João Victor Oliveira

Brazilian youth leader fighting deforestation through AI-driven rainforest protection

João Victor Oliveira, 23, is the founder of Amazon Guardians, an AI startup using machine learning to combat illegal deforestation in the Amazon. His team developed the Rainforest Sentinel system, which analyzes satellite imagery to detect logging activity with 98% accuracy. By 2024, their technology had helped Brazilian authorities intercept 1.2 million cubic meters of illegally logged timber. Oliveira's open-source EcoNet platform (GitHub: github.com/econet) has trained 500+ Indigenous communities in tech-based conservation. His 2023 book 'Code for the Canopy' proposes AI governance frameworks for biodiversity protection. Named one of Time's 2022 Next Generation Leaders, he recently partnered with NASA to integrate satellite data streams into his system, creating real-time deforestation alerts accessible via SMS to remote communities.