Novel Urban Ecosystem for Enhanced Ecosystem Services in Cities: The Case of AIT’s Freshwater Mangroves

The use of the non-traditional ecology concept such as freshwater mangroves is still debatable among experts and non-experts alike. This can be a hindrance in accepting the NUEs as part of the urban landscape. This R&D on ecological engineering using freshwater mangroves addresses a problem of urban wastewater along with water pollution and its health concerns, climate change mitigation, as well as typically low aesthetic appearance of cities. The ecotechnology creates an opportunity for the wastewater flowing into lake from adjacent restaurants located on campus into solution for many urban challenges including the use of nutrient-rich water as a fertilizer for mangrove trees in a Novel Urban Ecosystem (NUE). As a result, the enhanced growth of the mangrove trees yields to a greater biomass that is proportionate to carbon sequestration. The growth of the freshwater mangroves is almost similar to the coastal mangroves, an indication that these mangroves can perform similarly as carbon sink even when placed in a different habitat. In addition, this research has proven that mangrove roots increase dissolved oxygen in water. Despite that novel urban ecosystem makes use of an introduced species such as mangroves into freshwater wetlands, its acceptability in AIT community is relatively high. The majority of the respondents agree that the mangroves on campus provide habitat for wildlife and opportunities for contact with nature. Additionally, a greater number of the respondents agree that the NUE is not causing any problems both to people and to other organisms on campus. A strong indication that the freshwater mangroves as NUE is successful are increased areas for green spaces and habitat for biodiversity, which is providing an additional opportunity for outdoor recreation and therefore adding to the well-being for the community. Additionally, SDG mapping of the potential outcomes of a freshwater mangrove in cities indicates that out of the 17 Goals, 10 were directly and indirectly linked with the freshwater mangrove project in AIT with 18 indicators satisfied.