IWP chip could help thwart illegal loggingTags: global brasil improvement technical control industry
Brazil - Secom-MT reported that the Web Forest Planet Institute (IWP), located in Brasilia, has developed a system which could thwart illegal logging in the State of Mato Grosso. The software utilizes chips inserted in trees for electronic monitoring and tracking. The project proposal for using the chip was sent to the Brazilian Senate as an alternative method used to control deforestation.
The chip allows users to check whether logged trees or logs sent to timber companies or sawmills are part of a forest management project of the state. The new software is simple and is expected to save costs. The chips inserted in trees register geographic information and location coordinates such as the species name, height, diameter, volume and other information necessary for timber tracking. The distribution and control of the chips would be carried out by the State Secretary of the Environment (SEMA). The company has also developed another kind of chip to be inserted in timber during transportation.
In order to guarantee the security and reliability of the system, every operator within the company is identified. Each operator will have a password and the information is stored in software and other data collection equipment. Even if such storage equipment were to be destroyed, the information would be encrypted within a SEMA database.
© ITTO Tropical Timber Market Report (Japan) -- 2008-06-15
