A small pilot project has been started to help prevent the felling of Amazon Rainforest trees by implanting the tree with a tiny microchip that will allow authorities to be able to track the tree if it is ever cut down and sold on.
The tiny microchips can hold data about the tree including location, size and even who cut it down. The data can be read using a small hand-held device and the new project is hoped to be a big step forward in the battle to protect the Amazon rainforest.
The new chips will now allow land owners using sustainable forestry practices to distinguish their wood from that acquired through illegal logging.
The microchips will allow authorities and other companies to see where a tree was felled, which sawmill processed and sold the wood, and other key information for buyers who want to know exactly where the timber came from and if its legally produced.
Via Gizmodo
