4-tier Approach for Deforestation & Climate Change
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Overview
Deforestation and climate change are devastating Tanzania's forests at an alarming rate, threatening biodiversity, local livelihoods, and global carbon targets. Communities living alongside these forests have long sounded the alarm, but without the tools or data to act fast enough or to convince policymakers to listen.
This project deploys a four-tier integrated system combining IoT sensors, AI models, mobile applications, and drone technology to predict and respond to forest threats before they become irreversible. Sensors detect the sounds of unauthorized tree cutting and the early signatures of forest fires, feeding data into AI models built with communities themselves who contribute audio and text data through a participatory research approach. Drones provide rapid visual verification, while mobile apps put actionable alerts directly in the hands of rangers and residents.
The result is a scalable, community-driven model for forest protection that bridges cutting-edge technology with local knowledge. A publicly accessible data repository and targeted policy briefs are already translating findings into government action, while training programs are building lasting capacity among communities and stakeholders putting Tanzania on a path toward sustainable, climate-resilient development and carbon neutrality.