The Kenyan Government is working with the Space Intelligence Company to map out forests and monitor carbon markets.
In a statement on Thursday, the company's Co-founder and Chief Scientist professor Ed Mitchard noted that the project, which will be verified by Verra, a Climate Action and Sustainable Development institution, is aimed at boosting integrity and transparency in the carbon markets.
Mitchard noted that the institution will employ Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology to analyse the data.
According to the company, the project is aimed at reducing deforestation in both Kenya and Tanzania through data collected between 2010 and 2020.
"Using our AI technology and the consolidated REDD (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation) methodology, we will be able to create maps of forest change for the entire country," stated Mitchard.
Space Intelligence Limited also noted that it will employ activity data to pinpoint the exact location of deforestation.
“We are working in consortiums with local partners in each country to ensure the highest possible accuracy for the maps and that local conditions are considered. We are also engaging with governments and all project developers in both countries," Mitchard added.
"The combination of local knowledge about forests and deforestation drivers, our ability to process large quantities of satellite data and use advanced AI to create accurate maps, will ensure the best possible datasets are available to support regional projects.”
The development comes amid criticism levelled against the President William Ruto-led government's decision to lift a logging ban put in place by former President Uhuru Kenyatta.
At the beginning of July, the Head of State lifted the ban saying that the move would create jobs for Kenyans.
The ban instituted by Uhuru six years was designed at expanding vegetation coverage across the country, which stands at 12.13 percent. Forest cover, on the other hand, stands at 8.83 percent, a drop from 10 per cent in the aughts.
Announcing the ban, Ruto, one of Africa's climate crusaders, insisted that tough rules would be in place to regulate the falling of trees and that only mature ones would be cut down.
“People are struggling on where to get timber, yet trees are decaying in forests. We have lifted the ban so that we can harvest mature trees,” stated the President at the time.
The Space Intelligence Company, which is based in Edinburgh, UK, prides itself in providing geospatial intelligence for nature-based solutions and sustainability-linked finance reporting.
