Artificial intelligence helped identify more than 400 changes in the forests of Nizhny Novgorod.

      19 August 2025 07:00

        [245]

       Society

      Since the beginning of July 2025, more than 400 cases of changes in forest areas have been recorded in the Nizhny Novgorod region using artificial intelligence as part of the "Digital Forest" project. The new analysis tool was introduced into the system about a month ago and is already demonstrating high effectiveness, the regional Ministry of Forestry and Wildlife Protection reported.

      According to the ministry, the AI was trained on nearly 7,600 reference satellite images, which allows it to accurately process current high-resolution images. This ensures the prompt detection of violations of forestry legislation, consequences of natural phenomena and other deviations.

      Automating monitoring processes significantly saves specialists’ time. Thanks to this, staff can focus on other priority tasks.

      Deputy Governor of the Nizhny Novgorod Region Egor Polyakov noted that the artificial intelligence provides continuous analysis of satellite images with high accuracy. He recalled that the region’s forest fund covers about four million hectares, and previously monitoring was carried out mainly by ground patrols and drones. The introduction of AI has, in his words, been a technological breakthrough that significantly reduces labor costs.

      The regional Minister of Digital Development and Communications Alexander Sinelobov reported that data on forest changes are fed into the "Digital Forest" system from the regional geoinformation platform. Staff access them through personal accounts.

      He also explained that changes are displayed on the map as polygons showing the exact location and size of the areas. In addition, the system automatically calculates potential damage, taking into account area, tree species and other parameters. All cases are ranked by level of risk.

      Minister of Forestry Roman Vorobyov added that the project helps specialists make more informed decisions. According to him, the system has so far received data on 415 sites, 379 of which have already been inspected by inspectors, and no violations were found in those areas.

      Most of the recorded changes concern active and completed logging areas. However, in the Vysokoborskoye local forestry unit of Borsky District, damage from a squall was found over an area of almost 20 hectares. These lands are leased by ZAO "Borsky Leskhoz," which has been sent a notification of the need to conduct a forest pathology survey.

      The development of such digital services using AI is provided for by the federal project "Digital Platforms in the Social Sphere Sectors," which is part of the new national project "Data Economy and Digital Transformation of the State." It came into effect in Russia on 1 January 2025 by order of President Vladimir Putin and became the successor to the "Digital Economy" project.

      It was previously reported that a quadcopter helped detect an illegal dump in a forest in the Nizhny Novgorod region.

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