Unlawful logging is rampant within the timber-producing nations of the tropics and accounts for an estimated 50 to 90 p.c of all logging in these nations.
Forests play an vital position in carbon sequestration and biodiversity preservation. A number of nations have applied insurance policies and techniques reminiscent of REDD+ to curb unlawful logging and its penalties. However these efforts disintegrate with out enough funding and manpower.
Unlawful logging is a very pressing drawback in creating nations like Nigeria, the place financial disparities, lax laws, and institutional neglect all contribute to one of many highest charges of deforestation on the planet. In keeping with a UN-REDD report, Nigeria misplaced about 3.5% of its forest cowl (about 350,000-400,000 hectares) yearly from 2000 to 2010.
The Niger Delta, a big, low-lying area sitting on the Atlantic Ocean’s Gulf of Guinea, is likely one of the areas affected by unlawful logging and deforestation. House to a various vary of plant and animal species, the Delta’s oil and fuel deposits are the spine of the Nigerian financial system.
Niger Delta swamp forest (📷: Terry Whalebone/Flickr)
There are 70 protected areas within the Delta, together with forest reserves, recreation reserves, and nationwide parks. The invention of oil led to a rise in human exercise within the area that now threatens endemic animal species and the plush swamp forests. Oil spills, logging, and invasive plant species have induced a pointy decline within the density of mangrove timber within the space.
ReforestAI is a distant monitoring system constructed to detect unlawful logging within the thick, fragmented forests of the Niger Delta. It identifies seemingly threats utilizing onboard sensors (microphones and cameras), a sound recognition mannequin, audio system, and the ESP-NOW communication protocol. It was developed by Blessed Pepple, Lesley John Jumbo, and Vivid Sunday, teenagers from the town of Port Harcourt in Nigeria.
ReforestAI gadgets are deployed on forest timber, forming a community of always-on forest guards working on solar energy and speaking with out the Web. The gadget listens for suspicious exercise like a buzzing chainsaw or the sound of an axe chopping down a tree. When it detects an intruder, it flashes vibrant lights and performs warning sounds, earlier than it streams stay footage to forest rangers and native authorities who might proceed to research the intrusion.
The workforce’s unique concept concerned utilizing accelerometers and gyroscopes to watch the timber’ orientation and detect after they have been being lower down. However they realized it might be tough to scale and labored on a brand new prototype that used an audio detection mannequin.
The ReforestAI venture was introduced on the 2025 Slingshot Problem organised by the Nationwide Geographic Problem and the Paul G. Household Basis. It received prime honors and a $10,000 grant on the problem.
The gadget, nonetheless a work-in-progress, hasn’t been deployed in any forest but. That is vital since long-term area checks are wanted to determine its effectiveness, particularly in excessive climate situations.
Talking with Canvas, ReforestAI co-founder Lesley John Jumbo says the reception from native conservation our bodies and non-governmental organizations has been largely lukewarm. He plans to alter this as soon as a prototype is prepared for deployment.
(L-R) Blessed Pepple, Vivid Sunday, and Lesley John Jumbo
The workforce notes the prototype can be prepared in a month. If the gadget works as supposed and receives the help it wants, it might closely cut back the charges of unlawful logging and tree cowl loss in Nigeria and probably throughout the remainder of Africa.
