Urban green spaces, for example, absorb significant amounts of stormwater.
Finland’s disappearing carbon sinks have been a topic of discussion over the past year.
According to the research professor, a major reason is efficient land use.
Setälä has long studied forests, carbon sinks and also urban parks.
– Urban forests have a hugely important role, for example, as a binder of rainwater, i.e. stormwater. If the green area disappears, an expensive sewer network must be built in its place, Setälä describes.
Setälä belongs to the group of researchers who would be ready to talk about nature values \u200b\u200bwith price tags.
– We have calculated that, for example, in the center of Lahti, the economic value of a one-hectare park is 220,000 euros per year, when it provides ecosystem services and cleans and binds stormwater.
According to him, green areas with no monetary value now have to compete with new parking spaces, schools or houses and they will be cut off.
As a result, cities are built full of gray infrastructure.
Old parks more valuable than new
Often, when a green area is taken as a building plot, the decision-makers justify it by presenting new park plans elsewhere.
– Nowadays, there is a lot of talk about different compensation methods. However, the nature values \u200b\u200bof the old park are many times higher compared to the young, clean park, so they should be preferred, even if they are a little bumpy, says Setälä.
A park professor working at the University of Helsinki’s Lahti campus has also studied their residents.
For him, his favorite sign of spring is the bumblebee.
– A beautiful, fluffy and important pollinator. In theory, it shouldn’t have the ability to fly when it weighs so much relative to its short wings. I saw the first two weeks ago, Setälä is happy.