Why don't people plant trees on empty land? Can anything be done?

Ecological Restoration & Rewilding
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Hi @NithinKamath

SayTrees is already doing this in MH - One Village One Forest (OVOF)

Linked video for reference - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IykjDnZ68SQ&ab_channel=VimalMylon

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Some amazing discussion happening here. I just wanted to drop this link in the thread since it might help with the reforestation/restoration effort -

This is similar to what @Krutika’s team is trying to build

It is free of cost and has all the tech taken care of, allowing anyone to showcase their restoration journey and associated data.

This is what a project would look like
image

It might also help with forging some new collaborations. Do check it out!

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Hey @a_kumar - thank you for suggesting Restor! We actually do use it, but have overall found that for monitoring newly planted trees - drone images are far more useful than satellite data. Would love to know what you think and also if Restor can incorporate a drone model or a higher res satellite data model?

To give you an example, what we do and our particular use cases are:

  • We need to be able to detect and monitor trees that are as low as 2 feet to right up to maturity, at the individual tree level - the best solution we have found so far is through drone orthomosaics; we are able to accurately map the geolocation, height and now in later stages of the tree (year 4ish onwards) even tree girth diameter (DBH) and species

  • This was extremely hard for us to do, even with satellite data as high a 3m resolution PlanetScope. Purchasing higher res satellite data beyond that is proving to be prohibitively expensive - but our sense is that the 0.5 to 1m res data might be more useful or just as useful as drone data (particularly because we can also get data from these in many more spectral bands, NIR, etc than what the drone can provide us). Would Restor be able to do that, maybe on a pilot basis?

  • We also tried getting the information needed above through tagging QR codes on each tree and then having our staff scan the QR code and enter all relevant data through ODK. This was pretty good upto about 10,000 trees but after that it was problematic in that (1) the amount of plastic QR codes need :scream: :frowning_face: and (2) it was not a very fun job for any of us team members to do this for tree after tree in the heat, even on a quarterly basis and (3) the QR codes didn’t stay for over 1 year (got destroyed in the sun and the rain!). The drone orthomosaic automates the process of tree counting avoiding all of the manual work our staff was doing!

  • We buy and provide farmers with large amounts of drip irrigation systems - the drone photographs allow us to measure with very high degree of accuracy how many feet of drip pipe were purchased and how many were deployed and where exactly. This is also data that we can then provide to our auditors (both carbon and financial). We are now also looking at possibilities of the drone helping us identify problems in the drip - clogged drip points, parts of the pipe chewed by rats, squirrels, etc - which again our staff was originally having to do manually

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Thank you for such an insightful and detailed response, @Krutika. I wasn’t aware of the limitations of satellite imagery when compared to drone orthomosaics!

I was wondering if it would be worthwhile to reach out to the restor team with these inputs to inquire if they can support such a feature (uploading time-lapses of orthomosaics and other data) or if they have any alternative solutions.

Would it make sense if Rainmatter threw its weight behind such a request on behalf of all rewilding orgs here?

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@a_kumar - we’ve had a few conversations with Hema @ Restor, but not on integrating high res satellite imagery. They were also working on adding in additional features that would make it easier for organizations to understand and track their on-ground work. We will talk to her again and see what’s new!

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I’m just sharing my thoughts here & I’m sorry if it isn’t making any sense here.

I feel all these modern day problems (climate, pollution, health, population, capitalism, women safety, etc.) are results of destruction of gurukul system.

Let me tell you how

In Gurukul era, lessons & teaching were not only limited to science, maths, history & other general subjects but also teachings about 'as humans what was our duty towards other living beings should be, including nature also (plants, water, mountain, land etc.)

Our culture(way of living) was always 90% scientific & was key to peace, progress & prosperity without harming our environment.

Proof : We were 1/4th of total world GDP before British/Mughal Era.

I think (my thinking not sure) the reason why Zerodha became successful was @knadh 's philosophy of being frugal & conscious means use resources only for need not for greed.

In our ancient teachings it was already told, how we all are connected to each other & how we all are one (God, Nature & every Living Being)

Having right feelings & emotions for others (all living & non-living things) is the right way to live.

Remember, prevention is always better than cure & preventing our bad emotion & feeling for others is the best way to prevent all modern day problems.

I know we will create solution of all problems but we could save that energy & resources for building more meaningful things not only for us but for whole planet.

Thanks for reading & if anything is wrong please let me know.

@NithinKamath @sameershisodia

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Not sure which thread to post this on but… I stumbled across a piece published a couple of days ago about the (in)famous “Trillion Trees” paper and its main proponent, William Crowther. Apparently he has had somewhat of a change of heart. Some background, and what’s changed, is described here:

“If no one had ever said, ‘Plant a trillion trees,’ I think we’d have been in a lot better space,” Crowther says.

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The black/white view on it is harmful, either way. Trees/planting as part of an agroecological approach that includes water management, soil rebuilding etc is a huge win in landscapes shorn of everything but single season monoculture crops- though a better understanding of and handholding from restoration science can improve outcomes even more. At least 2 partners have reduced improved pollination, yields and reduced costs! A more nuanced view and set of responses needs to get assembled really, really quick.

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Nithin,

It is being done and we are doing it at GuardiansofEarth.io

We’ve hypothesised that achieving successful nature repair requires meeting a set of prerequisites, one of them being wealth creation MUST be local.

We’re testing this hypothesis with 7 seven community-led regenerative projects selected out of the over 250 locations we are tracking on our system.

If our hypothesis is validated, it will change how we approach environmental restoration globally.

As this approach touches upon finance/equity, environment and community, I believe Rainmatter Foundation could be a great partner to support the initiative and contribute to the network effect we believe it will generate.

Happy to share the details with you/your team. Thanks!

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