Scientists have developed the “Smart Forest” system to protect wildlife.

I often talk about the need for global changes between humans and nature because many practices have long become outdated, archaic, and destructive! And government systems “freeze up” in this archaism, leading to a complete misunderstanding of the world around us and a lack of methods to solve environmental problems.

Let’s recall, for example, Mr. Kumarkov — the Minister of Natural Resources of Kamchatka, who tried to ridicule my proposal in the public sphere about introducing modern technical means to prevent conflicts with wolves. In other words, well-established methods based on satellite monitoring, GPS trackers, and neural network algorithms, which have been used worldwide for many years, make those who head entire agencies laugh.

The situation with wolves in Kamchatka caused a huge outcry, because, according to official estimates, only 179 wolves were counted, and the officials issued an order setting the cull limit at “exactly 179 wolves.” That means they allowed the entire population to be wiped out! We opposed it and received a response stating that wolves attack livestock and threaten ranchers. Then I made a public proposal to implement modern technical tools based on the accumulated international experience, which would reduce conflicts between humans and wolves completely (down to zero).

And there followed, in social media, a public rebuttal from the Minister directed at me, ridiculing modern technologies for wolf protection.

I fully understand that the problem lies not even with the Minister of Kamchatka himself, but with a general systemic defect in public administration. To fix this, the federal Government needs to replace the people in leadership, to look for those who think in a contemporary paradigm and are able to move the country forward, enduring and overcoming competition from other states.

In the meantime, we see how ministers with archaic views of the world “slam on the brakes” with all their might, unwilling to develop themselves and hindering the overall development of our country.

That is my introduction to the material!

Today, however, I want to talk with my readers not about officials, but about breakthrough technologies in the field of wildlife protection. In fact, my team and I follow all the developments and discoveries in the world very closely to use this experience further in our struggle for Life.

I managed to study two scientific works carried out by global scientists, published literally recently, in January 2025. The research turned out to be extremely complex, because the specialists worked with mathematical methods that form the basis for modern technologies.

Consequently, I had to spend a lot of time to understand these scientific works. I will try to convey to you the importance of this research in simple terms.

So! The first work is called “Modeling Forest Regeneration Dynamics: Estimating Regeneration, Growth, and Mortality Rates in Lithuanian Forests.” The researchers studied forests in Lithuania and developed an innovative model of their restoration, as well as joined forces with scientists who, at the same time, created a system for analyzing sounds of wildlife. They are from the same university.

Now the scientists are creating a complex that, in real time, based on modern technologies and artificial intelligence, will predict the condition of forests and record the slightest changes in the environment.

Scientists say that there are two main problems typical of global forestry. First, human activity destroys forests so rapidly that it’s simply impossible to keep track of it all! As a rule, problems become apparent only when the damage is already irreversible. Second, all traditional methods of monitoring forests — when foresters inspect trees by hand or use traps to observe animals — are long outdated. Especially if we consider the lack of qualified specialists, the abolition of the forestry institute, and people’s unwillingness to make enough effort to prevent environmental problems.

I want to quote one of the authors of the study, Professor Maskeliunas Ritis from Kaunas University of Technology:

“Forests are one of the most important ecosystems in nature, which are constantly evolving, but their monitoring is often postponed <…> We will never have enough people to constantly watch what is happening in the forests.”

That’s it! Everything is simple and clear.

Now on to the most interesting part. You know that I recently published a large piece on modern forest restoration, in other words, on “planting forests in rows.” International experts have long agreed that plantation-style forest restoration is nothing more than an imitation, which at the same time creates a threat to real wild forests. And what is there to say, when even according to the Russian Accounts Chamber, up to 95% of all “restored” forests die immediately after planting.

About the same problems exist globally. There’s no proper assessment of biological systems, no monitoring of forest restoration, and no forecasts of how forests will grow and change over time.

So, the scientists in their work proposed a completely new model of forest regeneration dynamics. It will independently track the age groups of trees and the probability of their transition from one group to another, analyzing growth rates and mortality.

Moreover, according to the proposed model, there is an opportunity to determine which tree species are best suited to various conditions and exactly where they should be planted.

Here’s another quote from Professor Maskeliunas:

“This can help in planning the restoration of mixed forests to increase resilience to climate change, as well as in forecasting where and when certain species may become more vulnerable to pests, allowing for preventive measures. This tool supports forest conservation, maintains biodiversity and ecosystem services by optimizing the distribution of funding and compensations for forest owners.”

I know that some of my readers are not interested in technical details, but many of you are specialists. Therefore, I’ll immediately note that the new model for assessing forest dynamics is developed on the basis of Markov chains and multivariate time series (MTY) decomposition.

The practical part of the research was carried out on tree species in Lithuania, which suggests the possibility of using the model in Russian forests as well. It showed impressive results for pine, spruce, birch, and aspen.

So! The presented model can work perfectly with any AI-based technical systems. Specialized software and sensors are created to collect data, then it’s all analyzed continuously, and based on the model, scientists can predict how many young trees will survive or die, what the reasons are (diseases or pests), and also recognize long-term forest growth trends, including seasonal changes and unexpected factors — for example, sudden climate anomalies or pest infestations.

Let’s move on!

We already have modern breakthrough technologies and an innovative model on which we can build systems for continuous forest monitoring.

A graduate student at the same Kaunas University of Technology, Ahmad Kurthobi, developed a wildlife sound analysis system capable of identifying a wide variety of natural forest sounds and detecting any issues. In other words, it becomes possible to create highly accurate sensors with connected neural network algorithms that determine the state of ecosystems by the soundscape in real time.

This research is called “Robust Forest Sound Classification Using Pareto-Mordukhovich Optimized MFCC in Environmental Monitoring.”

For specialists, I’ll add that it’s about a hybrid method for classifying sounds based on a combination of a convolutional neural network (CNN) and a bidirectional LSTM (BiLSTM). It uses optimized Mel-frequency cepstral coefficients (MFCC) to provide higher quality extraction of sound signal characteristics.

Everyone else can safely skip the heavy terminology, because the main point of this research is the opportunities it opens up!

The model developed by the scientists makes it possible, in real time, to detect all early threats to the forest, including illegal logging, forest fires, and poaching. It recognizes static sounds (say, birdsong) and captures dynamic changes. If suddenly there is noise associated with cutting down trees, if the wind changes or there is an abrupt lull, all of this is analyzed instantly, and the system identifies possible risks.

A sudden increase in birdsong, the sounds of breaking branches, structural changes in trees during drought — all this information is collected by sensors and processed by artificial intelligence, which instantly flags potential problems in the forest.

The model identifies every animal sound, including mating calls and signals from young offspring, estimates the size of animal packs, and determines their location, which makes it possible to track migrations, encounters among individuals, and, for example, the state of wolf packs.

Now to the main point!

Why are these studies so important to us? Because we don’t need to invent separate technologies in order to use them. These models can already be integrated into existing technical solutions.

The smart forest Internet of Things (IoT) system, which I have described earlier, that is, Forest 4.0 — is called “smart forests of the future” by specialists. It’s a concept of managing forest ecosystems using IoT, artificial intelligence, machine learning, and remote sensing. At its core lies the deployment of a network of sensors, drones, satellites, and cloud services, allowing real-time observation of forests, prediction of hazards, and prevention of ecological disasters.

Forest 4.0 provides for the installation of sensors measuring temperature, humidity, CO₂ levels, and other parameters. They transmit data to the cloud, where intelligent algorithms run to predict possible threats. For instance, a rise in temperature and a drop in humidity may indicate a fire risk, while changes in the acoustic environment may signal illegal logging or the presence of poachers.

Sound sensors record the voices of birds and animals, helping to automatically assess biodiversity and its fluctuations. Drones equipped with infrared and multispectral cameras detect tree diseases, pest outbreaks, and cases of illegal logging. Satellite images, combined with machine learning methods, make it possible to observe landscape changes and build dynamic models of forests.

A huge advantage of Forest 4.0 is blockchain, which makes resource management transparent and protected from fraud. Each felled tree receives a digital passport listing its origin and the legality of its felling. This minimizes the illegal timber trade and simplifies monitoring its supply.

Such technologies are already being developed and partially applied globally. And the latest research I have described represents entirely innovative models, easily integrated into this concept of “smart forests.”

Imagine what a colossal step forward humanity is taking and what incredible opportunities are opening up for wildlife conservation!

Now tell me, how can such progress coexist with the fact that, for some ministers, these basic technological solutions seem laughable? Why are they already being produced and successfully tested somewhere in the world, but not in our country?

That’s why I say: we need strong people in leadership positions who want to develop themselves and can move the country forward, not only surviving competition but achieving real leadership for Russia.

With the technologies I’ve talked about today, we can solve all the problems in the Russian Taiga. Imagine if we combine our Concept of Territories of Complete Ecological Peace (TCEPs, that is, create refuges for wildlife) with “smart forest” technologies and the innovative models scientists have just presented.

I urge our government to begin active work in this direction and to take the lead worldwide! We are capable of it, and we have the people for it.

© PAVEL PASHKOV