Launching of WoodID - wood identification tool

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The launching ceremony of WoodID took place on September 12 in Ho Chi Minh City, within the framework of the forum on "Ensuring timber legality for sustainable forestry development in Vietnam. "

WoodID is one of the key achievements of the "Support to the implementation of the VPA/FLEGT Agreement in Vietnam" project, funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and implemented by the Department of Forestry and Forest Protection (Ministry of Agriculture and Environment) in collaboration with the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ).

WoodID was developed under the "Support to the implementation of the VPA/FLEGT Agreement in Vietnam" project in coordination with the Department of Forestry and Forest Protection and the General Department of Vietnam Customs (now the Department of Vietnam Customs), with support from the Research Institute of Forest Industry and AITC Consulting, Technology Development and Artificial Intelligence Co., Ltd.

Ms. Le Thi Loc, project officer at GIZ Vietnam, said that Vietnam currently imports more than 800 wood species from over 120 countries. This diversity makes management increasingly complex, particularly in the declaration of wood names, which often faces errors due to duplicate or unclear trade names. Such inconsistencies pose challenges for customs and forest rangers in verifying timber legality, highlighting the urgent need for a tool that can support fast and accurate identification.

Thus, WoodID was developed. This app is Vietnam’s first artificial intelligence (AI)-powered tool that allows users to quickly and accurately identify 260 wood species using only a smartphone. Its database was built from nearly 3,000 wood samples representing species from Africa, Asia, and South America, including newly imported and rare species that are often subject to illegal exploitation.

The app was trained with nearly 100,000 wood cross-section images (magnified at 50 times) and uses advanced deep learning models. As a result, WoodID can deliver identification results with an accuracy rate of up to 98.6% in less than one second.

Beyond identification, the app provides information on each species, including scientific and trade names, distribution regions, timber groups, tree morphology, and other key features. This helps customs officers, forest rangers, and businesses verify origin and make decisions.

WoodID helps reduce manual identification procedures, improve accuracy, and considerably save expert resources, making inspection and enforcement more efficient and cost-effective.

Since the release of its first version in June 2024, WoodID has recorded more than 8,500 downloads on iOS and Android. Additionally, 371 officials, researchers, and potential users have participated in trials and provided feedback to perfect the tool.

The launching of WoodID marks an important milestone in timber management and trade in Vietnam, especially in the context of deep international integration. This tool enhances transparency and standardizes wood species identification based on data and AI, replacing the previous reliance solely on individual expertise.

At the state management level, WoodID contributes to realizing the digital transformation strategy and strengthens the capacity to enforce the VPA/FLEGT Agreement. For customs officers and forest rangers, it serves as a compact and practical technological solution that supports faster and more accurate decision-making.

For businesses, WoodID increases proactivity, reduces costs, and cements credibility when participating in international markets. For researchers, it represents a breakthrough that extends identification capabilities to the grassroots level while supporting the training of young human resources for the forestry industry.

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Ms. Nguyen Thi Quynh Chi, Representative of Vietnam Customs, noted that in the past, identifying imported wood species was time-consuming because samples had to be sent away for verification. Today, with the support of WoodID, this process has become much faster and more accurate, enabling customs officers to shorten processing time and improve management efficiency.

According to Ms. Nguyen Thi Quynh Chi, WoodID is an effective tool for customs forces when handling timber-related procedures. Many local customs branches, where import and export formalities are directly processed, have already accessed and tested this app, receiving positive feedback from both officers and businesses.

"The application of AI to wood species identification not only speeds up customs clearance but also saves costs and time for both businesses and customs authorities," Ms. Quynh Chi said, expressing her hope that WoodID will continue to expand its database with more wood species in the coming time, further enhancing supply chain management and promoting legal timber trade.

Mr. Nguyen Huu Thien, Deputy Director General of the Department of Forestry and Forest Protection, emphasized that WoodID has become a useful tool supporting both forest rangers and customs officers in the rapid identification of wood species. This has made the process of inspecting and monitoring legal timber smoother, more accurate, and more efficient.

The Deputy Director General expressed his expectation that more projects will be developed in the future, with additional wood species databases being expanded. This will lay an important foundation for building a green, sustainable forestry industry, thereby elevating the position of Vietnamese timber in international markets.