Tackling deforestation: use existing data better

Emerging technology can help companies monitor their supply chains and track deforestation commitments better. But there is now so much data available, how can companies make sense of it all?

In this podcast, Niels Wielaard, managing director of remote sensing tech firm Satelligence, talks with Innovation Forum’s Ian Welsh about how to get the right insights from satellite image data and identify the landscape changes that are relevant.

Once a company can, for example, identify where on a concession there is oil palm being grown or cocoa trees, and where the protected forests are, it can be much more certain of the deforestation risks in its supply chain. Technology can also link social issues to deforestation through analysis of geo-tagged social media. Looking forward, Wielaard argues that business should focus efforts more on smarter use of existing datasets than looking for evermore data itself.