A new alert system developed by online deforestation-tracking platform Global Forest Watch tells users what’s causing the deforestation.The new alert system deploys AI models to classify deforestation alerts based on what’s causing them, from agriculture (large- and small-scale), to mining and wildfires.While the data currently focus on the Amazon Rainforest, Congo Basin and Indonesia — home to most of the world’s tropical rainforests — the team plans to expand to other forests as well as non-forest ecosystems.
Forest logging decreases during rainy seasons. Deforestation caused by mining might not be as seasonal as previously thought. One of the largest drivers of deforestation in Latin America is large-scale agriculture; in the Congo Basin, it’s small-scale agriculture.
These are some of the highlights from a new data set and alert system that shed light on the myriad drivers of deforestation in the tropics.
Online deforestation-tracking platform Global Forest Watch (GFW) has, for years, tracked forest-cover loss around the world in real time. The tool has proved useful to conservationists, scientists and local communities. To date, however, the platform only alerted users to deforestation events — but not about what caused those events.
