Deploy technology in forest surveillance to deter illegal logging

Logs ready for collection after harvesting at Mt Kenya Forest. [Kibata Kihu, Standard]

Forests have an important role in maintenance of the Earth's biodiversity and preservation of the ecological balance.

Forests assist to tackle global warming as they absorb a lot of carbon dioxide; the major greenhouse gas, assisting in protection of the globe from climate change.

The main threat to forests in Kenya is illegal logging. Illegal logging is the greatest threat to biodiversity since forests support almost 90 per cent of terrestrial biodiversity. Iillegal logging leads to flash floods, landslides, drought, climate change and global warming.

Illegal logging also results in loss of government revenue because logging fee is not paid to the government. Illegal logging contributes to rise of poverty due to depletion of the forest cover, resulting in prolonged droughts.

The lifting of the moratorium on logging has faced a lot of opposition from conservationists. These fears are merited, since in the most vulnerable forest regions in Kenya, more than half of all the logging activities have been done illegally, resulting in loss of forest cover especially in the water towers.

Among a raft of recommendations by the Marion Kamau-led Taskforce on Forests Resources Management and logging activities was that the Kenya Forestry Service (KFS) deploys effective and suitable surveillance technology to aid in monitoring and efficient management of forests. KFS monitors forests through ground-based methods such as patrols. This has been proven to be ineffective as it is time consuming.

The patrol schedules are planned in advance and this information often leaks out which enables loggers to avoid areas to be patrolled. This may be misleading as rangers may not notice presence of illegal loggers in the forests. Additionally, this approach is very expensive as it requires a lot of resources. As such, technology-based methods and solutions for forest surveillance should be used.

Wireless communication and internet can come in handy here. Wireless gadgets can be employed for surveillance of large forests and act as a deterrent to illegal logging. The use of treetop surveillance and forest listening devices can get loggers in the act and generate data on trends in illegal logging, which can influence patrol.

Additionally, not only can the technology help in ending illegal logging, but through it, it is possible to monitor forest cover and changing patterns and also detect risks to the forests such fires during the day and night.

There are very cost-effective methods that use recycled used phones fitted with artificial intelligence software to monitor activities in the forests and biodiversity of the surrounding areas. Once a logging activity is detected, an alarm is activated to inform the forest authorities.

This can be done either by direct connection to a forest management or monitoring system and activation of the corresponding alarm or by an automatic phone call or text message to patrolling units and members of the community forest association.

They are cheap to produce yet very efficient. The listening devices are placed in areas vulnerable to illegal logging. As the impacts of climate change worsens and forest cover is reduces, the government, communities, researchers, private sector, and civil society should ensure the protection of forests is enhanced, because even without licensed logging, people continue to harvest trees illegally.

The key to ensuring protection of forests and biodiversity is for KFS to use technology in forest surveillance. Despite the recent work in ecological restoration and afforestation initiatives, it is necessary, more than ever before, to employ systems for detecting illegal logging.