Beijing to Set up Digital Archives for Ancient TreesChinese capital Beijing will set up archival records for all its 18,179 ancient trees grown in the suburbs by using advanced digital technology, the Beijing Morning Post has reported.An official with the city's forestry bureau said the purpose of the tree census is for better protection of ancient trees. Forestry technicians will take digital photos for each tree from two angles as collection in an information database of the city's forestry bureau. The archives will contain the trees' ages, diameter, and height, detailed records of the trees' locations, protection history and growing situation will also be archived, the official said. In case any tree becomes ill, botanists will be timely informed of the tree's records via the database, and then rescue treatment will be given, he said. This census is the second of this kind after the first in 1987, which resulted into a total number of 18,179 ancient trees in Beijing's suburbs, 2,409 of which were more than 300 years old. |
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