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!
No showcases have been added to this group yet.
Sea Mammal Research Unit Univ' St Andrews
I work in marine bioacoustics with a focus on the conservation of marine mammals. Most of the time I'm developing and using passive acoustic technology to study the underwater behaviour of dolphins and porpoises. I'm also a keen developer on the PAMGuard project.
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BirdLife International
I deliver policy and advocacy components of cross-regional projects and initiatives concerning international site-based conservation, including through international mechanisms such as the Ramsar Convention, Convention on Migratory Species (CMS) and World Heritage Convention.
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- @billoxbury
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Mathematician and data/AI scientist, interested in environmental applications; wildlife photographer and volunteer.
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- @TheDataEnthusiastic
- | He/Him
Hi, I'm pursuing Master's in Data Science. And I want work help protect nature and wildlife.
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World Wide Fund for Nature/ World Wildlife Fund (WWF)
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- @Alejandro
- | He
This climate crisis does not have to be a story of loss but rather a story of redemption, rebirth, and change. My paintings capture the spiritual nature, the grounding energy of our shared existence with the natural world. AML-ART.COM
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- @jodirowley
- | she/her
Conservation biologist obsessed with frogs
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Sound art and design
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- @apcxs
- | He, his, them
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I am a Geoscientist interested in using geospatial data science to contribute to solutions of today’s environmental challenges. I mostly worked with land surafce temperature data from satellites and drones to study how high mountain landscapes respond to climate change.
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- @Helga_Kuechly
- | she/her
World Wide Fund for Nature/ World Wildlife Fund (WWF)
I am a Geo-ecologist, who loves to use GIS, remote sensing, citizen science and knowledge transfer to shape for a better future for nature - We are part of nature, so let's act like it!
- 2 Resources
- 1 Discussions
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Article
In a first, UMass Amherst, Cornell use AI to mine big migration data on massive scale
9 October 2019
Article
Rutgers University, Microsoft AI for Earth, Google Earth Outreach and San Diego Zoo Global are proud to announce the world’s first camera trap technology symposium, to take place November 7th and 8th at Google...
2 September 2019
Article
ICCB 2019: 5 Key Discussions about the Future of Conservation Tech
Stephanie O'Donnell
Sharing failure, tech support for conservation, roaming mentors, conservation tech hype cycles and developing new road maps - participants in our tech workshops at ICCB 2019 shared an abundance of ideas for how to shape...
21 August 2019
Article
Automated Identification of Indonesian Rhinos
Cooper Oelrichs
In this case study, Cooper Oelrichs of Save Indonesian Endangered Species Fund (SIES) breaks down his proposal for the development and training of an automated rhino identification system from limited camera trap data.
27 July 2019
Article
The WILDLABS TECH HUB is supporting technology solutions tackling the illegal wildlife trade, in collaboration with the Foreign & Commonwealth Office, Digital Catapult, Satellite Applications Catapult, Amazon Web...
4 June 2019
Funding
AI for Earth Innovation Grant (extended)
Microsoft
To further their missions, LDF and Microsoft are collaborating on the AI for Earth innovation grant to support applicants in creating and deploying open source machine learning models, algorithms, and data sets that...
4 June 2019
Article
Traditionally, illegal wildlife trade thrived in physical markets. But today it has also moved online. In China, more than half of the trade in elephant ivory items happens on e-commerce platforms. Enrico Di Minin and...
31 May 2019
This webinar recording will provide a brief overview of current SMART functionality, highlight case studies of large scale and innovative SMART deployments, and detail how SMART is embracing and leveraging new...
21 May 2019
Article
Meet the WILDLABS TECH HUB Winners
WILDLABS Team
In February, we released an open call for the WILDLABS TECH HUB, offering 3 months of support for solutions using technolgy to tackle the illegal wildlife trade. We were overwhelmed by an incredible 37 submissions,...
13 May 2019
Article
Huge appetite for data trusts, according to new ODI research
Open Data Institute (ODI)
To realise the potential benefits of data for our societies and economies we need trustworthy data stewardship. We need to establish different approaches to deciding who should have access to data, for what purposes and...
15 April 2019
Article
#Tech4Wildlife Photo Challenge: Our Favourites from 2019
WILDLABS Team
Happy World Wildlife Day! To celebrate, this week we've asked our community to share photos showing how they are using tech in the field or the lab, using the #Tech4Wildlife hashtag.
3 March 2019
Article
Using Swiss AI and Drones to Count African Wildlife
WILDLABS Team
After a promising first run in Namibia, a Swiss project could aid savanna conservation using drones and automatic image analysis.
18 February 2019
August 2025
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17 Products
Recently updated products
| Description | Activity | Replies | Groups | Updated |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Environment conservation in Great Rift Valley. |
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AI for Conservation | 2 days 2 hours ago | |
| Hi Chris! Send me a direct message and we can have a chat! |
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AI for Conservation, Autonomous Camera Traps for Insects, Camera Traps | 2 days 14 hours ago | |
| Hey people of the world. 10 days ago I posted here about our new GUI tool where one could drag-n-drop an image and get animals detected on... |
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AI for Conservation | 3 days 9 hours ago | |
| Hi @CourtneyShuert We support NOAA with AI for individual ID for belugas (but from aerial and from lateral surface too). If some of our techniques can be cross-applied... |
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AI for Conservation, Data management and processing tools | 1 week 1 day ago | |
| Hello Eugene, I just tried your service:Was wondering how possible will it be to have the option to upload a second image and have a comparison running to let the user know if... |
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AI for Conservation, Camera Traps, Data management and processing tools, Software Development | 1 week 2 days ago | |
| Kudos for such an innovative approach—integrating additional sensors with acoustic recorders is a brilliant step forward! I'm especially interested in how you tackle energy... |
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Acoustics, AI for Conservation, Latin America Community, Open Source Solutions | 1 week 2 days ago | |
| Thank you for your reply! It surely helps, we have use exif for a while to read metadata from images, when there is information available. Could be nice to maybe see if we... |
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AI for Conservation, Camera Traps | 1 week 5 days ago | |
| You could just throw out that data, but I think you'd be doing yourself a disservice and missing out on some interesting insights. Are you training the AI with just pre-COVID... |
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AI for Conservation, Animal Movement, Data management and processing tools, Human-Wildlife Coexistence | 2 weeks 1 day ago | |
| Would love to collaborate on this we are curently building agents for conservation Kind regardsOlivier |
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AI for Conservation, Community Base | 2 weeks 2 days ago | |
| This is such a compelling direction, especially the idea of linking unsupervised vocalisation clustering to generative models for controlled playback. I haven’t seen much done... |
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Acoustics, AI for Conservation, Emerging Tech | 2 weeks 4 days ago | |
| Hello.I am in need of assistance.I need a website for a project I am working on.Thanks 😊 |
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Software Development, AI for Conservation | 2 weeks 6 days ago | |
| Wow this is amazing! This is how we integrate Biology and Information Technology. |
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Camera Traps, AI for Conservation, Build Your Own Data Logger Community, Data management and processing tools, Marine Conservation, Protected Area Management Tools, Geospatial | 2 weeks 6 days ago |
