How citizen scientists are mapping Pune’s trees, with hopes of a greener future.
Volunteers with the grassroots group Pune River Revival are using smartphones, tape measures and the iNaturalist app to map trees along the Mula-Mutha rivers, building evidence for conservation decisions.
Volunteers in Pune, India, are documenting trees along the Mula-Mutha riverbanks with smartphones, measuring tapes and the iNaturalist app, Mongabay reports. They belong to Pune River Revival, a grassroots movement formed in response to the Pune Riverfront Development Project. That redevelopment plan covers promenades, recreational spaces and infrastructure along the rivers, at an estimated cost of about 4,727 crore rupees (roughly $500 million).
Volunteer Raghunandan Patil said, "We started organizing the tree mapping exercise systematically in 2024." Earlier mapping was done by hand, and the group lacked technical know-how. Now volunteers split into assigned stretches of riverbank, estimate each tree's height, measure trunk circumference with a tape and upload the data to a project map in the app. Media reports cited by Mongabay say the mapping has recorded 53 tree species, including banyan and yellow flame trees. When 529 trees were felled along Ganeshkhind Road, Patil said, volunteers mapped more than 500 trees within a month to collect evidence.
Ashok D. Ghorpade, joint municipal commissioner and chief garden superintendent at the Pune Municipal Corporation, said the city runs an official tree census every five years under a Maharashtra state act dating to 1975, using GIS tools. He said "citizen-generated tree data is welcome as supplementary information during the tree census process." Citizen submissions may be included in the official database after validation and verification. The article notes that environmental activists have criticized past government censuses for gaps and inconsistency.
Patil pointed to the Ram-Mula Devrai, a sacred grove where the Ram and Mula rivers meet, as an example of the data's impact. Official reports cited by Mongabay list 1,000 heritage trees, at least 450 plant and animal species and 160 bird species there. The group held butterfly walks, insect walks and tree-painting competitions, and proposed sustainable commercial use instead of clear-cutting. Patil said the stretch now faces a much lower risk of heavy development.
Mongabay places the effort in a wider pattern. In Hyderabad, the Save KBR Park campaign released a geotagged map of 672 trees. A 2017 study across four cities in the U.S. and Sweden found volunteers matched experts about 90% of the time on site type, land use, dieback and genus. Within correct genera, species matched for 84.8% of trees, though accuracy varied by data type, and the researchers recommended quality checks and simpler methods for some measurements.
At a Glance
- Pune River Revival began systematic tree mapping in 2024 and now logs trees in the iNaturalist app.
- Volunteers mapped more than 500 trees within a month after 529 trees were felled along Ganeshkhind Road.
- Media reports cited by Mongabay say citizen mapping has documented 53 tree species in the area.
- The Pune Municipal Corporation runs an official tree census every five years and may include validated citizen data.
- Official reports list 1,000 heritage trees and 160 bird species at the Ram-Mula Devrai sacred grove.
Sources
This brief was written by Brightside Report from the reporting linked above. Spot an error? Request a correction.