Transforming Reforestation: veritree’s Smart Forest Design

Nature is one of our greatest allies in the fight against climate change, and reforestation plays a critical role in restoring ecosystems and preserving biodiversity. At veritree, we are harnessing advanced technology to ensure our restoration efforts are impactful, efficient, and scalable. This commitment led to the development of Smart Forest Design, a methodology born from collaboration with our planting partners for optimizing resource allocation and task management. By integrating this approach into our protocols, we create effective planting plans, pinpoint areas of ecological degradation, and determine optimal planting densities. Our latest Smart Forest in Sawle Lake exemplifies how this innovative design revolutionizes both pre-planting strategies and post-planting monitoring. This article will walk you through the principles and methodologies of Smart Forest Design, showcasing how we are setting a new standard for sustainable reforestation initiatives.

Smart Forest Design - Origin

Originally, the need for Smart Design was identified while working with our planting partners who proposed a grid system for optimized planning of their resources, tasking, and planting plans. Combined with veritree’s value add of on-the-ground monitoring, Smart Forest Design emerged as the most logical and beneficial approach to reforestation projects and it is incorporated into our vProtocols — veritree’s standard operating procedures for how we address monitoring, measurement, and design of our projects. Smart Design is used for creating a planting plan, understanding areas of degradation within the site, and knowing where we can plant at specific densities. It plays an integral role during the pre-planting stage and is also revolutionary for monitoring post-planting.

Smart Forest Design - Methodology

Smart Design for Pre-Planting 

So, how does it work? Smart Design begins with creating a planting polygon — the boundary where restoration will occur. The polygon is then broken down into hexes, each one representing 1 hectare in area. From there, we investigate the capacity of each hex and the specific species or zonation so we can determine what is the optimal tree species to plant there. This is usually done by bringing a multitude of geospatial layers, including NDVI (normalized difference vegetation index), canopy height, canopy structure, and above ground biomass. The veritree system automatically combines these layers together and applies statistics to each hex cell. Based on this output, we can assign each hex cell with an estimated intervention level and planting capacity.

For our projects, we’ve established 4 main intervention levels: low intervention means there’s more canopy or more existing forest within that hex, so we plant less trees as opposed to high intervention where there is a lot of degradation or low to no canopy meaning we would plant more trees there. And then there is a middle ground — medium intervention. There are also areas of non-intervention, for example, if more than 50% of a hex is water then it is classified as a non-intervention area.

Once we have this capacity analysis executed with all the checks and intervention levels, we begin a timeline analysis of where we will be planting, starting with the lower intervention levels, moving to medium, and then high. This restoration plan lets us know how many people we will need at each area of the planting site, how many trees are required, and how long it will take. Now, the planting plan for the polygon is complete using the Smart Forest Design.

On the visual to the right, the bottom layer depicts an example of the planting site polygon, the middle layer showcases the hex grid layered on top and the last one visualizes the same hex grid but with added details:

• White: low-intervention areas
• Light green: medium intervention areas
• Dark green: high-intervention areas
• Gray hexes: non-intervention areas

The other colors represent sensors:

• Red: dendrometers
• Orange: bioacoustic monitors
• Blue: trail cameras

Smart Design for Monitoring

Besides pre-planting, veritree utilizes its Smart Forest Design for monitoring. Similarly, we use the knowledge of intervention levels within each hexagon to plan out sensors’ installation, such as dendrometers, bioacoustics sensors, and trail cameras that are dispersed across these hex grids. As a rule of thumb, we place one dendrometer for 50 hectares of restored land. For bioacoustics sensors, it’s one for 100 hectares and they are usually placed at lower to medium intervention hexes since there are more species present which gives a better understanding of biodiversity levels.

We also create a drone flight map plan, a soil monitoring plan, and a hydrology plan based on where the water channels had existed prior to the site degradation.

All of these aspects of the monitoring plan are reflected on the specific hexes and are mapped out so that the technology can be installed in the right places when our team arrives at the site.

Smart Forest Design - On The Ground

For each Smart Forest, the automated Smart Design is validated on the ground through tasking and survey systems with veritree’s planting partners. When our partners conduct a site assessment, they inform us whether the design is correct in its predictions. Additionally, if the team arrives at a site and there is a need for changes, we improvise by going over the plan and deviating where needed, and updating the system accordingly to enhance its precision for future projects. As our process improves, we are aiming for the Smart Forest Design to be fully autonomous and complete within 10 seconds.

Smart Forest Design - Key Outcome

Using our Smart Forest Design we can predict the number and type of trees that need to be planted in a given polygon and how long it would take to plant the whole area. Through Smart Design planning, we are also able to get an unbiased data set and a strong reference and baseline data from the sensors during the monitoring because they are placed in a strategic way. This ensures our data is high-quality and can provide enhanced insights as compared to being placed haphazardly throughout a restoration site.

In conclusion, veritree's innovative Smart Forest Design integrates advanced technology, ecological insights, and strategic mapping to enable effective pre-planting and monitoring for our projects. Through continuous adaptation and validation, our aim is to ensure our methods remain at the forefront of sustainable reforestation.