#16: Business to catalyze climate action

Welcome to the 16th edition of Roots by Forestmatic, our monthly Newsletter.

Roots by Forestmatic is designed to deepen our connection with our readers, users, and supporters, to feed them the latest relevant information and updates on tech and nature, and to amplify the voice of the ecosystem of partners and stakeholders that sustain our restoration work.

In this edition you'll find:

?? Celebrating World Nature Conservation Day: A Call to Action for Businesses

?? Drone vs. Satellite: Choosing Your Monitoring Ally in Forest Ecosystem Restoration and Tree Planting Practices

?? Time Rankings for World's Most Sustainable Companies of 2024

?? Bonus: Fun Fact

1. Celebrating World Nature Conservation Day: A Call to Action for Businesses ??

World Nature Conservation Day observed annually on July 28, is a global initiative dedicated to raising awareness about the importance of preserving our planet's natural resources and biodiversity. This day emphasises the need for a healthy environment as the foundation for a stable and thriving society. It calls on individuals, communities, and businesses to take proactive steps towards sustainable practices and environmental stewardship.

For businesses, World Nature Conservation Day is more than just a date on the calendar; it's an opportunity to reflect on their environmental impact and explore ways to contribute to conservation efforts. The business case for nature conservation is compelling:

1. Economic Benefits: Protecting nature and increasing biodiversity can generate business opportunities worth $10 trillion annually and create nearly 400 million new jobs. Companies that invest in these areas are likely to enhance their reputation and access better financing terms.
2. Regulatory Compliance: With an increasing global focus on environmental sustainability, businesses that align with conservation goals are better positioned to comply with emerging regulations and standards?.
3. Consumer Trust: Modern consumers are more environmentally conscious and prefer brands that demonstrate a commitment to sustainability. Engaging in conservation initiatives can strengthen customer loyalty and brand image.

Businesses can play a pivotal role in conservation and restoration, pushing boundaries to adopt strategies that prioritise nature restoration and conservation in their business activities. Interested to know how? Keep reading.

1. Assess and Disclose Environmental Impact: Companies should start by understanding and disclosing their biodiversity-related impacts. This involves assessing the effects of their operations on nature and reporting progress transparently.
2. Collaborate with Stakeholders: Engaging with customers, providers, local communities, governments, and environmental organisations can amplify conservation efforts. Collaborative projects can lead to more significant and sustainable outcomes.
3. Invest in Sustainable Practices: Implementing sustainable agriculture, biodiversity-friendly supply chains, and eco-tourism initiatives can open new markets and revenue streams while contributing to conservation goals.
4. Support Restoration Projects: Businesses can partner with organisations dedicated to ecological restoration, such as Forestmatic, to support large-scale reforestation and habitat restoration projects.
5. Adopt Nature-Based Solutions: Integrating nature-based solutions into business operations, such as tree planting, can help mitigate environmental impacts and enhance resilience while creating a bond with customers, audiences and stakeholders.

Embracing these strategies is key for businesses not only to contribute to a healthier planet but also to secure long-term success and competitive advantage. This World Nature Conservation Day, let's commit to making a positive impact on our environment and ensuring a sustainable future for generations to come.

2. Drone vs. Satellite: Choosing Your Monitoring Ally in Forest Ecosystem Restoration and Tree Planting Practices ??

In the quest to restore forest ecosystems and enhance tree-planting practices, technology plays a pivotal role. Two prominent technologies—drone monitoring and satellite monitoring—offer unique advantages. In an effort to share the knowledge we have gathered in developing our solution and improving outcomes of forest ecosystem projects across the globe, this article delves into the benefits of each, providing a comparative analysis to help understand their respective strengths. To understand how to make the best choice, we provide a set of benefits aimed at analysing the objectives and outputs of your project.

Drone Monitoring: Precision and Accessibility

1. High-Resolution Data Collection

Drones can be equipped with high-resolution cameras and LiDAR sensors and can capture detailed images and 3D models of forest areas. This precision allows for accurate monitoring of tree health, growth rates, and biodiversity. Through Forestmatic, we are collecting imagery at 3cm per pixel, providing us with valuable insights into forest health, growth and evolution.

2. Accessibility to Remote Areas

Drones can easily access hard-to-reach areas, such as steep terrains or regions affected by natural disasters like floods and landslides. This capability ensures that restoration efforts can be monitored and managed even in the most challenging environments.

3. Cost-Effective and Efficient

Compared to traditional ground surveys, drones offer a more cost-effective solution. They can cover large areas quickly, reducing the time and labor required for monitoring, while giving more precision in forest mapping.

4. Real-Time Data and Flexibility

Drones provide real-time data, allowing for immediate analysis and decision-making. Their flexibility in deployment means they can be used as frequently as needed, ensuring continuous monitoring and timely interventions.

Satellite Monitoring: Comprehensive and Long-Term Insights

1. Extensive Coverage

Satellites can monitor vast forested areas, providing a comprehensive view of large-scale restoration projects. This extensive coverage is particularly beneficial for tracking changes over time and assessing the overall impact of restoration efforts.

2. Historical Data and Trend Analysis

Satellite imagery offers access to historical data, enabling the analysis of long-term trends in forest health and ecosystem changes. This historical perspective is invaluable for understanding the effectiveness of restoration practices over time.

3. Cost-Effective for Large Areas

For monitoring extensive forest areas, satellite imagery is often more cost-effective than deploying multiple drones. It provides consistent and repeatable data across large regions, making it ideal for large-scale projects.

4. Climate and Environmental Monitoring

Satellites can monitor various environmental parameters, such as temperature, precipitation, and soil moisture. This capability helps in understanding the broader climatic conditions affecting forest ecosystems and planning restoration activities accordingly1.

To help you deep dive into your decision-making process, we have defined a few benefits that you can consider when deciding upon these two technologies:

Precision vs. Coverage

While drones excel in providing high-resolution, detailed data for specific areas, satellites offer extensive coverage and long-term insights. The choice between the two depends on the scale and specific needs of the restoration project. At Forestmatic, we have developed drone monitoring techniques since the scale of our projects and the seedlings we plant can be monitored only with a maximum precision resolution, which no Satellite can guarantee, as of today.

Accessibility vs. Historical Data

Drones are ideal for accessing remote and difficult terrains, providing real-time data for immediate action. In contrast, satellites offer historical data and trend analysis, which are crucial for long-term planning and assessment. To obtain the most effective outputs, a combination of the two techniques can be implemented as to analyse current and historical data that provides context analysis and baselines.

Cost-Effectiveness

Both technologies offer cost-effective solutions, but their efficiency varies with the scale of the project. Drones are more cost-effective for smaller, targeted areas, while satellites are better suited for large-scale monitoring. This is the reason why most conservation projects can easily rely on satellite monitoring, but this doesn’t apply well to restoration practices, where biomass can only be observed after a few years of growth.

Both drone and satellite monitoring have distinct advantages in forest ecosystem restoration and tree planting practices. Although very challenging and demanding, the best scenario relies on the integration of both technologies can provide a comprehensive approach, leveraging the precision and accessibility of drones with the extensive coverage and historical insights of satellites. This synergy can enhance the effectiveness of restoration efforts, ensuring healthier and more resilient forest ecosystems for the future.

If you are interested in knowing how Forestmatic tracks and monitors all of its trees, get in contact, we are happy to help.

3. Time Rankings for World's Most Sustainable Companies of 2024 ??

For the first time, TIME has partnered with Statista to identify the world's most sustainable companies of 2024. This initiative aims to highlight corporate responsibility and promote sustainable practices amid significant environmental challenges and social inequalities. The ranking sets a benchmark for other businesses, fostering transparency and accountability, and encouraging the integration of sustainability into core corporate strategies.

The selection process began with over 5,000 of the world's largest and most influential companies, considering revenue, market capitalisation, and public prominence. A rigorous four-step methodology was used to identify the top 500 companies, evaluated on more than 20 key data points.

1. Exclusion of Non-Sustainable Businesses: Companies involved in non-sustainable industries like fossil fuels or deforestation were excluded. Those with significant scandals or controversies related to sustainability were also disqualified.
2. Commitment & Ratings: Companies were assessed based on external sustainability ratings and commitments from reputable organisations.
3. Reporting & Transparency: The availability and quality of sustainability reports were evaluated, ensuring compliance with international reporting standards.
4. Environmental & Social Stewardship: Various environmental and social Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) from companies' Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) reports were researched.

The top 500 companies with the highest scores were awarded the title of World's Most Sustainable Companies 2024. These companies are spread across more than 30 countries, with the United States, Japan, and the United Kingdom hosting the highest numbers.

Here’s the ranking for the top 10 companies:

If you are interested in understanding how could your business develop its sustainability strategy get in contact with us.

4. Bonus: Fun Fact ??

Did you know that recycling a single 500 ml aluminium beer can save enough energy to power a TV for over 4 hours?

Follow us on Instagram (@forestmatic_official) and learn more via our weekly sustainability quiz every Tuesday.

Thank you for being part of the Forestmatic community! Together, we're nurturing a greener, healthier planet. ????

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