A similar citizen science effort looking at indian biodiversity at large
http://indiabiodiversity.org/observation On 07/28/2013 01:43 PM, jitendra wrote:
---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: *jitendra* <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>> Date: Sun, Jul 28, 2013 at 1:34 PM Subject: Treemapindia : mobile and web software as community asset, all FOSS To: *Urban Tree Preservation is Challenged Today.* Only people with compassion for the nature and in turn for humans have undertaken the challenge. FOSS lovers who also love environment should help bring together all the passion and inform the treemapindia technology perspective as it is evolving. As they say,"If You Can’t Measure It, You Can’t Manage It" (http://www.terrystarbucker.com/2012/10/21/the-truth-about-if-you-cant-measure-it-you-cant-manage-it/ ) So we, as a committee , with some forest experts and municipal corporation, felt that mandate of tree census lying in the archives of indian laws since 1975 , with some paper based, non-retrievable data could be an opportunity to bring newer technologies to play the role of good samaritan. Prompted by the Hon Hiigh court, ( under PIL 93/2009 in Bombay High Court) using GIS, GPS, Mobile etc, we have tried to architect a system that should act as a platform to enable tree preservation. While partaking the benefits (?) of urbanised development, with an occasional oblique remark on environmental deterioration, as if somebody else only is responsible for it, many like me have done our bit in attacking the ecology . We believe we need to do our bit to preserve the same too. Trees are the important components of our urban ecology . Wonder if their slow and silent growth is the reason why attention is less than water or air which they purify. That they are the hiosts of all kind of biodiversity also goes unregistered. The biodiversity people are found more concerned with keeping secret the biodiversity info and hence less interested in devising way of involving the community. Even the Forest department talks of non-Forest trees but has no terminology and hence focus on urban trees Be that as it may We have initiated a community owned asset in technology: Free and open source software for server and mobile. Now we have a website based on www.opentreemap.org <http://www.opentreemap.org> a US based free software used also in www.sandiegotreemap.org <http://www.sandiegotreemap.org> (US) and www.treezilla.org <http://www.treezilla.org> (UK) *www.treemapindia.in* <http://www.treemapindia.in> and a vision to cover the whole country. ) see www.treezilla.org <http://www.treezilla.org> a monstrous mapping initiave to map 3 billion trees of UK. we are using the same technology) Guided by GISE Lab at IIT ( www.gise.cse.iitb.ac.in <http://www.gise.cse.iitb.ac.in> ) Also we have a software ( still work in progress, you can contribute !! ) that will integrate with the above site: (It is as of now , regrettably , restricted to andoid and 7" at that) This is an opensource software and enthusiasts are invited to clone and modify as they wish . it is currently available on google app store as *treemapindia * and discussion is on  www.github.com/pune-lug/treecensus <http://www.github.com/pune-lug/treecensus> on facebook https://www.facebook.com/pages/Jan-Vruksha-Tantra/112532068949550 -- jitendra _______________________________________________ network mailing list [email protected] http://lists.fosscom.in/listinfo.cgi/network-fosscom.in
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