Our latest initiative TreeWatch is evolving this month as we start implementing some major developments to the website that lies at the heart of this innovative project.
We launched TreeWatch last year as a small pilot, which allowed us to road test the technology and to build relationships with key partners; notably Earthwatch, Forest Research and The Tree Council. We wanted to develop a unique initiative that would allow any member of the public to ‘adopt’ a tree and to monitor its health. For our pilot we ran a survey on the horse chestnut leaf miner, with some 50 trees being adopted by the public across the UK and France using our newly developed dedicated website.
We have since been working behind the scenes to develop an improved version of the all important website. Some existing users may already notice some subtle changes in place. Over the next few weeks the development of more features will have been completed and will be published live on the website. One of the most significant developments is the broadening of the initiative beyond tree health, to include additional surveys and monitoring activities.
We are very excited to have a major new research partner (to be announced) working with us from 2011, and we will be launching a new tree health survey with them in April – watch this space! We are also talking currently with a number of public and private sector partners to explore other opportunities.
Have you adopted your tree yet?
