Case Study: Romanian Ministry of the Environment halts illegal deforestation with Zitec’s AI solution

Romanian Ministry of the Environment analyzes 1.6M images in 3 days with Zitec

The Romanian Ministry of the Environment faced the critical challenge of combating illegal deforestation, a problem exacerbated by outdated manual processes and low-quality image data that hampered efficient monitoring and enforcement. Partnering with Zitec, the Ministry sought an innovative solution to automate the verification of wood transport permits and analyze millions of images to detect fraud in near real-time.

Zitec implemented an AI-powered compliance system using Google Vertex AI and Gemini Pro models to process and analyze images in seconds, drastically reducing verification time from 3 minutes to 10 seconds. The solution analyzed over 1.6 million images in just three days, leading to the issuance of over €770,000 in fines and the confiscation of 1,038 cubic meters of illegal timber. This project by Zitec revolutionized the Ministry's enforcement capabilities, setting a new standard for using technology in environmental protection.

Romanian Ministry of the Environment