Trees in Our Lives — 2019

An exercise done consecutively in two years may not constitute a tradition. But for the students of the elective ​“Urban sustainability in India: A social-ecological perspective”, mapping and knowing about the trees in the immediate vicinity of their campus is a ritual (read assignment). Working in groups of two, each group selected three trees of different species. They were required to identify the species, giving the scientific, common and Kannada names. Using their phones, they collected the GPS points of the trees, marking the location where each of the trees stood. They calculated the height of the tree using a clinometer, measured the girth in the field, and this data was used to calculate the above ground and below ground biomass, as well as the carbon stored by these trees. They also collected information on the economic, social, and cultural uses of the different species, documenting the multiple everyday benefits that we all derive from the trees around us. This booklet is the collective output of the class, based on their observations, the data collected by them in the field and secondary information sourced mainly from the internet. 30 trees of 16 species around the campus were mapped.