• Name: Machine Learning & Remote Sensing for Healthy Forest (ML4HealthyForest)
• BSS position: Lead Partner
• Total budget: 361 500,00 EUR
• BSS budget: 182 500,00 EUR
• Dates: 01.09.2024 - 30.04.2026
• Programme: Interreg Estonia-Latvia Programme
• Partner countries: Estonia, Latvia

Over the past decade, machine learning and AI have advanced significantly but have yet to be integrated into private sector forestry programs or decision-making processes in Estonia and Latvia. Over the next 10 years, national cutting volumes will decrease, reducing forestry revenues and pushing companies to adopt more efficient operations. Forest owners must implement modern technologies and machine learning to automate, improve objectivity, and enhance cost-efficiency in planning. Estonian and Latvian forest software companies have lacked the knowledge and investment to adopt these technologies. This project aims to address these gaps and offer practical solutions for private forest management.

In addition, with increasing CO2 market activity, forest owners will soon trade CO2 credits based on their forests' carbon-binding capacity. However, only well-maintained young forests are eligible. This project will develop a service to help forest owners identify areas for cleaning and thinning using remote sensing data and machine learning.

Project aim: development of a fully automated ML4HealthyForest service for at least 300 private forest owners (with approximately 100,000 ha of forest land) in Estonia and Latvia, which provides objective automated forest management recommendations based on remote sensing data, modeling, machine learning (ML) and automated forest growth algorithms. Users will be private individuals, private companies and funds managing their forest.

Planned results:

·        Two organisations extend current cooperation and offer new service in the market.

·    The new service developed and implemented provides forest management recommendations. The new jointly developed solution ML4HealthyForest will be taken up in ForestMan web application in Estonia and ForestRadar web application in Latvia which are currently working and serving many forest customers.

Lead partner: Baltic Satellite Service LLC (Latvia)

Project partner: Eeway LLC  (Estonia)