Surat Tree Watch
A PRAYAS initiative to create and nurture every effort directed towards saving the trees of Surat city — identifying potential harm early and delivering solutions through government and non-government bodies, so the city keeps the tree cover a healthy ecosystem needs.
One tree per household
We will consider ourselves successful when tree coverage in Surat reaches at least one tree per household — and when a dedicated citizen, citizen group or government agency is focused on caring for each and every tree within the city limits.
STW plays a proactive role: spotting potential harm to trees, and delivering innovative solutions through governmental and non-governmental organisations.
The campaign so far
We surveyed all the trees of the city and built a database, recording the geographical location wherever it was possible to do so.
People are encouraged to photograph trees and share them on Facebook, where experts add what they know about each tree.
Different species across the city have been identified, and we monitor their flowering and growth through the year.
Anyone can send an SMS — or an email, or an online report — about a threat to a tree, and our team does what is needed to save it.
The helpline works: citizens report tree cutting, and we alert the garden department so it can be stopped in time.
This has come as a lifeline for the urban trees of Surat — thousands of people now own the cause and contribute to it.
Be a watcher
If you want to become a tree watcher, you first need to be a watcher. Start watching the trees around you and identifying them — most of us discover we cannot name even the common ones. Read about them in books, or follow the posts and ask us questions on our Facebook page.
Feel it is tedious, and species names are not really your concern? That is fine — many of us are like that, and we still understand how important it is to save them. At the very least you can identify a threat to a tree and report it to our tree helpline.
Identify the threat
These are the two most common threats to a full grown urban tree. Both are easy to spot once you know what you are looking at.
Choking
During pavement or road construction, the required breathing space around a tree is often not left open. The tree chokes, and its growth stops. Tree guards do the same thing when they are not cut open to give a grown tree room.
Falling tree
Roadside trees are frequently trimmed from one side only — usually the side facing the building. All the branch weight then sits on one side, the tree starts slanting, and eventually it comes down.
Report a threat, or join in
Spotted a tree being cut, choked or dangerously trimmed? Call the 24×7 helpline. Want to be part of the team? Any of these three will get you in.
A tree in danger near you?
Call the helpline the moment you see a tree being cut, choked or wrongly trimmed. Every report gives us a chance to act before it is too late.