A long-term tree adoption and companionship programme, built to survive past the day the photos are taken — supported by a purpose-built digital tracking platform, TreeTrack.
Tree plantation drives are common in schools, but most share the same flaw: responsibility ends the moment the photographs are taken. Saplings go unwatered, unmeasured, and unnoticed within weeks.
At the same time, students rarely get sustained, meaningful contact with people outside their own age group — interactions tend to be one-off events rather than ongoing relationships. Roots & Relationships addresses both problems together: instead of a single planting event, each class takes on long-term custodianship of ten trees, paired with a younger buddy or a partner community, sustained through regular visits and a simple system of accountability.
To build a long-term tree stewardship programme in which every class is responsible for the survival and growth of a fixed number of trees, while forming a genuine, ongoing relationship with a paired individual or community — turning environmental care into a shared act rather than a solitary chore.
Each participating class adopts 10 native trees, either newly planted or already established — on campus, around the grounds, or at nearby parks with BBMP/RWA permission.
Every adopted tree is given:
Each tree is paired with a junior buddy from the primary section, or a partner community — a retirement home, parish group, or community centre. Partnering with an institution removes the consent and safety concerns of one-to-one pairing with unrelated seniors, while keeping the intergenerational spirit intact and easy to sustain year after year.
| Frequency | Task |
|---|---|
| Weekly | Water the tree |
| Weekly | Clear debris / clean the area around the base |
| Weekly | Measure growth (height / girth) and log it |
| Weekly | Take a dated photograph for the record |
| Monthly | Visit the paired buddy or partner community |
| Monthly | Update the tree's growth journal |
| Monthly | Group discussion on an environmental topic |
Leads the project overall; designs, builds, and maintains TreeTrack end-to-end.
Identifies and liaises with the partner community; schedules visits.
Coordinates tree locations, tagging, and on-campus logistics across classes.
Coordinates junior-buddy pairing with the primary section; keeps visits on schedule.
Owns documentation — compiles the SIL report and Annual Tree Day summary.
Handles permissions and compliance — BBMP/RWA sign-off, partner agreements, safety.
Manages photography standards, QR code design/printing, and communication with school media.
Species, adoption date, caretakers, height and girth history, monthly photo log — evidence, not just an activity.
A laminated QR code by each tree opens its live profile — caretakers, history, growth, photos — for any visitor.
Rewards the highest survival rate after one year, not how many trees are planted — fixing why drives usually fail.
When a batch graduates, its trees are ceremonially handed to the next batch, with the tree's full history intact.
Each class may write why they adopted their tree and what they hope for the students who inherit it.
A purpose-built web application that removes the single biggest risk to any long-running SIL project: that logging quietly stops after the first few weeks.
| Tree profile pages | ID, species, name, adoption date, assigned class and buddy pair |
| QR code per tree | Links directly to that tree's live profile page |
| Weekly log form | Records each care entry, with a required photo and automatic timestamp |
| Growth tracker | Plots height and girth entries over time for every tree |
| Buddy visit log | Monthly notes from each junior-buddy or partner-community visit |
| Survival & consistency leaderboard | Ranks classes by tree survival rate and logging compliance |
| "Passing the Torch" handover record | Preserves each tree's full history as it passes to the next batch |
| Teacher / admin dashboard | Flags trees with missing logs; gives staff an at-a-glance overview |
| Auto-generated SIL report export | Compiles photos, growth charts, and visit logs into a submission-ready summary |
Because the photo and timestamp are captured automatically at the point of logging, the data behind the project is verifiable rather than self-reported after the fact — which is what gives the final SIL report its credibility.
Finalise tree locations and permissions; identify partner community / primary section buddies; build and test TreeTrack.
Trees named, tagged with QR codes, and logged into TreeTrack.
Weekly care and logging; monthly buddy visits; ongoing growth tracking.
Each class presents growth, photos, and lessons learned. Survival Challenge results announced; SIL report generated from TreeTrack.
Handover to the next batch of caretakers.
Estimated one-time costs, assuming [X × 10] trees. No specialised equipment or recurring expenditure required beyond these.
| Item | Estimated Cost |
|---|---|
| Tree guards (where required) | ₹150–200 / tree |
| QR code tags (laminated, printed in-house) | ₹10–15 / tag |
| Measuring tape / growth tools (shared, reusable) | ₹100–150 / class |
| Watering cans (shared, reusable) | ₹150–200 / class |
| Printed journals (backup to TreeTrack, optional) | ₹50 / class |
| TreeTrack hosting | Free — free-tier, student-maintained |
Companionship visits reduce isolation for partner-community members and build student well-being.
Adds and sustains urban green cover in and around the school.
Long-term tree survival contributes to local carbon absorption and green cover.
Builds an ongoing partnership between the school and a local community institution.
Weekly care (est. 30–45 minutes) and monthly buddy visits (est. 1–2 hours) are logged automatically through TreeTrack timestamps — giving each student a verifiable record of hours contributed across the year, directly usable for CISCE SIL hour and reflection requirements.
Minimum tree survival rate per class by year-end.
Logged buddy visits per tree over the academic year (roughly monthly).
Weekly logging compliance, verified through TreeTrack's automatic timestamps.
Working digital platform (TreeTrack), reusable by future batches with no rebuild.
A verifiable, photo-and-timestamp-backed record of care for every adopted tree.
A programme structure designed to continue indefinitely, not end with this SIL cycle.
| Criterion | Target |
|---|---|
| Tree survival rate | ≥ 80% |
| Logging compliance (weekly) | 100% |
| Buddy/partner visits completed | ≥ 8 / tree / year |
| SIL report completeness | Auto-generated |
| Permissions/compliance closed out | 100% pre-adoption |
Because TreeTrack, the Tree Passport system, and Passing the Torch are all designed to be reusable, the programme requires no rebuild each year — only a handover of tree custody and partner relationships to the next batch. The same structure could be adopted by other sections, other schools, or scaled to a larger tree count without any change to the underlying system.
What every tree's live QR profile looks like.