Resilience Scanner

My Tree Urban Georeferencing Platform

Solution Overview

Salvador's Municipal Secretary of Sustainability, Innovation and Resilience developed the 'My Tree' platform, an open web and mobile georeferencing system designed to register and monitor tree plantings performed by both municipal authorities and citizens throughout the city.[3][13] This technology-enabled approach operates on a continuous implementation schedule under the ownership of the Secretaria Municipal de Sustentabilidade, Inovação e Resiliência (SECIS).[3][7] The platform supports Salvador's broader 'Salvador Capital of the Atlantic Forest' program, which prioritizes native species afforestation across the urban landscape.[1]

Technical Components

The georeferencing platform provides digital infrastructure for tracking and monitoring urban tree plantings across Salvador's municipal boundaries.[3][12] This system enables both government agencies and residents to register individual plantings through web-based and mobile interfaces, creating a comprehensive database of urban forest coverage.[3] The implementation builds upon Salvador's 2020 Master Plan for Smart City Technology, making the city the first Brazilian state capital to develop such a comprehensive technological framework.[4] The platform integrates with existing municipal sustainability programs, including the Dial Atlantic Forest initiative that allows residents to request free native tree seedling delivery via WhatsApp message.[2][8]

Implementation Details

The Secretariat of Sustainable City and Innovation successfully implemented the 'Suburbana Verde' project between March and August 2018, planting 1,520 native trees along the 14-kilometer Avenue Afrânio Peixoto and surpassing the initial goal of 1,400 seedlings.[1][4] The project received total municipal investment of R$589,000, approximately US$150,000.[1] Native species planted included ipês, sibipirunas, paus-brasil, paus-ferro, jacarandás and oitis.[1] Secretariat teams visited neighborhoods adjacent to the planting corridor to promote awareness and local ownership of newly planted trees, providing residents and business owners with information about urban afforestation benefits and necessary caretaking measures for seedlings.[1] Beyond the Dial Atlantic Forest program, Salvador planted over 51,230 trees, revitalized and expanded local parks and protected areas, and created user-friendly manuals on planting tree species native to the Atlantic Forest in urban areas.[2]

Benefits and Impacts

The Environmental Recovery Program of the Canabrava Park, launched in 2015, reforested a 52,000 square meter outdoor dump that had received 22 million tons of waste, transforming the area into a new ecosystem and green space for underprivileged neighborhoods.[5] Two large plantations were established with assistance from 300 participants, including environmental engineering students from the local university and inhabitants of surrounding areas.[5] The Brazilian city's program planted 20,000 trees native to the Atlantic Forest biome, using treated sewage sludge from anaerobic digestion and biosolids from industrial wastewater plants as fertilizer.[5] Environmental assessments estimated that approximately 2.8 million tons of CO2 will be captured over 20 years by trees planted under the project.[5] The use of sludge for fertilizer reduced 31,500 tons of CO2 emissions annually.[5] The program encouraged additional tree planting with a goal to reach 100,000 trees across the city in coming years.[5]

Climate Adaptation Relevance

Salvador officially launched its first Plan for Mitigation and Adaptation to Climate Change (PMAMC) at the end of December 2020, establishing comprehensive climate response strategies.[6][7] The plan includes the ambitious goal of reaching carbon neutrality by 2049, when the city will celebrate its 500th anniversary.[7] The georeferencing platform and associated tree planting initiatives support these climate mitigation and adaptation objectives by expanding urban forest coverage, enhancing carbon sequestration capacity, and creating green infrastructure that addresses multiple climate vulnerabilities through nature-based solutions.

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