The Kerala Agricultural University (KAU) has launched an app, City Trees, to help the public choose the right type of tree for their neighbourhood.
The app, launched in connection with World Environment Day, introduces selected ornamental and shade trees with their botanical, trade and Malayalam name, type, crown, shape and flower colour, so that a user can select the appropriate tree for planting.
“Urban greening is the simplest and most efficient remedy for global warming and many leading cities in the world have courted this option,” said KAU Vice Chancellor R. Chandra Babu.
“The theme of World Environment Day for 2019, ‘Beat Air Pollution,’ is a call to combat the global environmental crisis. The theme wants us to consider how we can change our routine to reduce air pollution, and reduce its impact on atmospheric temperature and our health. Planners and the public must be made aware of the services rendered by trees to the ecosystem. This app would be a great help in this context,” he said.
The app, developed by K. Gopakumar, Professor at the College of Forestry, will be available on Google Playstore soon.
The KAU Vice Chancellor said the university has proposed different means to create and maintain sustainable greenery models.
After inaugurating a Miyawaki model (dense plantation model) forest on World Environment Day, he said it is a model worth emulating in urban and periurban locations in line with the objective of the Haritha Keralam mission. He felicitated the staff and student of CoF which won the award for the best biodiversity campus in the State.
Miyawaki strategy
The Miyawaki model envisages a ‘pachathuruthu’ of local indigenous tree/shrub species in a minimum of two cents of land.
This method of afforestation, named after the Japanese botanist and plant ecologist Akira Miyawaki, facilitates planting of more trees in a small space.
The trees grow faster and are free of chemicals and fertilizers. The advantage of the Miyawaki method is that the saplings need minimum maintenance.
Since Akira Miyawaki managed mini- forests along the coastline of Japan to promote natural vegetation on land spaces destroyed by natural calamities and human intervention, this model has been adopted in many cities.
The KAU has proposed this method for bringing back the greenery of the State destroyed by the recent floods and a subsequent dry period.