Chennai shows the way with tree census

CHENNAI: In what was termed a first-of- its-kind partnership programme in metros, the Forest Department, in association with educational institutions and NGOs, has begun a tree census project here called "Trees 2011".Inaugurating the census at the Guindy National Park on Wednesday, Minister of Forests K T Pachamal, said, “Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa has taken several steps to make Tamil Nadu a greener state and this census is one of them. Chennai is the first city to introduce this plan.” Fifty college students  drawn from four city colleges - MCC, WCC,  S D N B Vaishnav and Presidency - will undertake the census work, expected to take anywhere between six months and one year’s time.Programme co-ordinator Prof Narasimhan from Madras Christian College, said, “On a request from the Forest Department, the Directorate of Collegiate Education had sent a circular to all colleges asking them to allow their Botany students to participate in this programme.” He said that students would first take stock of the trees in the Guindy National Park. ‘’The aim of this initiative is to create a database of trees in Chennai,” he added.Speaking on the occasion, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, Gautam Dey, said, “This will help us know endangered species and status of green cover in the city.”