The colourful flowers and shades of green on the trees naturally draw our attention during the Spring-Summer in India. We know you made the most of this season from the beautiful response to the March Tree Festival celebrated from March 24 to April 2. We are happy to share the results of the first tree festival of 2023.
Overview
The festival gathered 4235 observations from all over India, which includes 991 regular observations and 3244 casual observations. 71 individuals and 63 schools and colleges participated in the festival.
Thanks to the Campus Phenology Network launched at the beginning of March, many colleges and research institutions have joined SeasonWatch.
State-wise data shows participation from 22 states and union territories.
Figure 1: The blue dots indicate the locations of observations on trees
As a pleasant surprise, the usual top observer Kerala has been succeeded by Tamil Nadu this time with 1526 observations! Congratulations to all the contributors from Tamil Nadu! Kerala, of course, is a close second with 1473 observations. Puducherry, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra compose the top 5 states of this festival. We are delighted to find observations from Assam, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Uttarakhand, Arunachal and Haryana as well!
Figure 2: All the states and observations they contributed to the March Tree Festival 2023
Among the 170 SeasonWatch species, 137 were observed during the festival. Of these, Teak trees were observed the most, followed by Neem, Mango, Rain tree and Pongam tree. All of these species have always been the most observed, but the ‘Leaf flush’ challenge of the festival could have led to Teak topping the list for the festival.
Other species that follow the top 10 are Indian Laburnum, Drumstick, Jamun, Red silk cotton, Flame of the Forest, Tamarind, Banyan, etc.
Figure 3: Most observed tree species of the festival
Other highlights
As the festival was about to begin, Sananda Mukhopadhyaya shared a breathtaking image of the Flame of Forest fired up around the Purulia region in West Bengal.
Figure 4: Stunning bird’s eye view of the Palash trees from a plane, shared by Sanandan Mukhopadhyaya
Pictures of blooming Red Silk Cottons, Pongam trees and Rosy Trumpets have been pouring into our Instagram DMs throughout the festival!
Figures 5 and 6: An enchanting reel about the Red Silk Cotton shared by Shraddha from Karnal, Haryana and Niharika shared her obsession with the blooming Rosy Trumpet trees in Ahmedabad, Gujarat
The March Tree Festival saw many treewalks in Maharashtra, Puducherry and Tamil Nadu. SeasonWatch Coordinator Sayee conducted treewalks at the Mumbai Zoo and Empress Botanical Garden, Pune. Soniya of ‘Pune Trees’ conducted treewalks on both the festival weekends in Pune’s camp area. Omkar Kane pioneered a treewalk in the Chinchwad region of Pune. Manojit Choudhary and Dr Prerana Chandak conducted their first-ever treewalks in Pune.
Figures 7, 8, 9 and 10 (Clockwise from top left): Treewalk at the Empress Garden (photo by Prerana Ghatmale), Dr Prerana Chandak’s treewalk (photo by Divyanshu Pawar), Omkar Kane’s treewalk (photo by Sayee Girdhari) and Manojit Choudhary’s treewalk (photo by Diparna Saha), in Pune.
SeasonWatch stars Surendhar Boobalan and Rajangam Sir took their students for treewalks.
Figures 11 and 12: Surendhar Sir leads his students on a treewalk in Puducherry. Rajangam Sir with his students in their school campus in Tamil Nadu.
Many thanks and best wishes to these treewalk leads! We hope many more tree lovers come forth to lead treewalks and make it a beloved activity across India.
Festival Challenges
The 3 challenges of the festival were 100-not-out, Scarlet Summer and Leaf Flush. Scarlet Summer asked the participants to observe 5 tree species bearing red/orange flowers. Leaf Flush gave the participants 8 tree species that put out new leaves during the season to monitor.
Here’s how the challenges fared –
100-not-out – observing 100 trees in 10 days of the festival
8 individuals and 7 schools completed this challenge.
Thiyasree won the challenge with astounding 600 observations. A wonderful number of observations were recorded by Surendhar Boobalan (584) and K. S Lyla (401). Yashwanth, Arun Vasireddy, Charudheshna, Sonu Kumar and Selvaganesh observed a century too!
The school winner of this challenge is Gandhi Smarak Upper Primary School, Mangalam with 159 observations. Other schools that hit a century are AKGM GHSS Pinarayi-Kannur, Government Higher Secondary School, Blossom English School – Kainatty, M.T.S.S.K.G.U.P. School, Bemannur GUPS-Paruthippulli, G.U.P.S. Islahiya Public School-Kottakkal came very close to completing a century with 94 observations.
Congratulations to the winners and all contributors!
Scarlet Summer – observing 5 trees species* with orange-red flowers
*(Red Silk Cotton, Flame of the Forest, True Ashok, Indian Coral Tree and Nilgiri Rhododendron)
18 individuals and 23 schools and colleges participated in this challenge by adding observations on any of the 5 challenge species. K. S. Lyla won the challenge with 50 observations on 3 of the 5 species.
The Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda is the winner in the school category with 20 observations on Flame of the Forest trees.
Blossom English School – Kainatty earns a special mention for adding observations on 4 of the 5 Scarlet Summer challenge species – Red Silk Cotton, Indian Coral Tree, True Ashoka and Nilgiri Rhododendron. It is also the only participant to add an observation on the Nilgiri Rhododendron.
Congratulations to the winners and all the Scarlet Summer-watchers!
A total of 243 observations were recorded on the 5 challenge species, the highest on the Red Silk Cotton trees, followed by Flame of the Forest, True Ashok, Indian Coral Tree and Nilgiri Rhododendron. 55.56% of the observed trees had open flowers. Here’s how these observations were distributed across India –
Figure 13: Locations of red-orange flowered trees and their flowering stage in India
Leaf flush – observing 8 tree species* sprouting new leaves
*(Teak, Indian Ash Tree, Rain Tree, Siris, Pongam tree, Devil’s Tree, Mahua, Dyer’s Oleander)
38 individuals and 38 schools, and colleges took up this challenge. Surendhar Boobalan from Puducherry recorded the most number of observations i.e. 128, winning the challenge. Surendhar sir also observed 7 of the 8 challenge species. Arun Vasireddy also has achieved this feat.
M.T.S.S.K.G.U.P. School recorded 92 observations on 3 species, becoming the winner in the school category. The Blossom English School – Kainatty is the school to record observations on the most number of species i.e. 7 out of 8 species of the challenge.
The challenge received 891 observations from across India. Teak is the most observed species in the challenge, followed by the Rain tree, Pongam, Devil’s tree and others. 87.54% of the observed Leaf Flush species had put out new leaves. Here’s how the species and their observed new leaves look on India’s map –
Figure 14: Locations of the 8 deciduous tree species with new leaves observed across India
Contributors
The purpose of the SeasonWatch festivals is to reach more and more people and to make watching trees fun! The immense contribution of all the participants and even the ones that have decided to participate in the next festival make this festival a success. We thank and congratulate all the individuals, schools and colleges that celebrated the Spring-Summer with this festival!
Individuals (71)
Thiyasree, Surendhar Boobalan, K.S Lyla, Selvaganesh, Sonu Kumar, Charudheshna, Vasireddyarun, Yashwanth, ANET, CPN-Jyoti Desai, Dipika Shenai, Sayee Girdhari, P. Rajangam, FES Niwas (SHT Mandla), Gnanavel, Binoy Chutia, Dhushyanth Sankar, FES Bichhiya (SHT Mandla), Suhel Quader, Vikashini, Dr P U Priyanka, Saw John Aung Thong, Siddharth, FES Anjaniya (SHT Mandla), Chaitanya Hegde, Neha Mehak, Yogeswarie, FES Keonjhar, Prabhakaran PV, Ashwath, Geetha Ramaswami, Harshit tailor, Jitendra Masram, P S Baiju, Prerana Chandak, Shyam Phartyal, Vipul, Iyyappan P, Suhirtha Muhil M, Thryambak Sha, Abha K, Amritesh, Dharitri Swain, Sananda, Shivraj Dhumketi, Bhagchand Dhumketi, Deepak Negi, Rama Lakshmi Peri, Jaimin Makwana, Loges, Ywini, Aditi Padhi, Ajay, Bandita Tripathy, Bhavya Sharma, Charu Bhatt, Elavarasan M, Joel J. Mathew, Loganathan P, Maitreyi, Marina, Mousumi Ghosh-Harihar, Nibedita Ghosh, Pradip Mishra, R Santhosini, Raman Kumar, Safnasajeev, Sakshi Sahu, Sonia, Subhashini Krishnan, Sudarmani.
Schools and Colleges (62)
Gandhi smarak U P School Mangalam, AKGM GHSS Pinarayi – Kannur, Government Higher Secondary School, Blossom English School – Kainatty, M.T.S.S.K.G.U.P. School, Bemannur GUPS- Paruthippulli 678573, G.U.P.S., Islahiya Public School – Kottakkal, Govt UPS Edavilakom (Vasishta Haritha Vidyalayam), Yuvarajas college, Mankara West Basic AND U P School, Panchayat Union Middle School Thalavaipatty-Salem, GSS college Belagavi, Indian Institute of Forest Management, College of Forestry – Dapoli, Ganpat Parsekar College of Education, Carmel Residential Senior Secondary School, IIFM Bhopal, Mar Augen High School – Kodanad, Sree Narayana College – Alathur, Ahmedabad University, Modern College of Arts-Science and Commerce- Pune – 5, G.H.S.S ARASUR, Government high school- pillaiyarkuppam, College Of Forestry – Navsari, Madurai Kamaraj University, Selvamm Arts and Science College Autonomous – Namakkal, College of Forestry- Nau, Pallottihill Public School Agastianmuzhi Mukkam, Government Primary School – Indira Nagar, Kizhuthally East U P School, Symbiosis International University – Lavale, National Institute of Science Education and Research (NISER) – Bhubaneswar, Kayaralam AUP school, St Joseph’s Nazareth school, Mahlara public school, AUPS Mannengode, Navsari Agricultural University, Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, North Eastern Regional Institute of Science and Technology, G. M. U. P school Velur – Atholi, GHSS Kuttamath, KPM Model School, R M H S School Aloor, Umlpsthiruvilwamala, Veeravnchery LP School, Vidyodaya, Bharath English Medium School Poinachi, C. A. U. P. S. Mampad, HariSree Public School, Bhavans Vidyalaya, GGHSS Madayi, GHSS Thonnakkal- Kudavoor, Sobhana E M H S, St. Mary’s LPS – Charummoode, VVHSS Thamarakulam, Rani Channamma University, RCU(GSS), GSS College Belgaum Karnataka, Little Flower High School – Munnar, Mar Beselious Public School, St. Joseph Vaz College – Cortalim, Goa.
