Company
Date Published
Author
Kyle Kelly-Yahner
Word count
770
Language
English
Hacker News points
None

Summary

WRI is using NASA satellite imagery, GIS satellites, Twilio SMS, and ESRI to spot and stop illegal forest fires in Singapore and Indonesia. The goal is to drive change by adding transparency to the supply chain of palm oil, a $40 billion dollar market used in various products. By replacing fax notifications with SMS updates, WRI has reduced response time from 30 hours to four hours, enabling them to hold corporations responsible for sourcing palm oil in a more efficient manner. The solution is part of a larger mission to build tools for lawmakers to enforce proper sourcing, and ultimately aims to save lives by reducing the impact of toxic haze produced by forest fires.