KUALA LUMPUR: A joint Malaysian-Japanese effort is being undertaken to bolster the all-important mangrove forests in Sarawak through the adoption of drone technology and artificial intelligence.
The public-private collaboration involves the Sarawak Forest Corporation (SFC), Sunway University and the University of Technology Sarawak with two leading Japanese technology companies, Aerosense Inc. and Funlead Corp.
In SFC’s press release here today, its Chief Executive Officer Zolkipli Mohamad Aton said the research project, funded by both Sunway University and the Asia- Pacific Telecommunity (APT) is necessary to procure evidence-based, systematic mangrove conservatory strategies to promote long-term ecological and economical resilience in Sarawak’s mangrove forests.
“Malaysia is one of the largest mangrove-holding countries in the world, with Sarawak having the second-largest coverage in Malaysia.
“The mangrove forests have been playing an important ecological, social and economic role in the ecosystem,” he said.
He added that, however, these covers have inevitably been subjected to threats such as climate change, various land use and human activities.
“Through the project, the team will be able to obtain real-time plant health monitoring, as well as proactively protect the mangrove forest through artisanal fisheries surveillance,” he added.
The research project is led by Prof. Yap Kian Meng, who is also the Head of Sunway University’s Research Centre for Human-Machine Collaboration (HUMAC), School of Engineering and Technology.
“As one of the collaborative partners, Sarawak Forest Corporation is always in pursuit of useful and innovative technology that helps save the environment.
“This collaboration between all the parties will help conservation as the focused work targets our concerns of healthy forests and degraded lands that we need to rewild,” said Zolkipli.
Similarly, Prof. Mahendhiran Nair, Pro-Vice Chancellor, Research Engagement and Impact of Sunway University said: “This initiative is aligned with the vision for Malaysia as outlined in the 12th Malaysia Plan to protect the country’s natural habitat and create a better return of value from the biodiversity and conservation efforts.”
Nair added that protecting the mangrove using advanced technology will have several economic, social and environmental spill overs to Malaysia and the regional economies.
Meanwhile, Aerosence Inc. will provide drone technology and cloud SaaS (Software as a Service) solution, while Funlead Corp., an ICT company will provide support for data acquisition and image analysis with artificial intelligence technologies.
According to Satoru Shimada of Aerosense, the research will be further complemented with vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) technology that will cover up to about 300ha per flight for drone photogrammetry.
“This will enhance the mangrove monitoring efficiency,” he said.
Meanwhile, Koichi Kishi, the Senior Manager of Funlead Corp. envisages the deployment of a compact, light-weight hyperspectral sensor in the next phase to improve analytical abilities.
