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| Tree Tagging made easy |
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| Monday, 03 January 2011 09:00 | ||||||||
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Armed with GPS-based technology, a team of tree trackers is out in the field to tag and map trees, writes IZWAN ISMAIL AS soon as he arrived at the researchers’ cabin at the edge of the Temenggor Forest Reserve in Perak, Azman Ali M. Habib Rahman fishes out a GPS device to capture the co-ordinates of his position. When it is recorded in his Automated Spatial Survey Information (Assist) system, Azman and his tree taggers team walk into the thick rainforest with one mission — to tag selected trees within a 1 sq km perimeter as assigned by the Forestry Department. Preserving the forest The Forestry Department has been tagging trees for many years to better manage them. "Trees are assets of a country. Tagging and mapping them allow the department to monitor the trees or areas that can be logged, as not all trees can be cut down," Azman says . "For example, trees below a certain size and height must be protected. This applies to ‘mother’ trees too as they produce seeds. If a permit is given out, loggers need to follow the rules and regulations." Before the licence is given to loggers, the Forestry Department needs to know the assets’ data (trees). "Normally trees tagged are those with 20cm diameter for preservation, while those 40cm and above can be allocated for logging." Past and present In the past, tree tagging was done manually, and data were all on papers. There was no mapping capabilities. "The officer will mark the trees and put the data on paper. It’s time-consuming and inaccurate as the markings may be moved by nature, men or animals, and there are no GPS co-ordinates to locate each tree," Azman says. Today, the situation has changed for the better. The Assist system allows taggers to complete their task within three days compared to three months for an area the size of Bukit Nanas forest reserve in the heart of Kuala Lumpur. "Using the Assist system, tree taggers only need to stand at one point on the forest and tag trees with the use of a laser device. The device will record the trees’ co-ordinate and transfer them to the Assist system on their notebook using Bluetooth," he says. Structured system Apart from recording the co-ordinate of each tree, the Assist system also records other information like the type, size and height. "If the Forestry officers return a few months later and stand at the same point, they can easily identify the digitally marked trees. They can also view the pictures of the trees," he says. Usually, for a tree tagging and mapping job, Azman will lug along two notebooks, a laser GPS device, a motorcycle battery for charging the notebooks, and other normal outdoor camping equipment and food. As his job requires him to venture deep into the jungle, a forest ranger will tag along to prevent the team from getting lost. The tagging and mapping technology also enables the Forestry Department to tag trees with barcode and radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology for more precise monitoring. "Let’s say a permit is given out to cut 200 trees out of 1,000. The Department can check the remaining 800 trees later as the data is accurate." The Assist system also allows tree tagging and mapping to be completed in the forest itself. According to Azman, apart from Temenggor, other forest reserves that have been tagged and mapped by the Forestry Department using the Assist system include Bukit Nanas, Sungai Menyala in Negri Sembilan, and Rotan Tunggal in Pahang. Future plans Azman says Cube Global will add more capabilities into the Assist system in the near future. "We plan to link the data collected into devices like PSPs, so that the tree taggers can bring smaller devices into the forest. Besides that, we also plan for a virtual reality hologram view of the trees. This will give viewers the feeling of being in the forest while watching the trees around them," he says. Source: New Straits Times
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