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Artificial Intelligence
The problems caused by deforestation are also being revealed
through sophisticated computer technology. One example is
Terra-i, an artificial intelligence program that is helping scientists
monitor forest loss (and therefore habitat loss) in a number of
Latin American countries. Terra-i was developed by Andy Jar-
vis, a scientist with the International Centre for Tropical Agricul-
ture. His work was inspired by a basic fact of nature: Green grass
gets greener when it rains and turns brown when there is no rain.
Based on that simple and logical fact, Jarvis created Terra-i, which
has the unique ability to “learn” as it analyzes. This is possible be-
cause of its neural network, which Jarvis designed to mimic the
human nervous system.
As Terra-i analyzes data, it learns which levels of greenness
are associated with various amounts of rainfall during the year.
When abnormal changes in greenness are detected, Terra-i flags
them as potential problem areas. According to scientist Jerry Tou-
val, who is based in Latin America, Terra-i is like an “early warning
system” for habitats. “With one tool we can see where we’re los-
ing habitat, analyze the drivers of that loss, and determine where
we should be working next,”
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says Touval.
Terra-i has proved to be a remarkable scientific tool for moni-
toring habitat loss. Two of its findings are an average annual de-
forestation rate of 6.4 million acres (2.6 million ha) per year in Am-
azon rain forests and the loss of approximately 54 million acres
(22 million ha) of other forested areas in Latin America. Because
of these and other startling revelations about habitat loss, govern-
ment officials in some Latin American countries are reviewing their
conservation policies for possible changes. For example, Terra-i
detected strange deforestation patterns in 2008 and 2009 along
the Amazonian side of Caquetá in Colombia. Scientists following
up on the discovery learned that the country’s deforestation rate
had doubled in five years, which shocked Colombian officials.
“The Colombian government wasn’t truly aware of the problem,”
says Nature Conservancy scientist Jose Yunis. “Essentially, Terra-
i was the first to start seeing this.”
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