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AI for Conservation / Feed

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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Soundscapes and deep learning enable tracking biodiversity recovery in tropical forests

Stephanie O'Donnell

20 October 2023 3:38pm

New paper in Nature Communications from Jörg Müller et al. using BAR-LT recorders and CNNs to track biodiversity recovery. Study shows that #soundscapes 🎙🎶 and deep learning are powerful tools for tracking biodiversity recovery in tropical forests

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Read "Soundscapes and deep learning enable tracking biodiversity recovery in tropical forests | Nature Communications" on Nature

Soundscapes and deep learning enable tracking biodiversity recovery in tropical forests | Nature Communications

Tropical forest recovery is fundamental to addressing the intertwined climate and biodiversity loss crises. While regenerating trees sequester carbon relatively quickly, the pace of biodiversity recovery remains contentious. Here, we use bioacoustics and metabarcoding to measure forest recovery post-agriculture in a global biodiversity hotspot in Ecuador. We show that the community composition, and not species richness, of vocalizing vertebrates identified by experts reflects the restoration gradient. Two automated measures – an acoustic index model and a bird community composition derived from an independently developed Convolutional Neural Network - correlated well with restoration (adj-R² = 0.62 and 0.69, respectively). Importantly, both measures reflected composition of non-vocalizing nocturnal insects identified via metabarcoding. We show that such automated monitoring tools, based on new technologies, can effectively monitor the success of forest recovery, using robust and reproducible data. Cost-effective biodiversity monitoring through time is important for evidence-based conservation. Here, the authors show that automated bioacoustics monitoring can be used to track tropical forest recovery from agricultural abandonment, suggesting its use to assess restoration outcomes.

Nature
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AI Challenge aiming to automate the identification process of sea turtles

Henry Rees

6 October 2023 11:38am

The current method of tagging turtles for monitoring is intrusive, time-consuming, and expensive. Find out how automated recognition software using photo and video data can enhance monitoring efficiency and assist organizations dedicated to protecting these important species...

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careers

Conservation Innovation Manager

David Will

27 September 2023 11:08pm

Island Conservation's Innovation Team is dedicated to developing innovative, data-driven tools to increase the scale, scope, and pace of island restorations around the world. As the Conservation Innovation Manager, you...

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Digital Disruption for Conservation Toolkit

Gal Zanir

22 September 2023 12:18pm

Made available by the Digital Disruption and the Future of Conservation project team at Unearthodox, the toolkit provides conservation practitioners with a comprehensive introduction to Web 3.0 and AI concepts and their potential use for nature conservation.

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discussion

Q&A: UK NERC £3.6m AI (image) for Biodiversity Funding Call - ask your questions here

Stephanie O'Donnell

13 September 2023 4:10pm

In our last Variety Hour, Simon Gardner, Head of Digital Environment at NERC, popped in to share more about their open £3.6m funding call supporting innovation in tools for...

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Andrew Quitmeyer

21 September 2023 4:27pm

This is super cool! Me and @Hubertszcz and @briannajohns and several others are all working towards some big biodiversity monitoring projects for a large conservation project here in panama. The conservation project is happening already, but hubert starts on the ground work in January and im working on a V3 of our open source automated insect monitoring box to have ready for him by then.

 

I guess my main question would be if this funding call is appropriate/interested for this type of project? and what types of assistance are possible through this type of funding (researchers? design time? materials? laboratory field construction)

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article

In case you missed it... (no. 1)

Stephanie O'Donnell

12 September 2023 11:49am

Five #tech4wildlife people, projects and updates that caught our attention this month. An AI supported bear early warning system, a project that's connecting indigenous communities with high speed internet, exploring...

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Lars Holst Hansen

13 September 2023 6:23am

Hi Steph! Nice with this "sporadic series"! The bear alarm in China reminds me of the Bear Repeller by the Hack the Planet guys:/Lars
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discussion

Where to start in ct ?

Lucas Harper

1 September 2023 2:50pm

Currently studying a 'diploma of conservation and ecosystem management' at TAFE NSW Australia and am enjoying it thoroughly. I love the prospect of working in the conservation...

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Akiba

2 September 2023 12:53am

Hi Lucas. 

I can understand that there are a lot of technologies being thrown around and it can be confusing about what is really needed. I recommend to first select an area of conservation you want to focus in, ie: ecological restoration, soil conservation, wildlife management, etc. Based on that decision, look at what technologies are available that can potential help in that field. We do a lot of work in ecological restoration and find that long term, longitudinal monitoring of conservation reserves are important. Because of that, we use a lot of datalogging and wireless communications to monitor remote locations. If you're interested in invasive species management, you might be drawn towards wildlife tracking (movement ecology), trap monitoring, drones, etc. 

The technology is a tool, and you should look at it like field gear. The gear will change depending on what you're setting out to do and the tool is supposed to make your life easier, not harder :)

Hope that helps.

Akiba

Lucas Harper

2 September 2023 6:14am

Very helpful, thank you. One more thing, are there any broad skills that apply to all areas of conservation tech that may be helpful to learn/improve, e.g data analysis?

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event

DSAIL Tech4Wildlife Workshop

Esther Githinji

1 September 2023 11:32am

Join the DSAIL Tech4Wildlife Workshop that will be held in Dedan Kimathi University of Technology (DeKUT) in collaboration with the WILDLABS Community and Fauna & Flora. This two-day workshop will explore how AI...

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Antoine Ede

26 September 2023 6:54am

Is a recording available?
Esther Githinji

26 September 2023 9:19am

Hello @antoineede Thanks for enquiring. The tutorials from the workshop are now available here. 
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AI tools help to detect wildfires in California

Ellie Warren

29 August 2023 7:02pm

A combination of cameras and real-time AI analysis tools are strengthening California's fire detection efforts to enable rapid response and prevent the spread of massive wildfires.

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