Forestry start-up Timbeter has announced a new partnership with the government of Costa Rica.
The start-up, based in Estonia, uses machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) to bring digitalisation and transparency to forest management.
Now, Timbeter has begun a project in Costa Rica aimed at digitalising the country’s forest management processes and increasing the competitiveness of the regional forestry sector.
Financed by the Estonian Environmental Investment Centre (KIK), this new initiative will see Timbeter’s technology become integrated into the digital solutions developed by the Costa Rican government. It will aid in overseeing the forestry sector and sustainable forest management while also fighting against illegal logging.
“With this cooperation we aim to strengthen the Costa Rican Forest Resources Information System (SIREFOR), through the incorporation of state of the art digital tools, that facilitate the work carried out by the Costa Rican authorities for the control and monitoring of forest harvesting activities,” says Rafael Monge Vargas, director of the National Centre of Geo-Environmental Information in Costa Rica.
Costa Rica is known for its environmental efforts in the area of sustainable natural resource management. The country leads Latin America in green tech adoption and green policies.
Anna-Greta Tsahkna, the CEO of Timbeter, stresses the important role of the timber industry in environmental matters.
“The timber industry has an important role in providing renewable material and fighting illegal logging. We need to make sure that forests are managed sustainably. Digital solutions like Timbeter help companies to be more efficient and transparent and also easily provide needed data for the government that will help to fight the illegal logging,” she says.
The company’s technology allows for the digital and automatic measuring of roundwood while eliminating the need for manual counting. Tracking and managing is done digitally, through a cloud-enabled platform. This also allows companies to easily share measurements with clients and contractors.
Additionally, the product can measure log diameters and volume in under three minutes, providing valuable data for its users.
It all works by taking photos of the logs while the AI does all the measurements and analyses. All the data is transmitted from a smartphone to the cloud, enabling a real-time overview and providing users with all the information they need to accurately produce reports.
Since being founded in 2013, Timbeter has compiled the world’s largest database of photometric roundwood measurements, which enables live online tracking of timber inventory throughout the entire forestry value chain.
The company has already deployed its technology in state forests in Poland and the Netherlands and is also being used by some of the largest companies in the forestry sector, such as Chile’s CPMC and SEQH in Australia.
Collaborating with the government of Costa Rica comes soon after the company raised one million US dollars (around 882,000 euros) in January from venture capitalists to expand its operations into Southeast Asia and Latin America.
The seed round was led by TMT Investments and Change Ventures with EigenKapital, Contriber Ventures, and Wiser also contributing.
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