AI for Conservation

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Artificial intelligence is increasingly being used in the field to analyse information collected by wildlife conservationists, from camera trap and satellite images to audio recordings. AI can learn how to identify which photos out of thousands contain rare species; or pinpoint an animal call out of hours of field recordings - hugely reducing the manual labour required to collect vital conservation data.

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With new technologies revolutionizing data collection, wildlife researchers are becoming increasingly able to collect data at much higher volumes than ever before. Now we are facing the challenges of putting this information to use, bringing the science of big data into the conservation arena. With the help of machine learning tools, this area holds immense potential for conservation practices. The applications range from online trafficking alerts to species-specific early warning systems to efficient movement and biodiversity monitoring and beyond.

However, the process of building effective machine learning tools depends upon large amounts of standardized training data, and conservationists currently lack an established system for standardization. How to best develop such a system and incentivize data sharing are questions at the forefront of this work. There are currently multiple AI-based conservation initiatives, including Wildlife Insights and WildBook, that are pioneering applications on this front.

This group is the perfect place to ask all your AI-related questions, no matter your skill level or previous familiarity! You'll find resources, meet other members with similar questions and experts who can answer them, and engage in exciting collaborative opportunities together.

Just getting started with AI in conservation? Check out our introduction tutorial, How Do I Train My First Machine Learning Model? with Daniel Situnayake, and our Virtual Meetup on Big Data. If you're coming from the more technical side of AI/ML, Sara Beery runs an AI for Conservation slack channel that might be of interest. Message her for an invite.

Header Image: Dr Claire Burke / @CBurkeSci

Explore the Basics: AI

Understanding the possibilities for incorporating new technology into your work can feel overwhelming. With so many tools available, so many resources to keep up with, and so many innovative projects happening around the world and in our community, it's easy to lose sight of how and why these new technologies matter, and how they can be practically applied to your projects.

Machine learning has huge potential in conservation tech, and its applications are growing every day! But the tradeoff of that potential is a big learning curve - or so it seems to those starting out with this powerful tool!

To help you explore the potential of AI (and prepare for some of our upcoming AI-themed events!), we've compiled simple, key resources, conversations, and videos to highlight the possibilities:

Three Resources for Beginners:

Everything I know about Machine Learning and Camera Traps, Dan Morris | Resource library, camera traps, machine learning
Using Computer Vision to Protect Endangered Species, Kasim Rafiq | Machine learning, data analysis, big cats
Resource: WildID | WildID

Three Forum Threads for Beginners:

I made an open-source tool to help you sort camera trap images | Petar Gyurov, Camera Traps
Batch / Automated Cloud Processing | Chris Nicolas, Acoustic Monitoring
Looking for help with camera trapping for Jaguars: Software for species ID and database building | Carmina Gutierrez, AI for Conservation

Three Tutorials for Beginners:

How do I get started using machine learning for my camera traps? | Sara Beery, Tech Tutors
How do I train my first machine learning model? | Daniel Situnayake, Tech Tutors
Big Data in Conservation | Dave Thau, Dan Morris, Sarah Davidson, Virtual Meetups

Want to know more about AI, or have your specific machine learning questions answered by experts in the WILDLABS community? Make sure you join the conversation in our AI for Conservation group!

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@magerk
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wildlife ecologist, Associate Professor of Environmental Science, Policy, & Sustainability and Biology

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@stienheremans
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Remote sensing researcher for environmental monitoring and nature conservation/restoration

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@issiecorvi
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Ocean Vision AI Program Manager (MBARI)

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@Nenikkholil
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@Nix
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Hello! I'm Amélie, founder of Nix Air Solutions, a company offering wildlife monitoring solutions including biologging IoT trackers and software tools for real time tracking, data cleaning and processing through AI.

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@victor_wildlife

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@TravisBayer

Movement Ecologist studying the where, why, and how animals move throughout our world. Current work is investigating the movement and energetics of large neotropical bats in a changing environment with ephemeral resources.

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@matt_hron
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Wildlife Protection Solutions (WPS)

Product Manager at Wildlife Protection Solutions

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@maddy
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Iam a Doctorate in molecular bology by profession & associated with a tech startup, focued on IoT/sensor based automation solutions. But I spend half of my time to document and conserve local & wildlife arond us and trying to explore our technology in conservation.Love to join

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@tomwhite101
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Agroecology Geek

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@benitezl
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@Abby_Hehmeyer

World Wide Fund for Nature/ World Wildlife Fund (WWF)

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Description	Activity	Groups	Updated
Documentary on Conservation	Hi Nick!At Birds Canada, our NatureCounts open data platform connects bird and biodiversity data with people who need it for conservation and research. In particular, our mobile...	AI for Conservation, Emerging Tech	1 minute 5 seconds ago
Help needed : Overview of Image Analysis and Visualization from Camera Traps	This survey on camera trap use is a valuable effort to improve data quality and consistency in wildlife monitoring. Looking forward to the results and how they will help shape...	Camera Traps, AI for Conservation, Open Source Solutions	45 minutes 39 seconds ago
How drones, AI & Open Source Software are being used to combat Alien Invasive Plants in South Africa	Alien Invasive Plants (AIP) have become a major threat to South Africa's sensitive Fynbos biome. In 2017 and 2018, fires in the Western...	AI for Conservation, Citizen Science, Conservation Tech Training and Education, Drones, Geospatial, Human-Wildlife Conflict, Open Source Solutions	16 hours 32 minutes ago
AI/ML opportunities	Ritika, All the best! I hope someone provides a more substantive answer! I have also graduated with masters in AI and ML recently. Difference being I am at the end of my...	AI for Conservation, Software Development	1 month 1 week ago
Non-Invasive Turtle Nest Monitoring Using RTI Technology title here		AI for Conservation, Emerging Tech, Sensors	4 days 2 hours ago
🐸 WILDLABS Awards 2025: Open-Source Solutions for Amphibian Monitoring: Adapting Autonomous Recording Devices (ARDs) and AI-Based Detection in Patagonia	We’re excited to launch our WILDLABS-funded project to adapt open-source recording hardware and AI tools to help monitor amphibians, with...	Acoustics, AI for Conservation, Latin America Community, Open Source Solutions	5 days 19 hours ago
WILDLABS AWARDS 2025 - Open-Access AI for Marine Mammal Acoustic Detection	We’re excited to announce that Deep Voice has received a 2025 Wildlabs Award to develop a public, web-based platform for marine mammal...	Acoustics, AI for Conservation, Marine Conservation	5 days 20 hours ago
Dual-/Multi-Use Technology Strategies	True, the US ecosystem is a challenging space right now, for basically all sectors. We should not let the US chaos prevent us from engaging with opportunities in other...	AI for Conservation, Camera Traps, Connectivity, Drones, Emerging Tech, Ethics of Conservation Tech, Marine Conservation, Sensors	1 month 2 weeks ago
Enhancing automated analysis of marine soundscapes using eco-acoustic indices and machine learning	Fascinating article, combining machine learning and acoustical signals to correlate coral reef health.https://www.sciencedirect.com/science...	Acoustics, AI for Conservation, Marine Conservation	3 years ago
🦛 MIT Moo Deng AI Challenge Human-Nature Interaction 🦛	MIT has this Moo Deng-based fun challenge! More seriously it relates to AI and human-nature interaction. I imagine people on Wildlabs would...	AI for Conservation	1 week 3 days ago
PhD Advice	Hi Ethan, It's indeed a competitive area. My advice for you (and anybody else seeking a PhD supervisor)...Do background research on each individual potential supervisor and always...	Early Career, AI for Conservation, Animal Movement, Climate Change	2 weeks ago
Software QA Topics	Hi everyone,What should we share or demo about Software Quality Assurance? Alex Saunders and I, the two Software QA people at Wildlife Protection Solutions (WPS) are going to...	Software Development, AI for Conservation, Open Source Solutions	2 weeks ago

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