INWIT and Legambiente together to prevent forest fires
INWIT telecommunications towers team up with artificial intelligence to prevent forest fires. The partnership with Legambiente is extended.
The partnership between INWIT and Legambiente extends to the prevention of forest fires, one of the main threats to Italian forests. This agreement, already launched for environmental monitoring with the project presented last year in Pescara, now aims to further protect the territory thanks to the installation of advanced technologies on the INWIT towers already present in the territory.
The first action areas
The first territories involved in this new phase are the Abruzzo municipalities of Pescasseroli (AQ), within the Abruzzo, Lazio and Molise National Park and of Pettorano sul Gizio (AQ), in the Monte Genzana Alto Gizio Regional Nature Reserve, in which the necessary technology has been installed. In August, fire monitoring implementations will also be installed in the Lecceta Regional Nature Reserve of Torino di Sangro (CH), in the Bosco Don Venanzio Nature Reserve in Pollutri (CH) and in the Municipality of Civitella Roveto (AQ) to monitor the Longagna area.
In these areas, at the highest points of the INWIT towers, smart cameras and gateways have been installed, within which artificial intelligence software capable of promptly detecting fires is integrated.
These elevated positions guarantee optimal coverage, with an observation radius that can vary on average up to 2 km, and in some cases up to 5 km, depending on the orographic characteristics of the site and the relative size of the fire plume, for a maximum covered area of approximately 80 square km. The equipment works effectively even in difficult environmental conditions, distinguishing smoke from chimneys from that from fires.
The innovative technology used makes it possible to automatically detect the beginning of a fire and promptly send an alarm signal, thus guaranteeing rapid intervention. Inside each INWIT tower there is a gateway connected to the cameras, which uses an artificial intelligence algorithm to process the images detected in real time and immediately report any critical issues.
The first environmental monitoring project will be launched in 2023
In July 2023, INWIT and Legambiente had already started a project that evolved the role of digital and shared infrastructures thanks to the installation of IoT and gateway sensors for monitoring air quality on INWIT towers. This project included the monitoring of air pollution in four natural areas of the central Apennines: the Abruzzo, Lazio and Molise National Park, the Maiella National Park, the Zompo lo Schioppo Nature Reserve and the Monte Genzana Alto Gizio Nature Reserve. The initiative aims to create a long-term database on air quality, to identify any risks or negative impacts and stimulate the adoption of corrective measures by public and private bodies.
The words of Michelangelo Suigo and Giorgio Zampetti
Michelangelo Suigo, Director of External Relations, Communication and Sustainability of INWIT, declared:
“The environmental and fire monitoring projects we are carrying out represent 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 the operators’ 4G and 5G, can also host different technologies, offering more integrated and innovative services, capable of contributing also actively protecting the environment and biodiversity. The solid partnership with Legambiente, after monitoring the environment and air pollution in the Parks, is strengthened and relaunched with the monitoring and prevention of fires thanks to our towers, sentinels supporting the great work of the relevant institutions, and to ‘artificial intelligence”.
Giorgio Zampetti, General Director of Legambiente declared:
“Technology represents a valid ally in monitoring and protecting the environment and biodiversity. Over the years, activities have grown 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 started with INWIT, after those on air quality, go precisely in this direction and have at their center a delicate topic with heavy repercussions on the territories. Fires, most often of malicious origin, represent a plague on our country as we have been reporting for years with our annual Ecomafia report. A phenomenon, carried out by unscrupulous people, which must be stopped with prevention actions and targeted policies on which the Government, Regions and Municipalities must intervene in a synergistic manner, but also by informing and raising awareness among citizens, and making use of the best technologies to detect fires promptly and act accordingly as INWITT and Legambiente propose and are doing on an experimental basis”.
This innovative collaboration between INWIT and Legambiente not only strengthens the prevention of forest fires, but also represents a model of how technological infrastructures can be used for environmental protection. The project has the potential to be replicated on a national scale, offering a tangible example of how sustainability and innovation can integrate to create value and safeguard our natural heritage. INWIT continues to demonstrate its commitment to responsible and sustainable management of its resources, actively contributing to the protection of Italian biodiversity.