habitat corri- dor that trees can grow, trees provide substantial benefits ranging from physiological and economic benefits to the ameliorating of urban climate and mitigation of air pollution. A number of studies have shown the potential of the urban forest in providing physi- cal environment and biological benefits (Aylor 1972; Smith 1990; McPherson 1994; Nowak 1994; Heisler et al. 1995; VanDruff et al. 1995; Neville 1996; Nowak et al. 2002). Besides important environmental services such as air and water purification, wind and noise filtering or microclimate stabilization, natural areas provide social and psychological services, which are of crucial significance for the liveability of modern cities and the well being of urban residents (Chiesura 2004). This is true particularly in the Western world where the social and cultural values of greenspace or street trees are well documented (Ulrich 1984; Jim 1992; Ka- plan 1993; Schroeder and Ruffolo 1996; Sullivan and Kuo 1996; Tyrväinen 2001; Gorman 2004; Wolf 2004; Flannigan 2005). The greening of urban Malaysia has focused primarily on beautification and has mainly been the province of horticulturists, landscapers, nursery workers, town planners, and architects, with negligible input from foresters. Perhaps for that reason, the term “landscaping” has been used more widely than “urban forestry” by government and private institutions, politicians, stakeholders, academics, and the public. However, this does not mean that tree planting has not been given a priority in Malaysia’s cities. The earliest urban tree planting in Malaysia was recorded more than a century ago. Angsana (Pterocarpus indicus) was reported to have been planted in 1778 in Malacca (Koening 1894) and in Pen- ang in 1802 (Burkill 1966). Owing to the beauty of its spreading crown and ease of propagation, P. indicus fast became a popular ©2011 International Society of Arboriculture tree for urban planting and remained so until the 1990s in Malay- sia and Singapore (Sanderson et al. 1997; Philip 1999). However, in 1935 these trees were reported to be dying rapidly in Malacca, Penang, and Singapore because of an unknown disease (Furtado 1935). Infected trees were removed immediately in an attempt to contain the spread of the disease, and there were no further reports until the same symptoms were observed again in 1985 in Singapore and on the East Coast of Peninsula Malaysia in 1992 (Sanderson et al.1997; Philip 1999). This time the causal agent was determined to be Fusarium oxysporum. As a result of this disease, the popularity of P. indicus dropped. Many argued that the high population of the species contributed to the epidemic. Pterocarpus indicus is currently being replaced in urban plant- ings by many other indigenous or exotic species in Malaysia. More urban tree planting activities were undertaken with the establishment of the Federated Malay States Forestry Depart- ment in 1901. Through collaboration with the Department of Agriculture and the Public Works Department on roadside tree planting programs, local tree species such as Syzygium grande (kelat jambu), Millettia atropurpurea (tulang daing), Peltopho- rum pterocarpum (yellow flame), Mesua ferrea (penaga lilin), and Lagerstroemia speciosa (bungor) were widely planted in urban areas in the 1920s and 1930s (Adnan and Abdul Latiff 1993). Other species that were introduced during these years included Arfeuillea arborescens (hop tree), Ceiba pentandra (kapok tree), Andira inermis (brown heart), Spathodea cam- panulata (African tulip), Jacaranda filicifolia (jacaranda), and Stereospermum fimbriatum (snake tree) (Wee and Corlett 1986). The first well-planned greening program in Malaysia began in the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur in 1973 with the es- tablishment of the Beautification Unit under the Beautification Programmes of Kuala Lumpur (Ayoub 1989). In 1979, the unit was upgraded into a department, and today it is known as the Landscape and Urban Cleansing Control Department. The initial program of “No Roads Without Trees” set into motion a highly
September 2011
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