Castana
AI-ready forest stewardship

Smarter Forest Managementfor Brazil Nut Concessions

Combining drone imagery and AI to detect and count Castana cocos, supporting harvest planning and sustainable livelihoods in the Amazon.

Outputs ready for QGIS & ArcGIS Trail-aware harvest planning
How it works

Turning drone imagery into actionable harvest data

Brazil nut harvester gathering pods

Why Brazil Nut Trees Matter

A keystone species linking forest conservation, livelihoods, and climate resilience

Brazil nut harvesters in the Amazon rainforest
Image by Mauricio de Paiva/Mongabay (Brazil, 2023). Inspired by Brazil nut harvesting proves a win-win for forest and community livelihood by Carolina Pinheiro.

Brazil nut trees, known locally as Castana, are among the most important allies for conservation in the Amazon rainforest. These ancient canopy giants support biodiversity, depend on intact forest ecosystems, and anchor one of the few large-scale forest economies that does not require cutting trees or clearing land.

Unlike plantation crops, Castana trees cannot be farmed. They only produce fruit when surrounded by healthy rainforest, native pollinators, and natural seed dispersers. If the forest is degraded, production declines — making Brazil nut harvests a natural incentive to keep the forest standing.

By improving how Brazil nut production is measured and planned, this pipeline strengthens sustainable livelihoods while reinforcing long-term forest protection across Amazonian concessions.

Read the full conservation story

500+ Years

Lifespan of mature Castana trees, anchoring long-term forest stability

Non-Timber Harvest

Income generation without deforestation or land conversion

Community-Led

Local livelihoods tied directly to healthy, intact rainforest

Deliverables

What you download

Every run packages spatial layers, tabular summaries, and annotated imagery so concession leads, cooperatives, and funders review the same traceable evidence.

GPKG

GeoPackages

Layered harvest zones, canopy detections, and concession boundaries ready for GIS tools.

CSV

Coverage tables

Tree counts, imagery coverage, and QA flags give funders the metrics they require.

JPG

Annotated imagery

Crown detections overlayed on orthomosaics help crews verify locations in the field.

HTML

Offline map

Interactive harvest map cached for offline laptops and tablets with tiles, trails, and detections.

PDF

Printable Maps

Static print-ready maps in both PDF and PNG formats for reporting and field use.

GeoTIFF

Orthomosaic (Optional)

If a structured drone survey is provided, the pipeline generates an orthomosaic of the concession and includes it in the offline map and outputs.

Built with forest stewards, validated by conservation science.

Castana Pipeline is deployed with concession owners who already manage seasonal harvests. Every release is co-reviewed with field crews and conservation partners to keep the workflow practical, auditable, and ready for long-term protection.