Smart Forests Radio

Smart Forests
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Smart Forests Radio

How are forests becoming digital environments? The Smart Forests research project investigates the social-political impacts of digital technologies that monitor and govern forests. In this podcast series, we speak to scientists, artists, activists, and technologists about their work. Find out more about the Smart Forests project at https://smartforests.net/ and explore the Smart Forests Atlas at https://atlas.smartforests.net/.

  1. Mohammad Meer Hamza: Van Gujjars and Mapping for Forest Rights

    13/11/2024

    Mohammad Meer Hamza: Van Gujjars and Mapping for Forest Rights

    In this episode of Smart Forests Radio, we are in conversation with Mohammad Meer Hamza about the Van Gujjars, an indigenous pastoralist community in South Asia. We explore the community's rich history, the challenges they have endured due to colonial conservation practices, and how modern technologies, including digital tools, are reshaping forest governance and mapping practices. Interviewer: Trishant Simlai Producer: Harry Murdoch Image: Trishant Simlai (2024)

    38 min
  2. Jorge Felez-Bernal: La piro-geografía y la geomática como medios para vincularse con comunidades afectadas por incendios forestales

    30/10/2024

    Jorge Felez-Bernal: La piro-geografía y la geomática como medios para vincularse con comunidades afectadas por incendios forestales

    En este episodio de Smart Forests Radio, hablamos con Jorge Felez-Bernal. Jorge es Geógrafo, con postgrado en Ingeniería del Medio Ambiente y Máster en Tecnologías de la Información Geográfica para la Ordenación del Territorio. Desde 2018, está cursando un programa de doctorado en Ordenación del Territorio y Medio Ambiente, en la Universidad de Zaragoza, España. El 2009 llegó a vivir a Concepción, Chile desde su natal España. Se ha desempeñado profesionalmente en el Centro y Facultad de Ciencias Ambientales de la Universidad de Concepción. Institución donde además es docente y dirige el Diplomado en Tecnologías de Información Geográfica para la Ordenación del Territorio. En la entrevista, Jorge nos cuenta que ha podido desarrollar proyectos de vinculación con el medio y de asistencia técnica, principalmente para diferentes entidades del Estado chileno, en donde ha podido constatar la realidad nacional de las problemáticas socio-ambientales relacionadas al ordenamiento territorial. Incluyendo un catastro de demandas de tierras indígenas en las provincias de Arauco, Malleco, Cautín y Valdivia. Lo cual le permitió comprender en mayor profundidad las implicancias y consecuencias del modelo forestal chileno, sobre todo aquellas vinculadas a los incendios y al fuego como instrumento de despojo territorial. Entrevistadora: Pablo González Rivas, Paula Tiara Torres y Jennifer Gabrys Productor: Harry Murdoch Imagen: Jorge Felez-Bernal (2024)

    32 min
  3. Claudia Arellano: El futuro de la gestión de riesgo de desastres en Chile

    16/10/2024

    Claudia Arellano: El futuro de la gestión de riesgo de desastres en Chile

    En este episodio de Smart Forests Radio, hablamos con Claudia Arellano, geógrafa y especialista en Estudios y Riesgos de Desastres. Actualmente es consultora de la Dirección de Gestión de Riesgo de Desastres de la Municipalidad de Pucón, Región de La Araucanía, Chile. Claudia cuenta con más de 11 años de experiencia en el estudio de riesgos de desastres y planificación territorial, abarcando temáticas como planificación urbana, vivienda, educación ambiental y sustentabilidad. En esta entrevista, hablamos de la importancia del conocimiento del riesgo para la prevención de incendios forestales, de las metodologías aplicadas en la gestión del riesgo de desastres en Chile, la relevancia de la vinculación del sector público con fundaciones y ONGs para la difusión de información y el trabajo con comunidades, y los próximos desafíos entorno a la planificación territorial y la nueva Ley de Incendios y la Ley Marco de Cambio Climático. Entrevistadora: Pablo González Rivas, Paula Tiara Torres and Jennifer Gabrys Productor: Harry Murdoch Imagen: Trabajo de campo de Smart Forests (2024)

    29 min
  4. BurnBot: Mitigating Wildfire Risks through Prescribed Burns

    02/10/2024

    BurnBot: Mitigating Wildfire Risks through Prescribed Burns

    In this episode of Smart Forests Radio, we speak with Dr Waleed “Lee” Haddad, cofounder of BurnBot. BurnBot is a semi-automated mobile technology for facilitating prescribed burns. Through remote control technology, a burn chamber, and other components, the device enables prescribed burning and vegetation thinning to mitigate destructive wildfires, while ensuring minimal smoke production. Lee discusses BurnBot’s role within the emerging FireTech landscape and the infrastructures, practices, and policies related to wildfire risk reduction. He also emphasises the importance of collaboration with government agencies, NGOs, other private initiatives, and Indigenous communities to address the urgent wildfire crisis in California and beyond. Interviewer: Jennifer Gabrys Producer: Harry Murdoch Image: BurnBot

    29 min
  5. Jorge Saavedra: Monitoreando y combatiendo incendios forestales desde la teledetección

    18/09/2024

    Jorge Saavedra: Monitoreando y combatiendo incendios forestales desde la teledetección

    En este episodio de Smart Forests Radio, hablamos con Jorge Saavedra. Jorge es Ingeniero Forestal, Diplomado en Geomática y Tecnología Satelital, Magíster en Teledetección y Jefe del Departamento de Desarrollo e Investigación en Incendios Forestales en la Corporación Nacional Forestal de Chile (CONAF). Jorge cuenta con más de 15 años ligado al Manejo del Fuego, se especializa en áreas como el análisis y planificación, uso de geotecnologías, formación, investigación y desarrollo, evaluación y análisis de riesgo, cuantificación del daño evitado en incendios forestales, abarcando cargos desde brigadista hasta técnico en aviones de detección. También, es profesor adjunto en cursos de pre y postgrado en la Universidad Mayor de Chile. En esta entrevista nos cuenta sobre el rol del Departamento de Desarrollo e Investigación de CONAF, que ha sido analizar de manera transversal a toda la institución para hacer más eficiente el trabajo y entender el por qué del comportamiento del fuego en el territorio chileno. Para esto, han generado diversas herramientas que permiten el monitoreo y prevención a incendios forestales, como el Sistema de Pronóstico, el Mapa de Riesgo Nacional y el Botón Rojo. Puede encontrar más sobre el trabajo de Jorge en https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Jorge-Saavedra-15. Entrevistadora: Pablo González Rivas, Paula Tiara Torres and Jennifer Gabrys Productor: Harry Murdoch Imagen: Jorge Saavedra

    34 min
  6. Shefali Lakhina: Innovating FireTech with Frontline Communities

    04/09/2024

    Shefali Lakhina: Innovating FireTech with Frontline Communities

    In this episode of Smart Forests Radio, we talk with Dr Shefali Juneja Lakhina about socially led innovations in fire technology and policy. Shefali is the co-founder of Wonder Labs, a climate justice-focused social enterprise based in California. Since 2021, as part of Wonder Labs’ flagship initiative—the Reimagining 2025: Living with Fire Design Challenge—Shefali has mentored student teams in conducting convergence research with community partners working to reduce catastrophic wildfire impacts in caring, equitable, and just ways. In the interview, Shefali shares insights from Wonder Labs’ State of FireTech Report, emphasising the importance of focusing on “fires that matter” and shifting away from early detection and suppression towards mitigation. She discusses how technology can help different communities prepare to live and work with fire in their unique contexts, providing examples such as BurnBot, a fuel treatment system for prescribed burns, and FireUp, a fire forestry workforce platform. Interviewer: Jennifer Gabrys Producer: Harry Murdoch Image: FireUp

    33 min
  7. Frank Vorhies: Integrating Conservation and Economic Development

    31/07/2024

    Frank Vorhies: Integrating Conservation and Economic Development

    In this Smart Forests Radio episode, we speak with Dr Frank Vorhies. Frank is the director of African Wildlife Economy Institute at Stellenbosch University in South Africa and the founding director of Earthmind, a conversation network founded in Switzerland and now based in the UK. He explores the economic aspects of conservation initatives, focusing on how different views of conservation and biodiversity influence contributing activities and quantification methods. Advocating for conservation as sustainable use of natural resources, as opposed to strict protection, Frank discusses integrating conservation with industrial and urban development and emphasises the need to measure use-related indicators alongside protection-related ones. He delves into how the concept of Verified Conservation Areas (VCA) for biodiveristy restoration came about, making an area unit measurable, tradable, and investable. He also highlights how shifting from a carbon-focused approach to an area-based approach, like VCA, combined with a digital platform, can facilitate sustainable practices and enable transparent information sharing among various actors, including gas factories. Interviewer: Michelle Westerlaken Producer: Harry Murdoch Image: Frank Vorhies, Earthmind

    18 min
  8. Arthur Eijs: Verified Conservation Areas and the Nature Commitment Platform

    17/07/2024

    Arthur Eijs: Verified Conservation Areas and the Nature Commitment Platform

    In this Smart Forests Radio episode, we invite Arthur Eijs, a policy advisor on Natural Resources at the Ministry for Infrastructure & Water Management in the Netherlands. Formerly, he oversaw strategy, pilot projects, and economic incentives on biodiversity at the Ministry of Infrastructure and Environment, and served as a member of the Dutch CBD (Convention on Biological Diversity) delegation. During the interview, conducted in June 2023, Arthur delves into a biodiversity project he initiated about Verified Conservation Areas, or the VCA platform. This digital infrastructure aimed to transparently verify biodiversity restoration and conservation efforts, enabling both larger companies and local grassroots initiatives to declare their contributions. Arthur elaborates on his ideas behind this initiative and the challenges encountered in securing funding. He also shares fascinating insights into the background of European funding strategies for biodiversity and the issues arising from the multitude of emerging digital platforms and stakeholders. Although the VCA platform is currently discontinued, information about the projects involved can be found via the website of the Convention on Biological Diversity on their new Nature Commitments Platform. Interviewer: Michelle Westerlaken Producer: Harry Murdoch Language note: This interview takes place in Dutch. Image: Nature Commitments, https://naturecommitments.org/

    18 min
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About

How are forests becoming digital environments? The Smart Forests research project investigates the social-political impacts of digital technologies that monitor and govern forests. In this podcast series, we speak to scientists, artists, activists, and technologists about their work. Find out more about the Smart Forests project at https://smartforests.net/ and explore the Smart Forests Atlas at https://atlas.smartforests.net/.

Information

  • Creator
    Smart Forests
  • Years Active
    2022 - 2024
  • Episodes
    51
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2022 All rights reserved.
  • Show Website
    Smart Forests Radio

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