AI’s Growing Role in Combating Deforestation
Deforestation has been an ongoing problem for decades. Even as technology continues to advance, trespassers have had the advantage because there is simply too much land to cover – until now. Could artificial intelligence be the key to ending illegal deforestation? Both the potential and practical examples are promising.
1. Identify optimal reforestation areas
Although deforestation rates fluctuate, more trees are lost each year. It increased by 4% between 2021 and 2022which amounts to a loss of more than 6.6 million hectares of forest. Even if all illegal logging, mining and farming activities stop today, these critical environments will still be at a disadvantage.
If this trend continues unchecked, the world will see temperatures rise, wildlife flee and local ecosystems weaken. At that point, an unstoppable die-off process kicks in, meaning the conditions of healthy trees gradually deteriorate. This would lead to a domino effect of millions more hectares of forest being lost, despite no human-induced deforestation.
With AI, activists and local governments can accelerate reforestation, allowing forests to return to how they were before human intervention. The model can identify areas where replanting would be most effective. It could also identify fast-growing, native tree species that are resistant to pests and drought. Once the saplings are planted, it can monitor growth in real time.
2. Analyze satellite images for forest loss
For decades, analyzing satellite images was one of the few ways to identify deforestation in action, aside from less efficient word-of-mouth or boots-on-the-ground strategies. However, since there are more than 3 trillion trees there is still a lot of ground to cover on the planet. While manually searching through these images is impractical, traditional software misses crucial details.
AI-powered image recognition technology can detect early indicators of forest loss, including new roads, smoke and new clearings. It can report any positive hit to a human in real time, allowing them to assess the situation and report it to local law enforcement agencies. Teams can even use AI-powered drones for close-up aerial photography.
3. Distinguish between legal and illegal activities
Sometimes deforestation is legal. Local governments approve these operations so that companies can continue doing business. However, what begins as a sanctioned action does not always remain that way. There are many cases where individuals enter protected areas knowing that it is better to ask for forgiveness than to ask for permission.
Basically expanding arable land responsible for almost 50% of deforestation worldwide, closely followed by livestock grazing at 38.5%. Using satellite images alone, it is difficult to distinguish between legal, semi-legal and illegal deforestation. AI fills in the gaps by analyzing the color, texture and extent of tree cover, eliminating guesswork.
4. Analyze sounds that indicate deforestation
What does deforestation sound like? Towering chainsaws, falling logs, roaring excavators, distressed wildlife and burning brush. Unfortunately, the noise from heavy machinery, power tools, pickup trucks and conversations between workers quickly becomes muffled in densely forested areas, making it difficult to accurately locate these activities.
AI-enabled Internet of Things (IoT) surveillance systems, powered by miniature solar panels for acoustic monitoring, can be placed virtually anywhere so they can pick up those audio signals. And because animals flee and enter areas they normally wouldn’t go because trespassers burn or cut down trees, these cameras could potentially identify human intervention before logging begins.
5. Trace illegal activities to their source
The Bureau of Investigative Journalism recently discovered that beef from farmers is making its way into global supply chains – including those that do supply two of the largest in the world meat companies – after they were accused of illegal deforestation and subsequently punished. Despite embargoes, business continued as usual. Some apparently even continued deforestation.
Illegal deforestation is often caused by local sawmills, refineries and farms. Whether workers want to expand their cropland, sell more produce, or feed their herds cheaply, they contribute to significant forest loss. Unfortunately, it is difficult to trace these activities back to their source. That is, unless humans use AI.
AI can track heavy machinery as it moves from newly created clearings back to the base station, allowing researchers to refine their search. Alternatively, it can use facial recognition technology to determine the identity of those involved. By doing this, local law enforcement agencies can identify repeat offenders, narrowing the gap between imposing and enforcing punishment.
6. Analyze unarchived legacy data
Although data on deforestation goes back decades, much remains inaccessible to this day. That’s because it can only be accessed through unarchived, physical sources such as field notes, cassette tapes, written correspondence, and preserved biological specimens. This evidence exists in silos, hidden from traditional online resource gathering tools.
With AI image recognition, language detection and automatic transcription, researchers can finally secure these valuable insights. This allows them to identify the causes of forest loss and identify repeat offenders. Advanced models can take context into account, maintaining accuracy even as offending entities change their names or place boundaries shift.
7. Enable proactive intervention
Although the clarity of satellite images has been improving for decades – professionals can now pinpoint deforestation with unprecedented precision – this strategy is still reactive. Forest loss is still happening even if they act immediately when given a warning. With AI, they can finally intervene proactively, identifying risk areas before the evacuation begins.
AI can analyze factors such as local topography, distance to roads and level of industrialization to determine which areas are most at risk. Complex elements such as the geopolitical climate or the global timber market can even be taken into account. Such an instrument is no longer hypothetical; one joint research team developed it.
Researchers from the World Wildlife Fund worked with computer scientists to develop an AI called Forest Foresight. It can predict forest loss maximum six months in advance with an accuracy of more than 80%. When it recognizes potential illegal activity, it can alert local authorities and stop deforestation before it starts.
8. Use sensors to identify illegal activities
Whether illegal deforestation operations use heavy machinery to cut down trees, move farm animals into protected areas, or start forest fires to clear land, their actions create some kind of emissions. A single cow, for example produces up to 264 lbs methane per year – an entire herd’s gas would be noticeable.
AI-enabled IoT sensors strategically placed in high-risk forests can monitor methane, carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide emissions. If they spike suddenly, teams can investigate further. This approach could be particularly effective because the model can take context into account, allowing it to filter out false positives and make investigations easier.
9. Have an anonymous tip line
In the past, activists and law enforcement agencies have largely relied on word of mouth to uncover illegal logging activities. Although they moved away from this approach when satellite imagery became widely available, it is no less useful. If they were to deploy AI-powered chatbots in the affected areas, they could get insightful anonymous tips on possible forest loss.
Deploying AI for this use case is ideal because a single model can accommodate dozens – if not hundreds or thousands – of conversations simultaneously. Those who interact with it don’t have to wait for business hours or be put on hold, prompting them to send a message. This technology can also analyze semantics, retrieve keywords, and summarize reports for their human counterparts.
Can AI end deforestation once and for all?
To be honest, AI is not a panacea. It can do all the legwork, but many more moving parts exist. Ending deforestation requires support from local politicians, collaboration between research groups and publicly available resources. That said, this technology could still be a game-changer, reducing forest loss to levels never seen before.
