INWIT’s telecommunications towers with artificial intelligence for forest fire prevention
Partnership with legambiente extended
SUIGO (INWIT): “Our digital and shared infrastructures, already used for environmental monitoring, with fire monitoring are increasingly at the service of territories and sentinels to protect biodiversity, a precious heritage to be protected”
ZAMPETTI (Legambiente): “Fires, for the most part caused by arson, are a scourge on our country. What is needed are preventive actions and targeted policies, but the use of new technological frontiers to detect fires early and act accordingly is also crucial”
The project centres around Abruzzo: the first territories involved are the Abruzzo municipalities of Pescasseroli (AQ), within the Abruzzo, Lazio and Molise National Park, and Pettorano sul Gizio (AQ), in the Monte Genzana Alto Gizio Regional Nature Reserve.
By August, fire monitoring will also be carried out in the Lecceta di Torino di Sangro Regional Nature Reserve (CH), the Bosco Don Venanzio Nature Reserve in Pollutri (CH) and the Municipality of Civitella Roveto (AQ) to monitor the Longagna area.
Rome, 26 July 2024 – The partnership between INWIT, Italy’s leading tower operator, and Legambiente, who have already joined forces to monitor air quality, extends to the monitoring and prevention of forest fires, one of the main threats to Italian forests. The field of action for this alliance is Abruzzo. The first territories involved in this new phase are the Abruzzo municipalities of Pescasseroli (AQ), within the Abruzzo, Lazio and Molise National Park, and Pettorano sul Gizio (AQ), in the Monte Genzana Alto Gizio Regional Nature Reserve, where the technology has been installed. This will be followed, within the month of August, by the implementation of fire monitoring in the Lecceta di Torino di Sangro Regional Nature Reserve (CH), the Bosco Don Venanzio Nature Reserve in Pollutri (CH) and the Municipality of Civitella Roveto (AQ) to monitor the Longagna area.
INWIT’s 5 towers in these territories will be equipped with a total of 5 gateways and 9 smart cameras, which are integrated with artificial intelligence software capable of detecting fires at an early stage. Their location at the top of the towers also ensures a preferential position allowing the area under observation to be maximised. The maximum distance the cameras can cover varies according to the orographic characteristics of the site and the relative size of the fire plume. The observation radius is on average 2 km around the location point, but in certain cases it can extend to 5 km, covering a maximum area of around 80 square kilometres. The equipment is also capable of operating in adverse environmental conditions and, thanks to AI, distinguishing chimney smoke from that of fires.
“The environmental and fire monitoring projects we are carrying out are a concrete example of the integration of sustainability into our business. The implementation of these activities confirms the value for the territory and the role of our digital and shared infrastructures which, in addition to enabling operators’ 4G and 5G, can also host different technologies, offering more integrated and innovative services which are also capable of making an active contribution to the protection of the environment and biodiversity,” stated Michelangelo Suigo, Head of External Relations, Communication and Sustainability at INWIT. The solid partnership with Legambiente, after monitoring the environment and air pollution in the Parks, has been strengthened and relaunched with the monitoring and prevention of fires thanks to our towers, sentinels supporting the great work of the institutions in charge, and artificial intelligence.”
“Technology,” declared Giorgio Zampetti, General Manager of Legambiente, “is a valuable ally in the monitoring and protection of the environment and biodiversity. Over the years, there has been a rise in the activities in which new technological frontiers combined with the development of digital and artificial intelligence provide increasingly strategic support. The environmental and fire monitoring projects, which we have initiated with INWIT after those on air quality, follow this very direction and focus on a delicate issue with heavy repercussions for the territories. Fires, for the most part caused by arson, are in fact a scourge on our country as we have reported for years in our annual Ecomafia report. This phenomenon, carried out by unscrupulous people, must be stopped with preventive actions and targeted policies on which the government, regions and municipalities must intervene synergically, but also by informing and raising awareness among citizens and by making use of the best technologies to detect the fires promptly and act accordingly, as INWIT and Legambiente are proposing and doing on an experimental basis.”
In July 2023, INWIT and Legambiente had already initiated a project that would evolve the role of digital and shared infrastructure by installing IoT sensors, smart cameras and gateways on INWIT towers for environmental monitoring and fire prevention purposes. In particular, air pollution monitoring was set up in four natural areas in the central Apennines: the Abruzzo, Lazio and Molise National Park, the Maiella National Park, the Zompo lo Schioppo Nature Reserve and, lastly, the Monte Genzana Alto Gizio Nature Reserve. The initiative, which is still underway, makes it possible to create a long-term database on air quality in the monitored locations, in order to facilitate the identification of any risks or negative impacts and to stimulate the adoption of corrective measures by both public and private sector actors operating in the areas covered by the project.