Before MaderApp, gathering forest census information was a labor intensive, paper-based process that relied on a traditional field notebook. This led to imprecise information and inadequate oversight of the forestry sector. Without accurate data on the Peruvian Amazon’s increasingly scarce natural resources, legitimate forestry enterprises faced challenges addressing business threats and environmental concerns.

Through MaderApp’s reliable and affordable geo-positioning technology, forestry companies not only limit the possibility of human error while conducting a tree census, but also improve environmental and economic planning, increasing the efficiency of their operations.

Maderacre and Catahua are two forestry companies in Madre de Dios — a region in southeastern Peru’s Amazon Basin — that use MaderApp. A robust GPS-based tree census has modernized their operations while allowing for oversight at the start of the timber supply chain, from the moment a tree is harvested in the forest to the distribution of timber on the profitable global market.

“Using mobile GPS equipment changed the process at Catahua,” the company’s forest manager says. “One day of classroom work and a week of training was enough. With the new method, they have more terrain details, they improve species identification… [and] now have the tree’s precise location.”

By adopting this inexpensive and user-friendly technology, forestry companies like Catahua improve their planning ability for timber extraction, resulting in cost savings and better data quality. The real-time management of the Peruvian Amazon’s valuable trees is not only useful to businesses in the forestry sector, but also to the indigenous communities living on almost 15 million hectares of forest. Their forest-based livelihoods demand both efficient forestry management and a stable logging market without illegal harvesting.
Both civilian and industrial consumers benefit from a system of forestry management that combats illicit operations and preserves the environment for future generations. Illegal logging prospers where sourcing information on the Peruvian Amazon is unreliable. But with this innovative mobile technology in their hands, forestry companies now operate in a sector that is as environmentally responsible as it is profitable.