How Computer Science Can Aid Forest Restoration
It aims to bridge a gap for environmental scientists and practitioners by introducing computational approaches to an underexplored area, though it is incremental as it builds on existing restoration research.
The paper addresses the lack of computer science involvement in forest restoration by proposing a vision for applying computational techniques to enhance efforts in carbon sequestration and biodiversity recovery.
The world faces two interlinked crises: climate change and loss of biodiversity. Forest restoration on degraded lands and surplus croplands can play a significant role both in sequestering carbon and re-establishing bio-diversity. There is a considerable body of research and practice that addresses forest restoration. However, there has been little work by computer scientists to bring powerful computational techniques to bear on this important area of work, perhaps due to a lack of awareness. In an attempt to bridge this gap, we present our vision of how techniques from computer science, broadly speaking, can aid current practice in forest restoration.