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What is ‘conservation technology’?
Technology permeates every facet of our daily lives, and its effects are felt by virtually everyone on the planet. Technological innovation has the potential to transform how we tackle today’s – and tomorrow’s – biggest conservation challenges. As the pace of changes driven by technology continues to accelerate, it’s vital that we channel these developments into positive outcomes for nature. Fauna & Flora and our partners use a wide range of tech tools – from familiar favourites to the latest innovations – to maximise our conservation impact.
Camera traps
Remote camera traps have made a huge contribution to the discovery of new, rare, secretive and elusive species. They also provide a non-intrusive means of monitoring species’ behaviour, distribution and diversity within a landscape, and help protect threatened wildlife and habitats from poaching and other illegal activities. BRUVs (short for baited remote underwater videos) are a marine form of camera-trapping that provide a low-budget way to monitor species diversity, abundance and behaviour beneath the waves.
GIS & remote sensing
Geographic information systems (GIS) are computer-based tools used to store, visualise, analyse and interpret geographic data. GIS mapping technology plays a crucial role in making informed decisions about wildlife protection and habitat management. Remote sensing – capturing high-resolution images of an area from a distance – enables conservationists to accurately observe wildlife populations, to monitor illegal mining, to quickly identify causes of deforestation, and to detect and analyse other changes to the landscape.
Black-bellied pangolin captured by tree-top camera trap, Ziama Man and Biosphere Reserve. © Fauna & Flora / CFZ
In Guinea, Fauna & Flora experimented with placing camera traps in the treetops – rather than on the forest floor – in order to detect the presence of two pangolin species that are known to be capable climbers. The arboreal camera traps succeeded in capturing rare footage of the elusive and vulnerable black-bellied pangolin.
Brown bear, Romania. © Daniel Mîrlea / Fauna & Flora
Spatial modelling research conducted in Romania revealed that Fauna & Flora’s landscape management and restoration activities across a mosaic of agricultural and natural habitats have not only maintained vital corridors for brown bears and other large carnivores, but also increased biodiversity.
Environmental DNA & genomics
Pioneering conservationists use environmental DNA (eDNA) to collect a wealth of biodata quickly and easily from soil and water samples. Traces of animal DNA can reveal the presence of previously unobserved species. A few small samples may contain the DNA of dozens of species, providing a swift but detailed snapshot of an ecosystem. The data can then be used to make the case for greater protection of an area.
Young male pygmy hippopotamus (Hexaprotodon liberiensis). © stockfotocz / Adobe Stock
Fauna & Flora has joined forces with eDNA specialists NatureMetrics to conduct eDNA surveys at selected project sites across Africa, Asia-Pacific and Eurasia. The research across these sites has revealed the presence of endangered species including pygmy hippo, African grey parrot and some of Europe’s rarest sturgeons. It is helping us to garner vital information at an unparalleled rate and on an unprecedented scale.
Drones
Unmanned aerial vehicles, commonly called drones, are used to pick up signals from tracking gear on the ground, collect images of wildlife and habitats from the air, or gather acoustic data with specialised hydrophones, for example. They can collect high-resolution data quickly, non-invasively and relatively cheaply. Thermal drones, which detect heat sources and convert the data into digital imagery, are particularly useful for wildlife surveys because they make the invisible visible.
A video still from a drone-mounted thermal camera, used to identify cao vit gibbons in tree canopy of their remote and almost inaccessible habitat. © Fauna & Flora
A video still from a drone-mounted thermal camera, used to pinpoint cao vit gibbons in and beneath the forest canopy.
Drone in use to survey cao vit gibbons in Trung Khanh Mountains, Vietnam. © Oliver Wearn / Fauna & Flora
The use of drone technology in the cao vit gibbon’s remote and almost inaccessible habitat was key to the success of the latest population surveys.
Tagging & collaring
Biologging is the catch-all term for attaching electronic tags to individual animals to record and relay data about their movements, behaviour and surroundings. Real-time tracking helps with management, security and research. It can also help shed light on trafficking routes and the global movements of wildlife, timber and other illegal traded products. Tracking collars, which are often fitted to endangered megafauna such as lions and elephants, help to protect them from a variety of threats including human-wildlife conflict.
African forest elephant collaring for research and tracking purposes. © Ruben Bañuelos Bons / Fauna & Flora
Fauna & Flora and partners are using electronic tagging and satellite collaring to monitor the movements of threatened species as diverse as forest elephants in West Africa (pictured here), sea turtles in Vietnam and Caribbean iguanas. In Cabo Verde, low-cost tagging of grazing goats on Brava is helping to shed light on the extent of the threat they pose to the island’s endangered endemic plants.
Acoustic monitoring
Sound recordings are a long-established means of identifying and studying wildlife, but recent technological advances have meant that acoustic monitoring devices are now smaller, cheaper, and more portable and durable. Sounds captured in remote locations over long periods enable conservationists to compile a more comprehensive picture of species and their habitat, including population numbers and distribution.
Protected area management tools
Tools such as SMART (Spatial Monitoring and Reporting Tool) enable those on the conservation front line to monitor wildlife and ecosystems in real-time. Users can collect, integrate and display data from across landscapes to ensure that key information from the field reaches decision-makers in time to make a difference.
The Sumatran Tiger Protection Patrol Team. © Edy Susanto / Fauna & Flora
In Sumatra’s Kerinci Seblat National Park, SMART technology has played a vital role in anti-poaching, biological monitoring and community engagement activities for the past decade, contributing to the protection of the critically endangered Sumatran tiger and its habitat.
AI & machine learning
Computer vision systems use artificial intelligence (AI) technology to mimic the capabilities of the human brain that are responsible for object recognition and object classification. Harnessing computer power rather than using human labour to analyse thousands of images and other datasets allows us to speed up species identification, monitor wildlife in real time and predict when and where endangered species are most at risk.
Thermal camera image of two Rhinos. Machine learning can tell species apart from their unique thermal shapes. © Dr Claire Burke, @CBurkeSci
Thermal cameras are able to find and monitor endangered animals automatically, while machine learning enables species identification based on their unique thermal shapes.
Mobile apps
The conservation tech community uses a huge range of software and apps tailored to the specific requirements of species and habitat work. Apps, software and mobile games play an increasingly crucial role, whether for reporting wildlife crime, collecting and analysing data, using storytelling to encourage wider public engagement, or promoting citizen science.
Ex-hunters in Cameroon have been converted to citizen scientists and are helping to protect the endangered goliath frog – the world’s largest – using the iNaturalist mobile app to report sightings to Cedrick Fogwan (pictured) and his team.
What barriers do we need to overcome?
Conservationists hoping to harness the power of technology are faced with a number of challenges and constraints. These include: upfront and maintenance costs; shortage of tech skills among users; limited capacity and access to training; competition for funding; duplication of effort; scalability and sustainability of tech solutions.
How can we make the most of conservation technology?
Protecting and restoring nature is the most pressing challenge facing humanity. Technological innovation has the potential to be a game changer for conservation, helping us to safeguard species, landscapes and seascapes more efficiently and effectively, and to scale up and speed up our impact.
To realise that potential, we need collaboration, not competition. Open, accessible solutions that are fit for purpose, not one-size-fits-all. Global data sharing and local capacity building. More user-friendly technologies. And translation of tech insights into conservation action on the ground.
And we need governments, philanthropists and the private sector – including the tech giants – to support and fund the technological revolution in conservation.
WILDLABS
WILDLABS.NET connects conservationists, technologists, engineers, data scientists, entrepreneurs and thought leaders to help them find, share and create effective technology-based solutions to protect threatened wildlife and habitats.
This exciting initiative was launched by United for Wildlife (a collaboration between leading international conservation organisations, including Fauna & Flora) with support from Google.org and ARM to close the information-sharing gap in the fight against illegal wildlife trade and other pressing issues facing our planet.
Visit WILDLABS
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