PREFERENCES FOR STREET TREES PLANTING IN KOSOVO URBAN AREAS: CHALLENGES AND BENEFITS

Recent years in the Republic of Kosovo, has started to increase demand for planting trees in road spaces especially in large urban areas, such as Prishtina city, because the role of trees and other vegetation is clean our air and water, create greener neighborhoods, calm traffic, improve public health, provide wildlife habitat and absorb greenhouse gases. Street trees are an integral element of urban life. The purpose of our work was the study of the information on urban green structure (e.g., type of street trees, number of trees, species composition) is essential to improve urban forest management and enhance the ecosystem services provided by trees and other vegetation. The area of Prishtina (572 km(2), about 600.000 inhabitant) represents one of the largest Kosovo metropolitan areas. Parks and green space areas in prishtina are less than 5% of total area. The most common street trees plant in Kosovo are Tilia argentea, Acer platonoides, Catalpa bignonoides, Platanus orintalis, Prunus kanzan. Tilia argentea, it has been used in Kosovo since 1950, in many cities of Kosovo, whereas today it is one of the plants used in urban areas and individual trees along streets.