IdeaWell

Project ideas from Hacker News discussions.

List of individual trees

Original Article

Hacker News Discussion

📝 Discussion Summary (Click to expand)

3 Most Prevalent Themes in the Hacker News Discussion

1. Fascination with Notable and Unusual Trees

The discussion centers on a Wikipedia list of individual trees, with users expressing delight in discovering unique, historic, or eccentric entries. Many highlight specific examples, such as ancient trees, trees with quirky histories, and those with personal or local significance.

"I kinda relate more to OP's link of more 'normal' trees. Going through the list gives me a feeling how many cool trees there are all over the place." — cl3misch

"This is a map of all trees in the Netherlands" — moi2388

"A tree located in an established gay cruising area, noted for its slender trunk which facilitates gay sex." — esperent (quoting the list)

"The Hungry Tree is an otherwise unremarkable specimen of the London plane, which has become known for having partially consumed a nearby park bench." — OisinMoran (quoting the list)

2. Criticism of Wikipedia's Open Editing and Barriers to Contribution

A significant thread debates the accessibility and fairness of Wikipedia's editing process. While some argue it remains open to minor contributions, others criticize its bureaucracy, IP-based blocking, and the potential for edits to be reverted, especially for anonymous users or on controversial topics.

"Make the change you want to see in the page." — OtherShrezzing

"Wikipedia is not the democratic free-for-all it once was. ... The days when randos could make major edits like that are long gone." — rendall

"I am never blocked because of anything I have done but because my shared IP is. It is not something 'anyone can edit' as they claim." — nephihaha

"Most of the time when I try to edit anything, I get a message telling me I am blocked." — nephihaha

3. Human Impact and the Fragility of Trees

The conversation shifts to the destruction of significant trees, both historically and recently. Users lament the loss of ancient specimens to vandalism, accidents, or industrial logging, emphasizing the irreplaceable value of trees that have stood for centuries or millennia.

"The most isolated tree on Earth, 300 years old and in the middle of hundreds of kilometers of barren Sahara, was knocked down by a drunk driver in the 70s." — Rendello

"On a scale of atrocities humans have committed, I can't really think of anything that is more atrocious than the felling of those sequoias that were at the very least as old as the oldest known human civilization." — hopelite

"So sad that the Sycamore Gap Tree is listed as 'historical' because of those two idiots. I'm glad they're in jail." — NoSalt

🚀 Project Ideas

ArborAtlas

Summary

  • A user-contributable, map-based platform for cataloging "Trees of Local Renown" (large, old, historically/culturally significant, or otherwise notable individual trees that are not notable enough for Wikipedia).
  • Addresses the frustration that millions of significant trees exist locally but lack a centralized, accessible registry, leaving them vulnerable to loss or simply remaining unknown to the public.

Details

Key Value
Target Audience Arborists, local historians, nature enthusiasts, community groups, and municipalities.
Core Feature Interactive map interface where users can add, geotag, and describe trees with rich metadata (species, age estimate, stories, photos), moderated via community consensus rather than strict encyclopedic notability.
Tech Stack Leaflet/MapLibre GL JS (frontend), PostgreSQL/PostGIS (database), Node.js/Python (backend), S3 for image storage.
Difficulty Medium
Monetization Revenue-ready: Freemium model (free for individuals/communities) with paid tiers for municipalities and organizations needing advanced analytics, data export, and dedicated support.

Notes

  • This directly addresses the sentiment in comments like “How could it be? Growing up, there was a large horse chestnut tree... it was a very significant tree for many people... I doubt, however, that it... would ever make a Wikipedia list.” and the desire for a “list of every tree in the world, all eight gazillion of them.”
  • It provides a practical, community-driven alternative to Wikipedia's strict notability guidelines, fostering local engagement and preserving the history of everyday landscapes.

WikiWeave

Summary

  • A visualization and exploration tool that maps the complex web of hyperlinks, categories, and edit histories on Wikipedia to surface "orphan" articles and non-obvious connections.
  • Addresses the frustration with Wikipedia's opaque editing process (e.g., “Wikipedia is an oligarchy,” "reverting bad or controversial edits") by making the ecosystem's structure transparent and navigable for casual users.

Details

Key Value
Target Audience Researchers, editors, students, and anyone curious about knowledge structures and how information is organized.
Core Feature Interactive graph visualization showing how a specific article (e.g., a specific tree) connects to others, alongside a timeline of edits and discussions to contextualize changes.
Tech Stack D3.js or Sigma.js (visualization), Python (data mining from Wiki dumps/API), React (frontend).
Difficulty Medium
Monetization Hobby (Open Source) or Revenue-ready: API access for researchers/data scientists.

Notes

  • Responds to the discussion about editing barriers (“shared IP is blocked”, "The days when randos could make major edits... are long gone") by visualizing the "why" behind article stability and change.
  • It appeals to the Hacker News love for data structures and systems thinking, transforming the abstract concept of a "wiki" into a tangible map of knowledge.

TreeGuard Sentinel

Summary

  • A privacy-focused, geofenced monitoring service for landowners and conservationists to track the status of specific high-value trees (old-growth, heritage, or sentimental) using existing public satellite data and optional local sensors.
  • Addresses the fear and sadness expressed over the loss of irreplaceable trees (e.g., “The Senator Tree... killed when a meth addict started a garbage fire”, “The most isolated tree... was knocked down... by a drunk driver”) and the lack of monitoring for remote or solitary specimens.

Details

Key Value
Target Audience Private landowners with heritage trees, small conservation trusts, and local governments.
Core Feature Users register a specific tree (GPS coordinates). The system monitors public satellite data for changes (canopy loss, fire) and allows integration of low-cost local sensors (vibration, moisture) for critical alerts.
Tech Stack Python (Satellite data processing via Sentinel Hub/Landsat APIs), IoT integration (ESP32/Raspberry Pi), Cloud infrastructure (AWS/GCP) for alerts.
Difficulty High
Monetization Revenue-ready: Subscription model (monthly fee per monitored tree) with hardware sales for sensor kits.

Notes

  • Responds to the visceral reaction to tree destruction mentioned in the thread (“6000+ years ... poof gone”, “illegal felling”). It offers a proactive, technological solution to protect individual trees that are culturally or ecologically valuable.
  • It bridges the gap between the romanticism of individual trees and the harsh reality of human impact, offering a tool for stewardship.

Read Later