Best Way to Stop Illegal Logging? How about a Barcode on Every Tree?

When you buy a can of soda at a supermarket, the cashier swooshes the can over a machine called a scanner that identifies the item and how much it costs by reading the barcode on the can.

Now scientists want to apply the same concept to trees in a forest. By giving every tree a barcode, then identifying each one with a hand-held scanner, the scientists hope to make a list of every tree in that forest. That way, if the forest is then illegally cut down, it will be easier to track the trees . . . and the bad guys.

Even where illegal logging isn’t a problem, the scientists say that barcoding trees can insure that the forest is properly maintained.

Ever thought of a job as a tree barcoder?

To learn more at the Triple Pundit site.