Brazil eyes microchips in trees

[Judi Lynn]

Brazil eyes microchips in trees
Published: 3:42PM Tuesday October 12, 2010
Source: Reuters

A chainsaw buzzes, branches snap, and an Amazon tree crashes to the ground.

It could be just another of the thousands of trees felled each year in Brazil's portion of the world's largest forest except for one detail: a microchip attached to its base holding data about its location, size and who cut it down.

With a hand-held device, forestry engineer Paulo Borges pulls up the tree's vital statistics from the chip - a 14-metre-high tree known as a mandiocao cut down in Mato Grosso state, the southern edge of the Amazon where the forest has largely been cleared to create farmland.

It is only a small pilot project, but its leaders say the microchip system has the potential to be a big step forward in the battle to protect the Amazon.

More:
http://tvnz.co.nz/technology-news/brazil-eyes-microchips-in-trees-3832813

[Lorien]

1. It's a battle that concerns every living thing on earth

Since the Amazon forests brings us a significant amount of our oxygen, combats climate change and helps regulate weather patterns. We literally can't survive without it.