Tree census resumes, over 20,000 trees identified in city

Bengaluru: The lockdown had slowed the much awaited tree census. On Saturday, Project Vruksha Foundation, initiated the digital tree census exercise at Kaikondrahalli lake.

Last year, the foundation had released a mobile application that would record the statistics of trees ward wise.

"As of now we have identified 20,000 trees across the city. The warwise data will be released soon. This is being done to conserve the environment. Bengaluru had undergone a massive change over the years and a large portion of green vegetation was lost. We had observed an increase in the illegal felling of trees so this application was to bring transparency," The founder of Project Vruksha Foundation, Vijay Nishanth said.

The tree census was carried out in Mysuru, and Jakkur lake in the city.

Dr Annapurna S Kamath of Jal Poshan, a citizen group that adopted Jakkur lake in 2014 said that the purpose of carrying out the tree census at Jakkur lake was to know the biodiversity of the lake and the species of trees.

"We also wanted to know the total number of trees. Through the census carried out by Nishanth, we got to know that there are 2,678 trees of 50 species. This would help in planning the planting of trees at the lake. Sometimes we identify a particular species of bird and they are found missing so it would be important for us to plant the right species of trees," she said.

Since the trees can be tracked through the geo-positioning system (GPS) it would be known if the tree is cut.

Based on their biological names and specifications the trees on the app are marked in orange, green and red colours.

"Orange represents a sapling, while the green denotes a grown tree. From biological names to intricate details like the health of trees are uploaded on the app. So, if a tree is weak we get to know from the website," Project Vruskha founder, Vijay Nishanth said.

A decade ago the project failed due to lack of cooperation from the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP).

After the initiation of the pilot project Nishnath wanted the palike to carry out census across the city.

One of the most distinguishing features is that the trees were given ID for easy tracking.

After the success of the project in the city Nishanth has received calls from NGO's and citizen welfare groups in Delhi and Tamil Nadu to carry out tree census.