With the enforcement of the European Union Deforestation-Free Products Regulation (EUDR) by the European Council on May 19th, businesses are required to demonstrate that their products are free from deforestation and comply with applicable laws. This sense of urgency has driven businesses to seek guidance on digitalization and finding suitable technology providers or service solutions that align with their specific requirements.
A recent article published by Digital Coffee Future Magazine has compiled a comprehensive list of tools to assist businesses with different needs and situations. This compilation includes Koltiva's traceability platform, KoltiTrace MIS (Management Information System), along with six other tools for monitoring deforestation that can help companies navigate and comply with the regulation. KoltiTrace MIS serves as a comprehensive platform combining bottom-up and top-down datasets, providing important information about various agricultural operations.
At Koltiva, we contribute to reforestation, forest preservation, and climate action. Our traceability system, KoltiTrace, provides comprehensive mapping, including farms, processors, and buying stations, enabling monitoring of zero-deforestation commitments. With the upcoming EU Deforestation Regulation, KoltiTrace helps agribusinesses ensure compliance by overlaying deforestation and risk data on their supply chain polygons. We provide an efficient and effective solution to monitor and combat deforestation. We assist over 6,500 enterprises in achieving traceable and resilient supply chains, working towards the shared global goal of environmental protection, including forests and rainforests.
Data Collection and Verification for Deforestation Monitoring
Our field agents visit producers’ plantation locations and collect data through plot surveys. The Plot Survey data includes basic farm information such as farm area, polygon, GPS coordinates, land legality, etc. These surveys aim to fulfill the requirements for sustainability standards and regulations, such as the EUDR.
Farm assessment and polygons are collected using the FarmXtension mobile app; our field agents walk around the boundaries of the plot to map the farm.
To overcome network difficulties in plantation areas, our application utilizes satellite signals, allowing it to function offline by using pre-downloaded satellite map data. Collected data will synchronize automatically once an internet connection is available.
To obtain information on farm deforestation, the KoltiTrace MIS web app overlays farm polygons with geospatial data such as forest area and tree cover loss to identify land use change.
Geospatial Data Acquisition:
To obtain information on farm deforestation, we currently utilize derivative data such as forest and non-forest areas from Lansat-8 satellite imagery and tree cover loss data from Global Forest Watch, with a data accuracy of 30 meters per pixel.
To improve the accuracy of our data, we also developed Sentinel-2 data processing techniques to generate forest area and tree cover loss data using AI methods such as deep learning and machine learning.
In further advancement, we also apply these AI methods to data with medium and high resolutions, such as Planet data. Our AI models are trained on globally pre-trained datasets, enabling the resulting models to be representative and applicable to various regions.
Data Alignment:
The data we acquire from satellite sources and third parties like Global Forest Watch are processed using spatial data processing applications to extract the information to be used on our KoltiTrace MIS dashboard for further analysis.
Annual Deforestation Alert:
The intersection between forest area and tree cover loss indicates areas, where land use changes or deforestation have occurred. While the tree cover loss data obtained is annual, spanning from 2001 – 2022, providing temporal yearly information on the forest regions affected by deforestation.
Data Analysis:
By cross-referencing the geospatial data, including forest and non-forest areas from satellite imagery and tree cover loss data, we overlay with the farm polygon data from FarmXtension for analysis. From these three datasets, we can identify the intersection area between forest area, tree cover loss, and farm polygons (e.g. coffee or cocoa farm), allowing us to verify commodity-specific deforestation.
About the Writer:
Vega Welingutami is a seasoned Public Relations & Event expert with a strong background in the tech industry, particularly in AI companies, Logistics, Transportation, and Entertainment sectors. With extensive experience in creating impactful event conferences, Vega excels in engaging stakeholders and media to maximize the reach and success of each event. Vega's proficiency in public relations plays a pivotal role in her media approach at Koltiva.
Vega's expertise extends to crafting comprehensive media strategies to generate extensive coverage and buzz around events. By leveraging her deep understanding of the media landscape, she develops tailored communication plans, coordinates press releases, and facilitates media engagement before, during, and after events. This strategic approach helps maximize exposure and generate positive brand associations for all involved parties.
