A new tool has emerged to curb illegal deforestation and to help make furniture and wood purchases more environmentally responsible. The application developed by GO IMAI is designed to assist users, customs officers, and security forces. It provides early warning for shipments flagged as suspicious for the species involved.
On Monday, a university report from Granada highlighted that the Wood Identification and Artificial Intelligence Operational Group GO IMAI has finished a mobile application based on artificial intelligence to streamline the control of the timber trade.
A collaboration between the University of Granada, the Polytechnic University of Madrid, and the Spanish Association of the Wood Trade and Industry AEIM gave rise to GO IMAI. The results mark a notable advance in the transparency of the global timber market.
GO IMAI began its work in May 2021 and received co funding from the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development FEADER as part of the 2020 Innovation Projects call.
Wood from illegal trade
The project responds to the needs of customs brokers, administration inspectors, and state security bodies, especially the Civil Guard Nature Conservation Service Seprona. It offers a tool that creates early warnings when consignments of timber are suspected to come from illegal trade.
Presentation of the application. Image provided by the Polytechnic University of Madrid. Efe
Macroscopic wood identification is not possible without highly specialized personnel and expert use. With this in mind, the macroscopic study of wood and artificial intelligence enabled researchers to design a tool that makes identification simple and fast for field agents themselves.
The project also aims to address broader social challenges by protecting forests and biodiversity, contributing to climate change mitigation through responsible forestry practices.
Identification of tree species
The results come from nearly two years of collaboration and reflect researchers experience in wood anatomy and artificial intelligence.
The application is actively in use, demonstrating the practical value of GO IMAI in real-world inspections.
GO IMAI has created a smart technological solution that can recognize a tree species with a high accuracy in seconds from a photo taken with a magnifying lens attached to a mobile phone.
Throughout development, the team documented and photographed about 400 tree species, collecting the most useful information from various mobile cameras and magnifying lenses to optimize performance.
The apps were designed in two native, free forms: one for distribution through the iPhone view and another for distribution via Google Play for Android devices. These tools enable rapid, on-site species identification without requiring extensive laboratory resources.