A chainsaw buzzes, branches snap, and an Amazon tree crashes to the ground. It could be just another of the thousands of trees felled each year in Brazil's portion of the world's largest forest except for one detail: a microchip attached to its base holding data about its location, size and who cut it down.
It is only a small pilot project, but its leaders say the microchip system has the potential to be a big step forward in the battle to protect the Amazon.
The chips allow land owners using sustainable forestry practices to distinguish their wood from that acquired through illegal logging that each year destroys swathes of the forest. Each microchip tells a tree's story from the point it was felled to the sawmill that processed and sold the wood, key information for buyers who want to know where it came from.
Such technology can help isolate fraud originating where the trees are cut, said Gary Dodge, director of science and certification at the nonprofit Forest Stewardship Council, which has led a global push for lumber certification.
"If there is fraud taking place between the forest owner and the mill, then a microchip would be great help in combating illegal logging," said Dodge.
