Science for the public good, bringing transparency to global supply chains
Establishing credible, transparent, traceability systems that are designed for the common good is critical to addressing biodiversity loss and climate breakdown. Demand for timber, agricultural commodities and extractives is creating unprecedented pressure on forest landscapes and opacity in those supply chains allows plausible deniability at scale.
World Forest ID is working at the intersection of science and law to create the data and tools necessary to have real world impact, supporting current policy initiatives designed to control illicit trade, increasing corporate disclosure, supporting nature based solutions to climate change and driving systemic change in the food sector. Using our objective, ground-truthed data, companies can trade transparently, people can consume responsibly, and governments can prosecute criminal behavior.
Trees and plants have chemical signatures that are specific to their species and location of harvest. By collecting and analyzing geo-referenced samples from around the world, we create spatial models that make it possible to understand the source location of traded products.
COLLECTION & analysis
We collect geo-referenced plant samples from forests and agricultural land and analyse them to give us a set of chemical measurements specific to a species and the area in which it grew.
Data modeling
The chemical analysis data from samples and environmental data are combined using AI to create spatial reference models that capture chemical variability across landscapes and species ranges.
COMPARISON
By measuring the same chemicals in products in trade, matches can be found within our reference models to verify or challenge a claimed harvest location.