How Forestry Tech Startups Impact the Environment

Forestry is not only a type of economic activity related to the use, protection, and restoration of forests but also a critical tool for nature protection. Despite many tactical differences and even conflicts, environment conservationists and forestry workers are the most important strategic allies.

To preserve the full biological diversity of wildlife – species and their gene pool, ecosystems, landscapes – large-scale territories that are minimally disturbed by human activities are of paramount importance. Large territories withdrawn from economic development make it possible in the long term to maintain viable populations of the vast majority of living organisms, spatial relationships between landscape components, and their natural dynamics.

Proper use of forest sites to cultivate economically valuable wood will allow obtaining this wood in much larger quantities and usually of higher quality than before. However, with a constantly growing population and an inevitable increase in demand for potentially renewable natural resources, including timber, the withdrawal of large wild natural areas from economic development must be somehow compensated. The possibility of such compensation is provided by smart forestry. This is possible due to startups that keep evolving on the forestry market, offering new opportunities for forest creation, monitoring, protection, and smart management, usually via devices and a forest app.

This piece showcases top modern startups that are catering to the forestry industry, leaving a footprint in the environment preservation sphere.

Flash Forest

Flash Forest is an association of specialists from Canada who are thinking about automating the process of planting trees. Today, there are many effective automated technologies in the woodworking industry, but at the same time, tree planting still requires a large share of manual labor.

Drones from Canadian company Flash Forest are planting trees 10 times faster than humans. The company uses the latest drone technology combined with aerial photography software, automation, and environmental sciences to restore forests quickly. This is especially necessary in areas where fires have destroyed forests.

Drone-launched capsules contain pre-prepared seeds in a balanced array of natural nutrients and other growth boosters that can last up to several months in a natural environment. Flash Forest technology allows users to identify the best places for planting and growing trees. After planting, people check the seeded areas to see how well the seedlings are growing.

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Timbeter

Timbeter is a new solution for workers in the logging and woodworking industries that calculates the cubic capacity of wood in a pile and a timber truck with great accuracy. The program calculates the number of logs, the diameter of each, and volume. With the help of density, users can convert the storage volume into a dense one. For extended stacks, there is a “panorama” option. 

Each measurement is stored in cloud storage which gives access to all the images, simplifying inventories and also giving users digital proof of measurements. All data can be shared with a link or downloaded as tables and sent to colleagues or partners. With such smooth digital data exchange between the government and organizations, it is easier to detect and tackle illegal logging, ensuring sustainable forest management.

Ecosia

Ecosia is a search engine similar to Google that uses its search ad revenue to fund tree planting worldwide, especially in harsh conditions. The search engine does not track users, encrypt search results, or anonymize data for a week after it is created.

Ad revenue generated from Apple users alone planted over seven million trees in 2020, and now you can do more by making it your default search engine. The website shows that over 115 million trees have been planted due to search revenue to date.

Users can customize what data is collected by using the Safari browser extension or by changing the website settings that set a cookie to store these settings. Ecosia uses keyword searches rather than profiling user data and hyper-targeting. The company also releases its earnings reports to show exactly where the finances are being allocated.

Xylene

This company enables smart wood supply chain tracking, allowing for the wood origin and certification validation. The solution leverages satellite technology, blockchain, and supply chain mapping to create a transparent data pool for all parties involved, hence contributing to sustainable forestry management.

Nucleario

Young tree seedlings are vulnerable in the first years of growth and require sufficient light, water, and protection until they build strong roots to withstand harsh weather conditions. Nucleario is a Brazilian startup aiming at reducing expenses on labor, irrigation, fertilization, etc., for tree seedlings thanks to a biomimicry-based autonomous maintenance system. The company’s solution is a biodegradable product that performs multiple functions, including smart water management, pests protection, and weed control.

These startups aim at forests and environment preservation, leading the world towards sustainable development. Using modern technologies they ensure smarter land use and allow for mitigating devastating deforestation effects.