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.
- @ImaniWilson
- | She / Her
Zoology with a placement year graduate from Bangor University. Interested in large African mammal movement and behaviour in response to climate change, particularly African elephants
- 0 Resources
- 0 Discussions
- 13 Groups
- @Fatuma
- | She/Her
I aim to transition my career towards conservation technology after gaining two years of experience in the tech industry.
- 0 Resources
- 0 Discussions
- 13 Groups
- @Heloise
- | She / Her
Bio-acoustician, marine biologist, marine mammal specialist, drone enthusiast
- 0 Resources
- 0 Discussions
- 9 Groups
- 0 Resources
- 0 Discussions
- 1 Groups
- @Ferrugem
- | They/Them
Latin American environmental scientist.
- 0 Resources
- 0 Discussions
- 2 Groups
- @TempleB
- | she
- 0 Resources
- 0 Discussions
- 1 Groups
- @katja
- | she/her
AI/ML consultant for climate/environment solutions industry
- 0 Resources
- 0 Discussions
- 5 Groups
- @karinnacvijanovich
- | she/her
- 0 Resources
- 1 Discussions
- 7 Groups
- @amklovrza
- | she / her
Hello! My name is Anabelle Marques Klovrza and I am a Ph.D. student at Dawson's lab. I am studying community assembly of island-like environments, and in trying to connect it with the vulnerability and fragility of the ecosystem.
- 0 Resources
- 0 Discussions
- 8 Groups
- @Giu.Appel
- | Her
Brazilian biologist, PhD in Ecology and 10 yrs of experience in the Amazon with bat bioacoustics
- 0 Resources
- 1 Discussions
- 5 Groups
- @Dominik
- | He/Him
PhD Student on bio- and ecoacoustics at the University of Freiburg (GER)
- 0 Resources
- 3 Discussions
- 2 Groups
I am nature lover and now lost the tolerance to just be an admirer watching its destruction. Hence joining this crew to contribute my supportive work much lesser than a penny worth
- 0 Resources
- 0 Discussions
- 3 Groups
Article
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
With Arctic sea ice disappearing, can advanced sensor technologies provide insights into an ecosystem on the brink?
30 November 2017
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
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
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
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
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
Researchers have identified 15 emerging risks and opportunities for species and ecosystems around the world in a recent horizon scanning exercise.
31 March 2017
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
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
More than half of all primate species are endangered, including our closest living relative, the chimpanzee. Could Passive Acoustic Monitoring (PAM) be applied to primates as well as it has been for other taxa? In this...
29 June 2016
August 2025
event
September 2025
event
event
event
event
October 2025
event
event
event
December 2025
event
March 2026
February 2023
event
event
January 2023
17 Products
Recently updated products
Description | Activity | Replies | Groups | Updated |
---|---|---|---|---|
We're seeking training data for AI for wolf ID - we at T4C manage 3 Wildbook platforms: Wild North, Whiskerbook and the... |
|
AI for Conservation | 1 year 3 months ago | |
Hi Phani,An entry point might be to participate in a challenge related to conservation on:KaggleDrivenDataFruitPunchMax Planck Institute of Animal BehaviorYou could also reach out... |
|
AI for Conservation | 1 year 3 months ago | |
[oops, the same reply got submitted twice and there doesn't seem to be a "delete" button] |
|
AI for Conservation, Camera Traps | 1 year 3 months ago | |
Hi @zhongqimiao ,Might you have faced such an issue while using mega detectorThe conflict is caused by:pytorchwildlife 1.0.2.13 depends on torch==1.10.1pytorchwildlife 1.0.2.12... |
+6
|
AI for Conservation, Camera Traps, Open Source Solutions | 1 year 3 months ago | |
Hi, this is pretty interesting to me. I plan to fly a drone over wild areas and look for invasive species incursions. So feral hogs are especially bad, but in the Everglades there... |
|
AI for Conservation, Camera Traps, Open Source Solutions, Software Development | 1 year 3 months ago | |
Gotcha, well I look forward to seeing future iterations and following along with your progress!! |
|
Autonomous Camera Traps for Insects, AI for Conservation, Emerging Tech, Open Source Solutions, Latin America Community | 1 year 3 months ago | |
Hi everyone!@LashaO and @holmbergius from the Wild Me team at ConservationX Labs gave a superb talk at last month's Variety Hour,... |
|
AI for Conservation, Camera Traps | 1 year 4 months ago | |
We could always use more contributors in open source projects. In most open source companies Red Hat, Anaconda, Red Hat and Mozilla, people often ended up getting hired largely... |
|
Acoustics, AI for Conservation, Conservation Tech Training and Education, Early Career, Marine Conservation | 1 year 4 months ago | |
Hi @timbirdweather I've now got them up and running and winding how I can provide feedback on species ID to improve the accuracy over time. It would be really powerful to have a... |
|
Acoustics, AI for Conservation, Citizen Science, Emerging Tech | 1 year 5 months ago | |
Really interesting project. Interesting chip set you found. With up to around 2mb sram that’s quite a high memory for a ultra low power soc I think.It might also be... |
+8
|
Acoustics, AI for Conservation | 1 year 5 months ago | |
Thank you so much for your encouraging words! I'm thrilled to hear that you enjoyed our conversation, and I truly appreciate your support in spreading the word about my survey... |
|
Acoustics, AI for Conservation | 1 year 5 months ago | |
Perfect thanks! I am still a novice using Python but my wife can help me! |
+6
|
AI for Conservation, Camera Traps, Human-Wildlife Coexistence | 1 year 5 months ago |