AI technology against illegal logging in the Amazon

A team from the Dutch start-up Hack The Planet will travel to the Amazon rainforest next week to help stop illegal logging using AI cameras. Tim van Deursen and Thijs Suijten, together with the international non-profit organization Treesistance, will install the smart camera system ‘InstantDetect’ along access roads. The cameras can recognize suspicious activities and send photos directly to the local Indigenous tribe via satellite.

The Indigenous Borarí tribe, which has regained official concessions for the area, protects its habitat with ‘forest guardians’: specially trained ranger groups that patrol the region. In practice, however, these patrols often arrive too late at sites where deforestation is underway. By the time illegal loggers are spotted, entire sections of rainforest have often already been cut down. With the deployment of smart technology, this process is now being brought to a halt.

Real-time warnings

The project involves the strategic placement of eight InstantDetect cameras on crucial access roads used by illegal loggers. The cameras operate based on motion detection and use artificial intelligence to immediately recognize suspicious vehicles, such as trucks. As soon as activity is detected, the system sends a real-time notification to the backend system via a local base station and a satellite connection. This is translated into an automated alert for the Indigenous tribe. Thanks to these instant notifications, local teams can intervene immediately and in a targeted manner to peacefully confront intruders before irreversible damage is done.

Permission from the tribal chief

The journey to the protected area has a remarkable backstory. The head of the tribe, Chief Dadá, a respected leader and fierce protector of his ancestral lands, visited the Hack The Planet team in the Netherlands. During this visit, he officially gave the impact engineers permission to enter his territory and roll out the system.

The Hack The Planet team will oversee the on-site installation, conduct live field tests, and provide intensive hands-on training to the local Treesistance teams and forest guardians in system maintenance and data interpretation. In this way, the community will gain full operational control over the technology designed to safeguard its habitat.