Illegal Loggers in Brazil’s Rainforest Tracked with GPS
27 Nov 2014GPS tracking devices are helping to find illegal loggers in the Brazil rainforest.
Illegal logging is a major problem in many rainforests around the world, including Brazil. The greatest rainforest to many is, of course, in the Amazon, and regardless of the deforestation laws, illegal loggers are still managing to cut down trees there — and get away from local law enforcement.
However, technology is now helping to track these logging thieves down, in hopes that more of the rainforest can be saved from illegal logging practices.
The tracking of illegal loggers is being carried out by rainforest activists. The rainforest activists went to Para, regardless of the tricky and dangerous areas, undercover, in order to place GPS tracking devices on trucks.
By going undercover, they found out who was suspicious and might be logging illegally in the rainforest. Once the GPS tracking devices were on the suspected illegal logging trucks, the investigators were able to examine the route they took in the rainforest.
The data collected from these tracking devices revealed that the trucks were going very deep into the rainforest; approximately 200 miles in total. They went to protected areas to get logs and return to Santarem, where they went to sawmills in the middle of the night so they were well hidden. This is where timber is exported from other areas, including China, Japan, the U.S., and Europe.
Not only were the illegal loggers’ routes and navigation tracked, but there was also data including aerial and satellite images of their operation.
In the past, Greenpeace has attempted to expose illegal logging practices, but it was often too risky and even violent. This time, however, they decided letting the GPS trackers do the monitoring for them, they could find out what was going on without putting themselves in too much danger. The leader asked to remain anonymous, but told Brazilian officials:
“Everyone is afraid of something sometimes. But, even with fear, we wanted to expose that official papers are worth nothing in proving the legality of Amazon timber. We were convinced the operation would bring strong evidence of this silent crisis affecting the Amazon and its people.”
During this GPS tracking assignment, there were a total of 8 activists that went undercover in Brazil. They used GPS trackers that were magnetized and easy to attach to a vehicle. They began having lunch with truckers and appeared to simply be traveling. They attached 9 GPS trackers, though a few of them fell off the trucks. However, they still got enough data to find some illegal logging that was happening.
The activists found that the logs were of mahogany, such as macaranduba, ipe, jatoba, and garapa. They also found that the sawmills were operating illegally, with laundering and permits from other areas. They found that most of the operation was illegal, from the loggers, to the sawmills and then the buyers.
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