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West Bali National Park to use AI-based forest-monitoring technology
The project aims to protect the forest from illegal logging and poachers.
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A Javan rusa fawn is seen on a beach in the West Bali National Park. (Shutterstock/Tropical studio)
A
n artificial intelligence (AI)-based forest-monitoring project is set to go ahead at the West Bali National Park in Buleleng regency, Bali.
The project, dubbed the Smart Forest Guardian, is a collaboration between Chinese tech giant Huawei and the Rainforest Connection NGO. It aims to protect the forest from illegal logging and poachers.
Though it will be a pilot project for the national park, the same technology has been implemented by Rainforest Connection in several countries, including Costa Rica and the Philippines.
A site survey team visited the national park on Oct. 24, whose members consisted of officials from the Coordinating Maritime Affairs and Investment Ministry, the National Cyber and Encryption Agency (BSSN), the State Intelligence Agency (BIN), the Environment and Forestry Ministry (KLHK) and Huawei’s technical team.
Smart Forest Guardian is part of the tech giant’s corporate social responsibility program Tech4All. It is also a follow-up to a virtual coordination meeting on Oct. 6, attended by representatives of the Coordinating Maritime Affairs and Investment Ministry, the Communications and Information Ministry, the environment ministry, the Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology (BPPT), the BSSN and Huawei.
During the meeting, Coordinating Maritime Affairs and Investment Minister Luhut Panjaitan said that the technology from Huawei could be used to monitor data recording through sounds, which later would produce comprehensive data about activities in Indonesia’s forests. “With that technology, we can prevent illegal activities in our forests,” said Luhut in a statement.
CEO of Huawei Indonesia Jacky Chen believed that technology could be beneficial to the world. “Our participation [in this project] is the beginning of a collaborative journey for a more sustainable environment,” Chen said.
Technology has played an important role in conserving animals and forests in Indonesia. Wiratno, director general of the environment ministry’s Natural Resource and Ecosystem Conservation Directorate General, said that his office had used camera traps and GPS collars to monitor Sumatran elephants. “With this collaboration, AI-based technology can be used to detect sounds in the forest. It can also enhance the system in the [ministry] to monitor fauna in Indonesia,” he added.
Covering 77,000 hectares of land, the West Bali National Park is home to deer and birds native to the island, including the Bali starling. (wir/wng)
