TREE ASSESSOR - Basic and advanced tree assessment – guidelines for training professionals
This publication is a part of a set of materials for educating people involved in tree assessment, developed within the project under the abbreviated title of TREE ASSESSOR.
The project aims to improve the quality and increase the effectiveness and efficiency, of vocational training for people dealing with tree diagnostics by developing a comprehensive training programme and educational materials for tree assessment. The project area of interest includes the countries of Central and Eastern Europe primarily. Still, the results of the project work are universal and can also be useful in other parts of Europe or the rest of the world.
Tree assessment has become a dynamically developing area of green space management in recent years. Various social, legal and technical factors have contributed to this. The expectations of the general public towards services responsible for green space management are continually growing. In the era of climate change awareness, residents expect that city authorities plant and establish trees which reduce the urban heat island effect and mitigate the consequences of violent downpours. Trees also make the city an attractive place to live, have a beneficial impact on the physical health and mental wellbeing of citizens, can improve educational performance in children and deliver many other social, environmental and economic benefits.
City residents are increasingly demanding that tree felling be limited to those cases fully justified by the condition of the trees. The development and modernisation of infrastructure mean that more and more trees growing in cities and on roadsides are at risk of damage and require diagnostics. More and more victims of treerelated accidents are seeking compensation in court, making tree diagnostics and assessment an essential legal consideration. Tree managers are introducing tree inspection systems to cover entire cities to avoid legal problems with courts and insurance companies.
Despite the growing importance and significant social and financial responsibility of people performing tree assessment, a tree assessor is still not a formal profession. A review of its status, described in the second chapter, indicates that despite the similarity of the scope of tasks and expectations towards tree assessors, and the steadily improving offer of equipment and applications for tree assessment, the process of training and verifying their competence is very diverse, and in many countries does not exist at all. This profession has not been covered by any specific education process in Central and Eastern Europe, and in other European countries, it is also implemented mainly in non-formal education. At the same time, however, there is an obvious need to change and formalize the education system as well as to certify tree assessors. Therefore, the results of the TREE ASSESSOR Project respond to a pressing need and can contribute to a significant change in current practice.
The set of materials for the training of people dealing with tree assessment developed within the TREE ASSESSOR Project includes aids for trainers, aids for self-study for trainees and a set of textbooks, as well as this report. Below is a brief description of specific project results.
TREE ASSESSOR – Soil assessment. Advanced tree assessment – manual for professionals
TREE ASSESSOR – Instrumental tree assessment. Advanced tree assessment – manual for professionals
TREE ASSESSOR – Aerial tree inspection. Advanced tree assessment – manual for professionals
TREE ASSESSOR – Tree inspection. Manual for tree assessor – basic level
TREE ASSESSOR - Tree assessment documentation. A manual for Tree Assessors
TREE ASSESSOR – How to educate tree assessors? Handbook for trainers
TREE ASSESSOR – Wood-decaying fungi. A concise guide for tree assessors
TREE ASSESSOR – Basics of tree inventory. Handbook for tree assessors and arborists
