Enhancing Kenya's Reforestation Initiative
Posted on : Monday, 8th January 2024
As part of its commitment to planting and caring for up to six million trees in Kenya, AstraZeneca is utilising artificial intelligence's deep learning capabilities to guarantee the trees' long-term growth and enable significant health benefits for the surrounding populations. President of the African Cluster, Deepak Arora.
AstraZeneca has committed to planting as many as six million trees in Kenya as part of its flagship AZ Forest initiative.
The company's newly expanded African forestry programmes in Ghana and Rwanda are the foundation of the new project, which was unveiled during COP28. Recognising the close relationship between human and planetary health, AstraZeneca has made a larger commitment to plant and maintain over 200 million trees on six continents by 2030, which includes the geographical subdivision AZ Forest Africa.
AZ Forest is a global reforestation and biodiversity effort that was started in 2020 with the goal of lessening the negative effects of climate change and improving local economies, communities, the environment, and the planet.
According to Deepak Arora, African Cluster President at AstraZeneca, "by the end of 2022, the company had planted over 10.5 million trees in Australia, Indonesia, Ghana, the US, and the UK in partnership with non-profit organisations and expert delivery partners focused on global forest restoration."
The company, in collaboration with Earthbanc and the Green Planet Initiative 2050 Foundation (GPI2050), is designing and implementing its AZ Forest programme for its Kenya project.
More than 3,500 hectares of land will be covered by reforestation in six counties in Kenya's west, close to the Rift Valley. The initiative will be among the first to monitor tree growth and health and calculate carbon sequestration levels by analysing drone footage and satellite data using an advanced artificial intelligence deep learning model.
"We have faith in the projects we have chosen and decide where to invest using a rigorous, science-based framework with expert input," says Arora.
The plan, which was created with a science-based approach and makes use of recent technological advancements, intends to improve local populations' general health, expand the biodiversity of flora and fauna, and encourage long-term tree health.
