https://en.sputniknews.africa/20250218/kenya-harnesses-ai-to-save-its-forests-from-destruction-1070706823.html
Kenya Harnesses AI to Save its Forests from Destruction
Kenya Harnesses AI to Save its Forests from Destruction
Sputnik Africa
Kenya's forests are vanishing at an alarming rate, driven by illegal logging, charcoal production, and the growing demand for agricultural land. This poses a... 18.02.2025, Sputnik Africa
2025-02-18T15:39+0100
2025-02-18T15:39+0100
2025-02-18T15:39+0100
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Kenya Harnesses AI to Save its Forests from Destruction
Sputnik Africa
Kenya's forests are vanishing at an alarming rate, driven by illegal logging, charcoal production, and the growing demand for agricultural land. This poses a threat to communities, water security, and the country's fight against climate change. Yet, artificial intelligence offers hope with an innovative way to protect forested areas.
For over two decades (2001-2023), deforestation has led to the loss of approximately 400,000 hectares of Kenya's forests, reports Global Forest Watch. In response, two young Kenyan engineers, through their tech startup, have invented an innovative AI-driven system to combat the rapid loss of their country's forests.African Currents hosted the two Kenyan inventors for an insightful interview about their groundbreaking work.Speaking about their motivation for building the device, Joseph Nguthiru, co-founder of M-Situ Climate Intelligence, attributed it to recognizing the widespread application of artificial intelligence and a strong environmental consciousness.Sam Okemwa, co-founder of M-Situ Climate Intelligence, explains how their invention outperforms traditional methods of environmental protection and mentions some AI-blended qualities that make it effective for use.To find out what else our guests had to say, tune in to the African Currents podcast, brought to you by Sputnik Africa.In addition to the website, you can also catch our episodes on Telegram.► You can also listen to our podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Deezer, Pocket Casts, Afripods, Podcast Addict.► Check out all the episodes of African Currents.
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Kenya Harnesses AI to Save its Forests from Destruction
Kenya's forests are vanishing at an alarming rate, driven by illegal logging, charcoal production, and the growing demand for agricultural land. This poses a threat to communities, water security, and the country's fight against climate change. Yet, artificial intelligence offers hope with an innovative way to protect forested areas.
For over two decades (2001-2023), deforestation has led to the loss of approximately 400,000 hectares of Kenya's forests, reports Global Forest Watch. In response, two young Kenyan engineers, through their tech startup, have invented an innovative AI-driven system to combat the rapid loss of their country's forests.
African Currents hosted the two Kenyan inventors for an insightful interview about their groundbreaking work.
Speaking about their motivation for building the device, Joseph Nguthiru, co-founder of M-Situ Climate Intelligence, attributed it to recognizing the widespread application of artificial intelligence and a strong environmental consciousness.
"We have a moral responsibility to give back to the society. The idea was, first, we started with what can we do in detection of wildfires? But the problem behind wildfires is that you don't have like a lot of that here in Kenya. But then we have a really big problem of deforestation where a lot of trees are being cut for making way to farming and also settlements. So, we've been having a lot of AI being used for a lot a wide range of uses. We have AI in robotics, we have it in military, we have it in education and so on. But when it comes to environmental protection and environmental conservation, there is not enough being done in terms of that," Nguthiru explains.
Sam Okemwa, co-founder of M-Situ Climate Intelligence, explains how their invention outperforms traditional methods of environmental protection and mentions some AI-blended qualities that make it effective for use.
"The advantages are quite many. First of all, at the top, I think we would put precision and accuracy because now the personnel in the forest department can actually know that this incident is happening at this location, at this time, and it's of this kind. Another thing I would say is at the top because of this is analytics. You know, as a service that deals with forests across the whole country. They need to have data from different aspects, be it weather, be it afforestation, security issues, unsustainable charcoal burning going on in all the locations. And also, I would say it's cost-efficient because our devices are deployed once. The communities have now a platform whereby they can be able to contribute on, or rather help in, management issues and conservation issues," Okemwa remarks.
To find out what else our guests had to say, tune in to the African Currents podcast, brought to you by Sputnik Africa.
In addition to the website, you can also catch our episodes on
Telegram.► Check out all the episodes of African Currents. 
