Silva Metrics: inventory of parks and gardens

What it is

Silva Metrics is an inventory of parks and gardens for towns and cities, with everything inside them, living and non-living: trees and other plants, furniture, playgrounds, irrigation and more. It brings the plants, the furniture and the work done in green spaces into a single database. It offers two views of the same information: a public one, which opens when a QR code is scanned, and a technical one, for those who work in the green space.

Each municipality chooses the level of detail: a plant can have its own record or be logged as a mass when the whole is what matters.

Who it is for

• Technical staff of parks and gardens departments, who keep the inventory and decide.
• Gardening crews, in-house or contracted, who log their work from a mobile phone.
• Other departments, such as urban planning, public health or civil protection, who consult what concerns them.
• Residents, who look up the record of a tree or a fountain and can report an incident.

What problem it addresses

Looking after a municipality’s green space starts with knowing what is there, where it is and what condition it is in. Silva Metrics proposes an inventory that stays up to date because data is noted where and when it happens.

• Trees matter for health. A study published in The Lancet in 2023 estimated, for 93 European cities, that more tree canopy cover would reduce the premature deaths attributable to heat (Iungman et al., 2023, doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(22)02585-5). These are model estimates, not measurements.

How it is used, step by step

This is how the work usually unfolds, from the first record to the period report.

1. Green areas are registered. Every park and garden has its own record, starting from any inventory that already exists.
2. QR codes are placed. Each element can carry its own.
3. Crews log from their phones. The inventory updates with every job.
4. The team reviews and decides. With maps, risk lists and reports.

What it does

Inventory: what is in the green space

Green areas

Every park, garden or roundabout has its own record, with its plants, furniture and history hanging from it. Asking about a space stops being a search.

Vegetation: specimens and masses

A notable tree with its own record or a flower bed as a whole: you choose the detail. On the map, a health colour tells you at a glance where to look.

Furniture and materials

Benches, fountains, play areas and irrigation live in the same inventory as the plants. You know what is there and when it is due for a check.

QR code and signs

Two-sided QR code

One code opens a simple record for the neighbour and the full record for staff. It informs residents and saves the team trips.

Signs and signage

The panels of a park or a trail come from the inventory itself. Sign and record always match.

Day-to-day work

Actions from the mobile phone

The crew logs its work next to the element, with photos. The inventory updates without anything being written up afterwards.

Reports with a traffic light

Staff and residents report incidents and see where each one stands. Whoever reports gets an answer.

Plant health and risk

Specimens at risk are ranked by priority, with sensitive places in view. You check first what matters most.

Invasive species

Detected outbreaks appear on a map, with their evolution. You see whether an outbreak is growing or receding.

Data to decide and to justify

Green cover and shade

Maps by neighbourhood of where there is shade and where it is missing. Clear arguments for deciding where to plant.

Flowering and allergens

A calendar of what blooms and where, with an allergenic-species filter. Plan with health in mind.

Biodiversity

Simple indicators for each green area so they can be compared. You see which spaces host more life.

Plantings with evidence

Each planting campaign is documented with geolocated photos. Those who plant see their effort recognised.

Public interest

Each scan counts as data, without identifying anyone. You see what interests each neighbourhood.

Reports

Dashboards, maps and PDF reports ready to present. Accountability without redoing anything by hand.

Settings and access

Each local government adapts the tool to its way of working and gives each person only what they need. Order and control without complications.

Use cases

Sample data

• After a stormA prioritised list shows where to start the round.
• Before a pruning or a works projectThe record tells what was done and with what result.
• A planting campaignEach specimen is documented and the campaign is summed up in a report.
• A plant that looks invasiveIt is placed on the map and waits for an accredited person to confirm it.
• Replacing a bench or a play areaYou see when it is due for a check and plan its replacement.
• AccountabilityFigures and maps ready for the local government.

Within the Zoometrics suite

Silva Metrics is one of the tools in the Zoometrics suite, which jointly manages coexistence in the municipality with geolocated data and a One Health approach. A park is shared by many departments and many lives; these are the other tools, which open in a new tab:

• Meow Metrics cat colonies with the TNR method: where the cats of a park live and who looks after them.
• Census Metrics municipal census of companion animals, completed by residents from their phone.
• Wild Metrics map of encounters with urban wildlife to prioritise areas and actions.
• Ark Metrics volunteering, fostering and adoption of street animals.
• Zoometrics, the platform that brings the suite together.

See how all the tools complement Silva Metrics

Contact

Would you like to know more about Silva Metrics or discuss how it fits the work of your local government? Write to us.