In Pics | Solar-powered robot to help Amazon rainforest

The vice president of Junglekeepers, Juan Julio Duran Torres, said, "The miners, the loggers... they have advanced technology. They can destroy so much." According to a Reuters report, he is a former illegal miner and logger-turned-conservationist. 

ABB Robotics collaborated with the Junglekeepers to come to a solution with their YuMi robot, a dual-arm robot designed for automation in the industry which was initially released in 2015.

Using this robot will enable planting seeds for their nursery while letting rangers do other tasks for the project, said Junglekeepers International CEO Mohsin Kazmi.

The robot is solar powered and connected by solar satellite wifi to get updates from the ABB base in Sweden about 12,000 kilometres away. It can remove soil and plant 16 seeds at a time, 600 in a morning which is equal to two soccer fields.

With World Rainforest Day approaching on June 22, Junglekeepers say that making use of robots will help them battle against the destruction of the rainforest.

The conservationists are now exploring plans for establishing larger-scale planting facilities in Amazonian communities and checking their viability. Protecting the rainforest is essential to protect the natives and fight climate change as it plays a major role in absorbing carbon dioxide.

Amazon is the biggest rainforest in the world, with Peru having its second-biggest section, after Brazil. Reuters reports that about three soccer fields worth of the forest were being cleared every minute in 2022, as per data provided by the Brazilian government.