At the end of January, highway asset management and data experts, KaarbonTech held their first Tree SMART Live event at the incredible National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire. With an aim to explore the impact data and technology can make to tree management, the group welcomed more than 60 attendees from over 20 local authorities and other organisations.
With dazzling tech and exceptional presentation, KaarbonTech took their guests through a whistlestop tour of tree management and how advancements in tech can make vast improvements. Expert speakers covered a range of topics including:
· Kenton Rogers, Director of Treeconomics looked at the benefits of trees to the highway sector, how we measure those benefits and the importance of well-planned green spaces.
· James Bailey, Assistant Director of Highways, Staffordshire Council explored the importance of using tech and data across their tree management and the benefits of sharing data across the council.
· Keiron Doick, Science Group Leader at Forest Research covered tree valuation and the value of non-woodland trees along with collecting data that can be used across a range of cases to maximise reporting potential.
· Kevin Martin Head of Arboriculture at Kew Gardens presented their planned research to achieve successful tree growth as our climate changes, looking at the failure rate of trees and the need to introduce new species from across the world as our climate changes.
Round table discussions explored smarter ways to use data, how AI can help with species identification, data use for increased success in tree planting, new developments to assist with planning, and how to better manage risk.
The event also witnessed the launch of the Tree Management Research Group, a collaboration between Kew Gardens and KaarbonTech, focused on enabling Kew to share their research and data, making recommendations to share with local authorities across the country.
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KaarbonTech’s founder, Mark Entwistle said, “We were delighted to welcome so many people to our event, aware that tree management is a growing area of interest and one to which we can add our expertise to. Seeing so much opportunity to improve the industry, it’s exciting to be part of the change”.
The event also introduced delegates to KaarbonTech’s Tree SMART solution, providing a convenient and efficient way of managing large tree stocks, and seamlessly integrating with existing platforms and software. Tree SMART allows users to define and deliver a risk-based approach to surveying and maintaining tree stocks with precise, diverse and usable data.
With a rise in ash dieback across the country, a raised awareness of the health of our tree stocks due to age, climate change and location, and a concern for safety if a tree fell, Tree SMART provides a simple solution that allows users to take a risk-based approach, saving budgets and allowing a fast, intuitive and effective method of management.