At a time when fires raging through the Amazonian rainforest are making headline news, the IOTA Foundation has released a video suggesting their Directed Acyclic Graph (DAG) technology, known more informally as the Tangle, can help in the fight to protect globally-critical ecosystems.

The #AmazonRainforest is burning at a record rate! #IOTA can help protect and value critical global ecosystems with trusted, censorship-resistant data in real-time: https://t.co/eP9Dc9P7GS#ActForTheAmazon — IOTA (@iotatoken) August 23, 2019

Presented by Julie Maupin, IOTA’s Director of Social Impact and Regulatory Affairs, the short video briefly outlines the environmental catastrophe posed by destruction of the rainforest and explains how certifiable and trackable carbon credits can play a role in combating illegal deforestation.

Mesh Network

IOTA’s proposed solution involves using a mesh network of sensors, satellite imagery and local crowd intelligence to detect forest fires starting or illegal activities such as chainsaws logging protected trees.

All information, including the measurement of carbon dioxide omissions, can be recorded on the Tangle and the information can be used to formulate rapid-response action plans based on real-time data rather than estimated calculations.

Maupin suggests the remaining indigenous people of the region who have not already been displaced by deforestation may also benefit by earning and selling carbon credits “…directly to all parties who interested in proving the authenticity of their efforts to secure a better life for the future of our planet.”

Speaking in an interview last year, Maupin prophesied that “Environmental impact is a factor we cannot afford to ignore anymore” and “The innovation community has a responsibility to come up with distributed ledger architectures that are capable of realising all of the amazing visions and dreams of a peer-to-peer economy without further destroying our planet.”