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!
- @Nenikkholil
- | She
- 0 Resources
- 0 Discussions
- 1 Groups
- @Nix
- | she/her
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.
- 0 Resources
- 4 Discussions
- 4 Groups
- 1 Resources
- 1 Discussions
- 1 Groups
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.
- 0 Resources
- 23 Discussions
- 22 Groups
- @matt_hron
- | He/Him
Wildlife Protection Solutions (WPS)
Product Manager at Wildlife Protection Solutions
- 0 Resources
- 8 Discussions
- 8 Groups
- @maddy
- | Dr
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
- 0 Resources
- 0 Discussions
- 5 Groups
- @tomwhite101
- | He/Him
Agroecology Geek
- 0 Resources
- 0 Discussions
- 12 Groups
- @benitezl
- | she/her
- 0 Resources
- 0 Discussions
- 3 Groups
World Wide Fund for Nature/ World Wildlife Fund (WWF)
- 1 Resources
- 2 Discussions
- 5 Groups
- @heiabb02
- | she/her
Early Career Wild Felid conservationist with BS in Biology & Zoology
- 0 Resources
- 0 Discussions
- 6 Groups
- @Kathinja
- | He
A Geography Graduate with a keen interest in Geographic Information systems(GIS), a climate enthusiast, sustainable development, conservation effort and green technologies
- 0 Resources
- 1 Discussions
- 7 Groups
Asst. Prof @ MIT with research at the intersection of computer vision, biodiversity monitoring, conservation, and sustainability.
- 4 Resources
- 15 Discussions
- 5 Groups
Article
Congratulations to Zoohackathon winners, team ODINN!
Zoological Society London (ZSL)
Following the UK Government’s landmark announcement of plans to introduce a complete ban on the domestic trade in ivory, it was fitting that a new machine learning product designed to tackle the supply end of this...
6 December 2017
Article
FIT Cheetahs
Larissa Slaney
A new research project is looking to investigate whether technology combined with the ancient skills and knowledge of Namibian trackers can help save cheetahs from extinction. Called FIT Cheetahs, the research project...
4 December 2017
Article
With Arctic sea ice disappearing, can advanced sensor technologies provide insights into an ecosystem on the brink?
30 November 2017
Article
HWC Tech Challenge Update: Meet the Judges
WILDLABS Team
Our panel of international experts has been hard at work reviewing the 47 proposals we recieved for innovative technological tools to address human wildlife conflict. The panelists have systematically been assessing the...
20 October 2017
Article
DAS: A Scaleable Solution For Protected Area Management
WILDLABS Team
The Domain Awareness System (DAS) is a revolution in monitoring technology, creating real-time awareness of protected areas assets. This technology has the potential to completely change standard monitoring procedures...
26 September 2017
Article
Frustrated by the limitations of the tools that were available for managing large camera trap data sets, Heidi Hendry and Chris Mann set out to develop something that met their needs, and thus, Camelot was born. In...
7 July 2017
Funding
The European Space Agency is calling for Kick-Start ideas to leverage space technology for wildlife protection. Three main topics of interest have been identified: 1) Wildlife monitoring, tracking and inventory, 2)...
5 July 2017
Article
Trialing Audiomoth to detect the hidden threats under the canopies of Belize
Andrew Hill and 1 more
Its been a busy couple of months for the Open Acoustic Devices team. They've just returned back from Belize where they have been trialling the new AudioMoth design for gunshot detection. Find out what they've been up to...
27 June 2017
Article
Machine learning, meet the ocean
Kate Wing
There is a revolution coming in conservation. Advances in conservation technology are generating more data than ever before on what lives where, who eats who, and what’s disappearing and how fast, but it still requires...
10 May 2017
Article
15 Risks and Opportunities for Global Conservation
WILDLABS Team
Researchers have identified 15 emerging risks and opportunities for species and ecosystems around the world in a recent horizon scanning exercise.
31 March 2017
Funding
Conservation Leadership Programme 2017 Award
WILDLABS Admin
The Conservation Leadership Programme (CLP) is a training and capacity building programme that targets individuals from developing countries who are early in their conservation career and demonstrate leadership...
21 November 2016
Article
FishFace is a new application under development by The Nature Conservancy in partnership with Refind Technologies. Similar to facial recognition software used to identify people, FishFace uses artificial intelligence to...
10 November 2016
June 2025
event
Nalini
July 2025
October 2025
event
Lacey Hughey and 3 more
August 2023
event
Esther Githinji
June 2023
event
Hirari Sasaki
73 Products
Recently updated products
16 Products
Recently updated products
| Description | Activity | Replies | Groups | Updated |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 📸 Do you use camera traps in your work? Take part in our survey!Hi everyone! I’m currently a final-year engineering... |
|
Camera Traps, AI for Conservation, Data management and processing tools, Open Source Solutions, Software Development | 3 weeks 4 days ago | |
| WILDLABS colleagues—My team at TNC is looking for support as we try to understand opportunities of AI applications for freshwater (eco)... |
|
AI for Conservation | 4 weeks 1 day ago | |
| Hi Adam! Sounds like you have your work cut out for you. I have not used radar systems or AI systems for this sort of detection, but there are methods using change detection... |
|
AI for Conservation, Drones, Wildlife Crime | 1 month ago | |
| Hey Amber, that makes a lot of sense! And this effort by Insect Detect is amazing, thanks for sharing! |
|
AI for Conservation, Autonomous Camera Traps for Insects | 1 month ago | |
| 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 ago | |
| One of our goals with explorer.land is to bridge satellite data and on-the-ground perspectives — helping teams combine field updates,... |
|
AI for Conservation, Geospatial, Open Source Solutions, Sensors | 1 month ago | |
| 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 1 week ago | |
| Hi, just wanted to let whoever is interested that v.1.3 of DeepFaune is out! Deepfaune is a software that runs on any standard... |
|
Camera Traps, AI for Conservation, Open Source Solutions | 1 month 1 week ago | |
| New stable release : v1.5.1We are pleased to announce the latest release with several important enhancement, fixes and documentation improvements to ensure compatibility with the... |
+15
|
Acoustics, AI for Conservation, Open Source Solutions, Software Development | 1 month 1 week ago | |
| Hi all, I'm Vainqueur BULAMBO. I'm looking for a fully funded PhD opportunity in ecological data science or conservation... |
|
Acoustics, AI for Conservation, Autonomous Camera Traps for Insects | 1 month 2 weeks ago | |
| A nice work from @dmorris! See his LK post. "Lots of information in the conservation literature is represented in maps (e.g., the... |
|
AI for Conservation, Geospatial | 1 month 2 weeks ago | |
| Hi all, I'm the founder of a company in Texas that provides thermal drone surveying for private game ranches. Right now, we're doing everything completely manually in terms of... |
+20
|
AI for Conservation | 1 month 2 weeks ago |
