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Tree-Ty

We come across a number of plants (trees/ palms/ shrubs/ herbs/ ground covers etc.) each day - as that friendly neighbor waving its leafy hands by the window-side, providing that protective shade in the scorching summer sun or standing as a helpless spectator wrapped with lighted wires during human revelries - while we carry on with our myriad activities with that usual pace-in-race attitude.

Seldom do we pause to appreciate its fresh green hues or the bright showy flowers or the intoxicating fragrance…. and note how virtuous or interesting the plant is! This work aims to introduce that mostly-ignored and taken-for-granted entity called plants as our friends…. and we all would agree that it is important to know our friends. Learning how to identify a tree or a plant around us is just a starting point. The journey of knowing our plant-pals then can be exhilarating.

Why Tree-Ty

Trees are the best friends of humanity and the most benevolent life-form on earth that we know. They make our human habitats livable. However, barring a few, urbanizes rarely take note of their leafy ‘friendly neighbor’. Tree-ty comes as a link to mutually introduce these two entities. It is based on the actual survey and documentation of tree resources of a real site in the Jadavpur University campus by GPS location covering the tree's taxonomic placement and role as habitat, to inform the interested about their ‘friendly neighbors’.

The long-term goal of Tree-ty is to promote Knowledge-Appreciation-Management-Protection (K-A-M-P) of tree resources by inspiring us to ‘see’ them in a new light and recognize their values.

In immediate terms, Tree-ty can be replicated with additional features for many gardens of varying scale and be applied for multiple purposes like park management, property/estate valuation, scientific research, planning interventions, botanical / horticultural pedagogy etc.

Tree-Ty aims to help users gain better access to information on the tree community of protected bio-reserves of select historic gardens, public landscapes and institutional premises.

The methodology involves actual field survey and documentation of existing trees to form a well organized inventory with tree identity, taxonomic placement and other qualities in their actual physical setting - as a basis of knowledge and interpretation for the University community and the general public.

Thus it would help in promoting and supporting scientific understanding as well as appreciation of trees.

About Tree-Ty

Tree-ty is like a treaty between humans and trees. It is aimed to gain better access to the world of trees, both virtually and physically. This journey of knowing trees has been initiated with a small natural patch in the main campus of Jadavpur University, named ‘Green Zone’- a two acre area with a small pond, grass areas and lots of trees. Attempts have been made to record data on the species as well as the individual tree species.

A chance reading of an article triggered the testing of this idea on home ground and Tree-ty has emerged as the first phase of a vision that we want to share with fellow plant lovers and the University community.

The Tree-ty website and the Android app are experimental outputs of the ongoing study at Jadavpur University under the Department of Science & Technology (DST), Govt. of India’s Promotion of University Research and Scientific Excellence (PURSE)-II Project. We are truly grateful to DST-PURSE-II as well as Jadavpur University administration for their active support and cooperation towards this study.