São Paulo city tests scanner to build tree database

São Paulo city has started the pilot project to use a scanner to catalog the trees of its streets. A vehicle with a 360-degree camera will go down Ribeiro Lacerda street, in the Ipiranga district of southern São Paulo to gather data on trees through the thoroughfare. The equipment registers information including height, diameter, inclination, and the space between trunks.

The idea is to use the data to make decisions about trimming and tree removal. Should the project be successful, Deputy Secretary of Environment Ricardo Viegas said, it will be used to devise a city plan on urban forestry. Viegas said the study will include species planted in the city and their quantities, as well as management strategies.

He explained that the city’s database shows that São Paulo is home to 651 thousand trees—a number that should constantly be brought up to date. “This was done quite a long time ago by the city’s engineers and biologists with an extremely outdated methodology. The outcome of this survey is little profitable and rather sluggish,” he said abut the procedures, which included manual measurements and photographs.

The scanner will speed up the process considerably, said the official. The data will be assessed over the next three months. Next, experts will be able to gauge the advantages and costs for project implementation across the city.

The system was donated by a private company, Metro Cúbico Engenharia. The goal, the firm reported, is to “present a state-of-the art technological alternative to the cataloging of trees, which consists in registering all of their measurements.”