Rapid urbanization in African cities, including the Greater Asmara Area in Eritrea, is intensifying environmental pressures such as vegetation loss, soil sealing, and climate change impacts. A new study, led by Dr. Blal Adem Esmail of GLOMOS - Centre for Global Mountain Safeguard Research at Eurac Research (Italy), underscores the importance of mapping and assessing ecosystems and their services over time to guide sustainable spatial planning in these rapidly growing metropolitan areas.

The research, published in the journal Environmental Management (Springer), addresses a context that has been insufficiently studied and offers crucial methodological insights for analysing the dynamics of ecosystem services in the Greater Asmara Area, utilising data from 2009 to 2020. The project brought together an international team of researchers from Italy, Eritrea, Germany, the Czech Republic, Chile, and the United Kingdom, reflecting a collaborative effort to address critical urban environmental issues in Africa. It contributes to earlier efforts by Dr. Adem Esmail to introduce the ecosystem services approach to support sustainable spatial planning (1) and watershed management (2, 3) in Eritrea.

Insights into Ecosystem Services Ecosystem services —the essential benefits provided by natural systems— play a critical role in supporting urban sustainability. They include provisioning (e.g., food, water), regulating (e.g., climate regulation), supporting (e.g. habitat), and cultural (e.g. spiritual, recreational) services. This study mapped the potential of six key ecosystem services in the Greater Asmara Area using remote sensing data and land cover analysis. Researchers identified hotspots (areas with high ecosystem service potential) and coldspots (areas with little ecosystem service potential) and tracked their changes over the past decade.

Key findings include While the overall ecosystem services potential in the Greater Asmara Area remains low, southern areas such as Gala Nefhi and Berik showed a decrease in coldspots by 2020, suggesting local improvements. New hotspots and coldspots were identified in central Gala Nefhi, highlighting dynamic shifts in the distribution of ecosystem services. Insights into these spatial trends provide planners with tools to address challenges such as urban sprawl and environmental degradation.

A Tool for Spatial Planning The study demonstrates the feasibility of an ecosystem services hotspots and coldspots approach in rapidly urbanizing African metropolises. By linking land use changes to ecosystem services supply potential, planners can better integrate environmental considerations into urban development strategies. “This approach offers valuable insights into the Greater Asmara Area's ecosystem services potential and dynamics,” Adem Esmail noted. “It highlights opportunities to raise awareness about balancing urbanization and environmental conservation, and to improve sustainable spatial planning in Eritrean cities and beyond.”

Dr. Belula Tecle-Misghina, author of Asmara, an urban history (Edizioni Nuova Cultura), who participated in the research, reinforced the significance of this study by stating: “As the key date of the Strategic Urban Development Plan for 2025 approaches, there is a unique opportunity to align Asmara’s development strategies with both the UN’s Agenda 2030 and Africa's Agenda 2063. This can be achieved by embedding sustainable, nature-based planning approaches at the core of the Greater Asmara Area’s urban planning, while also enhancing Asmara's heritage significance and the city’s UNESCO World Heritage Site”.

Overcoming Challenges and Expanding Research While the study yielded promising results, it also acknowledged the presence of challenges, including data limitations and resource constraints, which prevented the researchers from engaging with stakeholders to a greater extent. Adem Esmail, who is currently leading a new project entitled NBS4Water (Nature-based solutions for water security in Asmara, Eritrea), has observed that further efforts should be made to refine these methods and, in particular, to engage stakeholders through transdisciplinary approaches, while extending the application to other urbanising regions in Africa. It thus may be possible to assist rapidly growing cities in achieving a balance between growth and ecosystem sustainability.

Cooperation partners The project brought together researchers and practitioners from Eurac Research (Italy), Ruhr-Universität Bochum (Germany), University of Trento (Italy), Mendel University in Brno (Czech Republic), Universidad Autónoma de Chile (Chile), Politecnico di Milano (Italy), University of Lincoln (UK), Asmara Heritage Project (Eritrea), The University of Sheffield (UK), and Leibniz Universität Hanover (Germany).

Funding Open Access funding enabled and organized by Projekt DEAL.

Original publication Adem Esmail, B., Cortinovis, C., Geneletti, D., Inostroza, L., Peters, R., Romelli, C., Schulze, I., Tecle-Misghina, B., Teklemariam, M., Wang, J., & Albert, C. (2024). Mapping and Analyzing Ecosystem Services Hotspots and Coldspots for Sustainable Spatial Planning in the Greater Asmara Area, Eritrea. Environmental Management. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-024-02078-x

Press contact Dr. Blal Adem Esmail GLOMOS - Centre for Global Mountain Safeguard Research & Institute for Alpine Environment, Eurac Research, Bolzano, Italy Email: blal.ademesmail@eurac.edu