Ensuring the most efficient and future-proof forestry monitoring and management processes are in place is fundamental to long-term environmental, economic and social sustainability. Using precision forestry, which focuses on integrating new technology into these processes, is the answer.
When it comes to forestry management and planning, the more information you have at your fingertips the better you can get a bird’s-eye view of potential risks, such as climate change and deforestation. However, sifting through this information and understanding how to use different pieces of data for actionable outcomes is even more critical. And that is where Decision Support Systems (DSS) play a vital role.
Because more and more people are living in cities, this means that cities are growing and changing all the time. To manage this growth, we need to monitor change detection in cities to see what’s happening and what we need to do. Change detection monitoring means comparing pictures of cities taken from satellites or planes at different times to see what has changed, like new buildings, land use changes, or changes in green areas.
To protect the roughly 6.3 million square kilometres of forest in Africa, robust policies and legislation need to be put in place. Inroads are happening globally to better conserve, coordinate and sustain forested areas, from the Democratic Republic of Congo to South Africa and beyond. But this progress isn’t without its share of challenges. We've put together a list of legislation currently in use throughout South Africa and Africa.
Three of humanity's main additions - namely coffee, cocoa and palm oil- are actively contributing towards deforestation. As rainforests are rapidly being illegally logged to make way for these monocrops; we might go so far as to say they are literally costing us the earth. With a global population of 7.9 billion, it's a reality that a vast world-wide majority of our engines are addicted to coffee and chocolate as fuel (let’s not forget the palm oil in that packet of mass-produced cookies). We therefore need to put deforestation to an end, and fast. Read on for what satellite monitoring can do to ensure ethical, sustainable sourcing.
COP26: World leaders have been so bold as to promise an end to deforestation by 2030. That is a short 8 years from now - not a long time at all in the grand scheme of saving our planet. Considering an area of forest the size of 27 football pitches (that’s about 2 625 hectares) is lost every minute. Indeed, the loss of forests - the earth’s carbon sinks - are a huge contributing factor towards climate change and global warming.
It is that time of the year again! Yes, Swift Geospatial has turned five years old. However, this year seems different. I believe Swift Geospatial has officially fast-matured into a world class GIS and Remote Sensing company. Admittedly, the journey to get here has indeed had its ups and downs- but with these many invaluable wisdom-gaining lessons have been learnt along the way.
We are proud to announce our plantation satellite monitoring partnership with Ecosia. As the world’s largest not-for-profit search engine, to date, Ecosia has planted more than 128 (and actively counting!) million trees across over 30 countries worldwide, all in the name of good-will. Headquartered in Berlin, Germany, this aspiring initiative recently identified a shortfall; in order to improve the integrity of their services, the on-going monitoring of their trees was required.
Our Beta Structure Suitability Solar Potential (MWh) online portal showcases the benefit of this data set in being able to identify which structures across the country are ideally suited for solar panels and hence solar power offerings. Solar companies looking to increase their solar panel footprint are then able to clearly earmark which structures to approach with their solar solutions.
With a global move to tighten the current regulations around mine tailings monitoring and disaster prevention, mining houses are searching for methods to assist in a proactive monitoring solution which not only provide insight into the tailing dams but can greatly assist the general mine manager in a range of ongoing monitoring aspects.
