CI Earth™ for Timber - forest inventory and mapping
CI Earth is used to create maps of forest inventory in an online environment accessible by all registered users. Data is captured using CI Mobile and GPS reader technology. The CI Mobile interface is configured to record the data types that are relevant for a particular region or management initiative. Users range from logging operations, through government and NGOs to local communities.
In the case of indigenous communities in particular, CI Earth is designed to include and empower users at all levels of literacy and technology awareness. For example, in the Republic of Congo the non-literate pygmy tribes - the Mbendjele - use CI World to capture data about the forest using an entirely icon driven interface that uses images developed by the Anthropology Department of London School of Economics to record and capture data points.
CI Earth uses the following components as standard platform hardware:
Additionally CI Earth leverages Garmin products in locations of less dense canopy cover.
CI Earth data is synchronized with CI World through any locally available means of internet connection ranging from satellite through to dial-up modem. On receipt the data is processed automatically by the CI World rules engine. The data is checked to ensure that any applicable rules have been complied with and is then available for export to GIS software direct from CI World.
GPS referenced data is then made available within CI World in chart form and in the following GIS applications:
- Google™ Earth
- Microsoft® Virtual Earth™
- ESRI ArcView.
Once the forest has been inventoried and mapped, the data can be used to create a resource management plan for the area. These maps can be shared online by all the authorized users involved in the forest management process.
CI Earth reduces substantially the costs involved in forest mapping:
- shortening the cycle time for gathering inventory data from months to weeks;
- lessening the reliance on technical staff to conduct surveys by enabling local personnel to undertake the same tasks; and
- cutting significantly the number of resources required to process forest census data through replacing paper based approaches.
CI Earth increases substantially management control over mapping, felling and stock control in the forest:
- Inventory reports are delivered to management detailing activities remote in the forest.
- Non-compliances with respect to standards such as certification, legality, boundary management or inventory control are immediately identified and notification sent to management.
- CI Earth data sets can be used to create a fully auditable trail for trees and logs as they are cut and move along the supply chain from site to site.
- CI Earth can expedite the path to certification.
CI Earth deployments deliver substantial Return on Investment with payback delivered in months and weeks. Read more
As well as delivering significant benefits to the private sector, CI Earth delivers value for government, third party auditors and NGOs, enabling enhanced revenue collection, improved oversight and extended community involvement.
Using CI Earth, indigenous communities can provide their free and informed consent for logging operations to commence in the areas they inhabit. Working with commercial operations, this can be a powerful tool in the process towards FSC certification. For more information about this process in action, read our Congolaise Industrielle des Bois case study.
CI Earth data can be used to create maps and records detailing the presence of local species. This monitoring process can be used by communities, government and NGOs both to protect flora and fauna and to generate opportunities for eco-tourism in the mapped area monitored by CI Earth. For more information about this process in action, read our Afi Forest press release.
Read more about CI Earth by clicking on case studies or see CI Earth in action by viewing a film clip
