Adaptation to Climate Change Through Urban Forestry: Perceptions and Actions of Urban Residents in the Dar es Salaam City

Abstract

This paper examines perceptions and actions of urban residents on urban forestry and adaptation to climate change in Kigamboni District in the city of Dare es Salaam, Tanzania. It employs an exploratory research design to capture the perceived link between urban forestry and climate change, using a semistructured questionnaire administered to 107 respondents obtained through a simple random sampling technique. Yielded qualitative and quantitative data were analyzed using content analysis and the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS), respectively. The findings mostly indicated perceptions inconsistency across variables among respondents, and between the current study and past studies. Also, the number of trees planted per household is relatively low considering the space available per home ground. The paper concludes that it is time for Tanzania to introduce a national forest city program to easily track developments and achievements in the urban forestry sector.

Keywords: urban forestry, climate change, urban heat island, Kigamboni, Tanzania.