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topic: Conservation Technology
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Real-time deforestation alerts get an AI boost to identify the causes
- A new alert system developed by online deforestation-tracking platform Global Forest Watch tells users what’s causing the deforestation.
- The new alert system deploys AI models to classify deforestation alerts based on what’s causing them, from agriculture (large- and small-scale), to mining and wildfires.
- While the data currently focus on the Amazon Rainforest, Congo Basin and Indonesia — home to most of the world’s tropical rainforests — the team plans to expand to other forests as well as non-forest ecosystems.
New underwater acoustic camera identifies individual fish sounds, helping track threatened species
- More than 35,000 species of fish are believed to make sounds, but less than 3 percent of species have been recorded.
- A new audio and visual recording device allowed scientists to identify the most extensive collection of fish sounds ever documented under natural conditions.
- Labeling the unique sounds of fish will allow conservationists to better track the behaviors, locations, and populations of threatened fish species.
Reforestation and wild pig decline spark surge in miniature deer in Singapore
- Once thought extinct in Singapore, a little-known species of miniature deer has reemerged in unprecedented numbers on a small island reserve in the Johor Strait.
- Researchers documented the greater mouse-deer thriving on Pulau Ubin at the highest population density recorded anywhere in the species’ range.
- The team put the surge down to increased availability of prime habitat following a decade of forest restoration, as well as reduced competition for food after the collapse of the island’s wild pig population due to African swine fever.
- Experts say the dramatic “ecological cascade” underscores the need for long-term, ecosystem-wide monitoring throughout Southeast Asia, particularly at sites impacted by sudden shifts triggered by disease.
In Ecuador’s Yasuní, cameras reveal the wild neighbors visitors rarely see
- The Kichwa Sani Isla community and the U.S. organization fStop Foundation are using high-resolution camera traps to document biodiversity around a community-run eco-lodge in Ecuador.
- Scientists trained community members to install, maintain and operate the cameras, including devices placed 40 meters (130 feet) up in the treetops.
- Since February 2025, the cameras have recorded at least six jaguars, suggesting an intact food chain and a healthy ecosystem.
- The Kichwa community has made ecotourism an effective tool for conservation through its Sani Lodge, helping curb pressures on the forest.
In Thailand, a cheap bottle crate hack gives tree saplings a fighting chance
- A recent study in Thailand finds that raising native tree seedlings inside repurposed bottle crates improves performance compared to standard methods in community-run nurseries.
- Saplings grown in bottle crates had better root formation and superior growth when planted out in a deforested site, thanks to better air circulation for the roots.
- Crating the saplings also saved on labor costs, which more than offset the cost of purchasing the crates.
- Adoption of the new method could improve the quality of saplings grown in community nurseries, a benefit for reforestation projects where sapling survival is key to success.
Photos: Drones help First Nations track down cold-water havens for salmon amid warming
- Indigenous fisheries association and river guardians, representing several Mi’kmaq nations in eastern Canada, have launched a drone-based thermal-mapping campaign to locate and protect cold-water refuges vital for threatened Atlantic salmon.
- Warming temperatures are pushing the Atlantic salmon beyond their ideal thermal tolerance, compounding existing pressures on the species, such as overfishing.
- Warming waters and declining river flows during droughts are impacting both the fisheries and the cultural lifeblood of Mi’kmaq society.
- Indigenous river guardians hope the project will pre-emptively shield cool-water habitats before key spawning and migration corridors become unviable.
What Central Park’s Squirrel Census says about conservation tech: Interview with Okala’s Robin Whytock
- At the end of New York Climate Week this year, ecologist Robin Whytock spent a few hours in Central Park counting squirrels.
- His mission was to prove how scalable tech solutions could help make biodiversity monitoring easier and more efficient.
- Whytock, who runs AI-powered nature monitoring platform Okala, said that while data-gathering tools have become easily accessible, analyzing massive amounts of biodiversity data still remains a challenge.
Radioactive rhinos (cartoon)
South Africa’s rhinos now have an unlikely superpower: radioactivity! Scientists working on the Rhisotope Project inject the horns of live rhinos with a radioactive isotope. This is harmless to the rhinos, but makes smuggled horns easy to detect during customs inspections with the hope of deterring rhinoceros poaching.
Report identifies 10 emerging tech solutions to enhance planetary health
- A recent report underlines 10 emerging technologies offering potential to accelerate climate action, restore ecosystems, and drive sustainable innovation within safe planetary boundaries. These technologies include AI-supported Earth observation, automated food waste upcycling, green concrete and more.
- Innovative AI improvements in Earth observations (EO) can better identify and track human-caused environmental impacts and offer improved early warning alerts for planetary boundary overshoot. Such systems use AI-powered analytics to synthesize satellite, drone and ground-based data for near-real-time results.
- Artificial intelligence and automation can also work in tandem to manage citywide food waste programs, ensuring that food scraps are diverted from landfills or incineration, decreasing carbon emissions and reducing waste.
- Another tech solution is green concrete which could not only reduce emissions from traditional cement production, but when incorporated into infrastructure construction, can offer a permanent storage place for captured CO2.
Beyond deforestation: redesigning how we protect and value tropical forests (analysis)
- Following his earlier essay tracing possible futures for the world’s forests, Mongabay founder and CEO Rhett Ayers Butler turns from diagnosis to design—asking what concrete interventions could still avert collapse. This piece explores how governance, finance, and stewardship might evolve in a second act for tropical forests.
- The essay argues that lasting protection depends structural reform: securing Indigenous land rights, treating governance as infrastructure, and creating steady finance that outlasts election cycles and aid projects.
- Butler also examines overlooked levers—from restoring degraded lands and valuing forests’ local cooling effects to rethinking “bioeconomies” and building regional cooperation across borders. Each points toward a shift from reactive conservation to deliberate, sustained design.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.
What might lie ahead for tropical forests (analysis)
- Heading into COP30, where tropical forests are set to be a central theme, Mongabay founder and CEO Rhett Ayers Butler offers a thought experiment—tracing today’s trajectories a little further forward to imagine where they might lead. What follows are scenarios, some improbable, others already taking shape.
- The essay envisions a world where deforestation gives way to disorder: weakened governance, runaway fires, and ecological feedback loops eroding forests from within even without the swing of an axe. It explores how technology and biology—AI-driven agriculture, gene-edited trees, and microbial interventions—could either accelerate destruction or redefine restoration, depending on who controls them.
- Across these imagined futures, one pattern recurs: forests thinning, recovering, and thinning again, as human ambition, migration, and climate instability test whether nature will be given the time and space to heal.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.
AI system eavesdrops on elephants to prevent deadly encounters in India
- Engineer-turned-conservationist Seema Lokhandwala has developed an AI-powered device that listens for elephant vocalizations and plays sounds like tiger roars or buzzing bees to drive herds away from villages near India’s Kaziranga National Park.
- Early field trials show the device is about 80% accurate in detecting elephants and 100% effective in deterring them, gaining support from local communities and forest officials despite limited funding.
- Lokhandwala and other experts stress that while technology can help mitigate human-elephant conflict, true coexistence requires addressing the root causes of conflict — habitat loss, land use and unsustainable development — and restoring respect for elephants among local communities.
- India’s Assam state, where Kaziranga is located, is a hotspot for human-elephant conflict, with expanding farms, infrastructure and climate-driven food shortages pushing elephants into villages, causing hundreds of human and elephant deaths over the past two decades.
Primatology goes high tech — from bioacoustics to drones & AI
- From thermal cameras to deep learning AI, researchers are reinventing how they study primates in the wild.
- What began with Jane Goodall’s observational notes has evolved into artificial intelligence that identifies chimpanzees and decodes their social lives.
- A custom-built “dronequi” with a thermal and a high-definition camera is helping scientists spot Brazil’s elusive and endangered muriquis from above the trees.
- Hidden microphones across Borneo’s rainforests capture haunting gibbon duets, revealing clues about hybridization and habitat loss.
In Panama, poison dart frog move brings hope amid amphibians’ fight with fungus
- Twelve pairs of poison dart frogs were recently translocated in Panama in a bid to strengthen the species’ chances of survival and provide answers over a deadly fungal disease threatening amphibians worldwide.
- The effort hopes to boost the population of these frogs, which play a vital role in forest ecosystems and whose toxins could be important for human medicinal use.
- The amphibian chytrid fungus has affected hundreds of species of amphibians over the last decades, leading to the extinction in the wild of 90 species, estimates say.
- Apart from the fungal disease, amphibians are also at risk because of habitat loss driven by urban development and agriculture, experts warn.
Scientists rethink Serengeti migration numbers with satellite, AI tools
- An AI-powered satellite survey has found that the number of wildebeests migrating across Kenya and Tanzania annually might be less than half of the million-plus figure that’s widely touted.
- The authors of the study said their findings underscore the need to calibrate the findings from different surveying methods in order to accurately estimate wildebeest numbers.
- The wildebeest migration is one of the largest mammal migrations in the world, with the animals migrating 800 kilometers (500 miles) in search of better grass.
- Estimating accurate numbers of migrating wildebeests is essential to keep track of the population in the face of habitat loss and increased human presence.
DJs inspired by nature
Founder’s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries. The music began long before humans arrived. Rivers carried their basslines downstream, insects beat time in the dusk, and birds poured their arias into the dawn. For Dominik Eulberg, who grew up without radio or television, this was […]
To track a unicorn: Laos team goes all out to find the last saolas
- An intensive search is underway in Laos to find perhaps the most threatened large mammal on the planet: the saola ox.
- Sniffer dogs, local and international wildlife tracking experts, and a state-of-the-art DNA kit have all been deployed to try to home in on any unknown individuals of the species so elusive conservationists once dubbed it the “Asian unicorn.”
- Last documented in 2013, when a camera trap photographed an adult in central Vietnam, previous attempts to study the saola have been stymied by a lack of sightings.
- Conservationists are aware of the ever-ticking clock, however, and warn that extinction is “inevitable” without a dedicated and intensive push to study remaining individuals and safely bring them into captivity to start a conservation breeding program to revive the species.
Counting kings: How annual lion surveys reveal the health of Africa’s protected areas (commentary)
- Lions are more than charismatic megafauna shaping the balance of species in the savannah food web. As such, their presence or absence can tell us a lot about the health of an ecosystem.
- Annual lion surveys offer a disciplined way to pair concern with action, writes Jon Ayers, board chair of wild cat conservation group Panthera and major supporter of lion conservation.
- Such surveys do not guarantee recovery. They make it possible to know, sooner and more accurately, whether recovery is under way.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.
Turning camera traps into real-time sentinels: Interview with Conservation X Lab’s Dante Wasmuht
- Wildlife technology nonprofit Conservation X Labs has developed and deployed an AI-powered device to make real-time monitoring of camera-trap images easier and more seamless.
- The Sentinel device can be attached to camera traps and serves as a minicomputer with built-in AI models.
- The device has been deployed around the world, and has found applications in detecting invasive species in New Zealand and in the Florida Everglades.
- While camera traps are widely used in conservation, it’s often a challenge to retrieve the data from remote locations, often leading to a delay in conservation action and management.
Indigenous women in Peru use technology to protect Amazon forests
- Kichwa, Ticuna and Matsés women are leading forest patrols and training other women in the use of technology such as GPS, drones and satellite alerts.
- They are protecting the forest not only as an ecosystem, but also as a vital source of life, food, medicine and cultural heritage for their communities.
- Studies show that access to such technology has helped Indigenous communities significantly reduce forest loss.
- Through cunas, community childcare spaces, women are able to participate actively in forest monitoring workshops while passing ancestral knowledge to new generations, ensuring cultural continuity.
In Guatemala, young Kaqchikel Maya protect their sacred forest with open mapping
- The Indigenous community of San José Poaquil is using technology to monitor the health and integrity of their ancestral forest.
- As a result of an open mapping project started in 2022, locals have created online maps for their forest, which have allowed them to keep track of wildfires, deforestation and other illicit activities that threaten the area.
- The Kaqchikel Maya have long fought to own the title of their communal forest, which was finally granted by the Constitutional Court in 2016, yet tensions persist.
- The community has obtained payments for the ecosystem services they provide through forest monitoring and restoration; these will allow them to further invest in protecting their territory.
How AI helps conservationists better understand and protect giraffes
- Scientists have deployed artificial intelligence models to identify and re-identify endangered giraffes in Tanzania.
- The Wild Nature Institute partnered with Microsoft’s AI For Good Lab to launch Project GIRAFFE which uses open-source AI tools to identify and re-identify individual giraffes based on spot patterns on their bodies.
- The data has helped scientists come up with estimates on survival and reproduction rates, movements, and behavior of the animals.
Ani Dasgupta watched wetlands tame floods in Kigali. He believes nature is infrastructure we can fund.
- Ani Dasgupta’s path runs from Delhi’s slums to the World Bank and now WRI, where he argues climate, nature, and development must move together. His leadership emphasizes moral purpose, trust, and “orchestration” that links funders, governments, NGOs, and communities to turn knowledge into action.
- He points to pragmatic models: post-tsunami Aceh’s collaborative rebuild, a Kenyan macadamia venture restoring land while raising incomes with Terrafund’s early support, and Kigali’s wetland revival culminating in Nyandungu Park. These show nature-based solutions can cut risk and create jobs, yet financing remains the bottleneck despite WRI’s estimate that $1 in adaptation yields $10 in benefits over a decade.
- Technology is a means, not a cure-all: radar-powered RADD alerts, Global Forest Watch, and WRI’s Land & Carbon Lab aim to democratize environmental intelligence, with AI lowering entry barriers. Evidence like Indigenous monitoring in Peru halving deforestation underpins his measured optimism that systems can bend if collaboration is real and benefits are visible.
- Dasgupta was interviewed by Mongabay Founder and CEO Rhett Ayers Butler in September 2025.
New gecko species findings highlight threats to Cambodia’s limestone hills
- Researchers have described three new gecko species in northwestern Cambodia’s limestone hills and are eager to conduct further research, but recent border clashes with Thailand have disrupted their studies.
- The region’s limestone karst landscape is a biodiversity hotspot that could harbor many species yet unknown to science.
- These areas are also threatened by the growing demand for cement, made from limestone.
Tracking rhino horn trade: Interview with International Rhino Foundation’s Nina Fascione
- A new report has found that the population of Javan rhinos has decreased since 2021 as a result of poaching.
- The report by the IUCN also found that the population of black rhinos saw an increase in Africa.
- Nonprofit International Rhino Foundation, which synthesized the data in the report, has now helped fund a tool to monitor and visualize illegal rhino horn trade globally.
- The tool aims to aid conservationists, NGOs and governments in informing and enforcing stricter policies.
How rain can reveal what lives in rainforest treetops
Perched high above the forest floor, the tropical canopy is a reservoir of biodiversity that has long resisted scrutiny. Its inaccessibility has left many of its inhabitants — orchids, epiphytes, ants, monkeys, frogs — poorly studied and poorly protected. But a new study offers a workaround: let the rain do the climbing. Scientists led by […]
Learning to live with lions: Interview with Claw Conservancy’s Andrew Stein
- An automated, real-time alert system is helping local communities in Botswana protect their cattle from approaching lions.
- A team at the nonprofit Claws Conservancy is also working with communities to name individual lions in order to help them build a connection with the animals.
- The initiative was launched to mitigate human-lion conflict, which often led to loss of livestock and the retaliatory poisoning of the lions.
- The lack of vehicles and torches, however, continue to be hurdles when it comes to effectively responding to alerts, which tend to come at night, when the lions are most active.
Microbiomes may be corals’ secret weapon against climate change: Study
- Researchers compared how genetically similar populations of Pocillopora corals cope with heat stress in Panama’s Gulf of Panama and Gulf of Chiriquí, both on the Pacific coast.
- The team looked at the entire holobiont — the coral’s symbionts, microbiome and physiology — in addition to its genome and environment, finding that the holobiont may play an outsized role in boosting the corals’ ability to cope with heat extremes.
- The team found that corals exposed to upwelling in the Gulf of Panama were better able to withstand higher temperatures, thanks in part to their microbiomes.
- The work points to the importance of better understanding how symbiotic relationships and microbiomes interact with corals to increase their resilience.
Fences, tech and trust help save jaguars in Panama’s Darién
- In Panama’s Darién province, jaguar predation on cattle is one of the top reasons for people killing the locally endangered felines, and a top threat to their populations.
- To reduce jaguar killings, the nonprofit Yaguará Panamá Foundation is working on conservation measures directly with livestock farmers and Indigenous families.
- A recent study documents jaguars’ movements through once-forested landscapes for the first time, providing biologists with better information for how humans and jaguars can avoid conflict.
- Using GPS and observational data, the organization helps create land management plans, such as installing electric fences to help keep jaguars away, while improving overall environmental conditions.
Drone swarms and AI take aim at stopping wildfires in 10 minutes
Fifteen teams have advanced to the semifinal round of XPRIZE’s $5 million Autonomous Wildfire Response Track, moving one step closer to proving that autonomous systems can detect and extinguish wildfires within 10 minutes across 1,000 square kilometers of challenging terrain. Part of a four-year, $11 million global competition launched in 2023, the initiative seeks to […]
Arboreal camera traps reveal wildlife feasting on Borneo’s fruiting fig trees
Camera traps installed high in the rainforest canopy in Malaysian Borneo have filmed a bounty of threatened primates, hornbills and a host of tree-dwelling animals feasting on figs. Biologists from Malaysia-based nonprofit 1StopBorneo Wildlife, along with Sabah Parks and local conservationists, scaled two enormous fig trees in Tawau Hills National Park in Sabah state to […]
Guarding Mexico’s blue frontiers: A conversation with Alejandro González
- Alejandro González has spent nearly 20 years advancing marine conservation in Mexico, leading efforts in iconic marine protected areas like Cabo Pulmo and Revillagigedo, where he combined fieldwork, enforcement, and diplomacy to protect remote ocean ecosystems.
- Now Director for Global Conservation in Mexico, González focuses on scaling enforcement through technology like Marine Monitor radar systems and strengthening institutional capacity to safeguard no-take zones such as the Islas Marías Biosphere Reserve.
- Grounded in community realities, he emphasizes the need to align conservation with local livelihoods—especially amid growing threats like cartel involvement in fisheries—and is motivated by a vision of protecting the ocean for future generations.
- González spoke with Mongabay Founder and CEO Rhett Ayers Butler aboard a ship off the Revillagigedo Archipelago in June 2025.
World Nature Conservation Day: How a large, flightless parrot rebounded from the verge of extinction
Founder’s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries. In the mid-1990s, the kākāpō seemed destined for extinction. Only 51 individuals of the flightless, nocturnal parrot remained, all of them descended from a shrinking gene pool and spread across remote corners of New Zealand. A victim of […]
Where there’s political will, there’s a way to stop tropical deforestation, study finds
- A study focused on why deforestation rates have slowed in Indonesia and the Brazilian Amazon revealed that political will was a critical factor, often as a result of pressure from civil society and diplomacy to conserve forests.
- The authors surveyed the expert opinions of researchers, policymakers and advocates working on forest conservation in Brazil or Indonesia.
- In Brazil, experts said government action — like satellite monitoring and recognizing Indigenous lands — was key to stopping deforestation.
- Indonesia’s forest conservation success comes not just from political will, but also from corporate efforts and pressure from civil society groups.
Saving polar bears and beluga whales: Interview with Alysa McCall
- Beluga Cam is a long-running initiative that aims to document the migration of almost 57,000 beluga whales through Hudson Bay in Canada.
- The project is run by the nonprofit Polar Bears International in a bid to collect more data about beluga migration as well as to create more awareness about the species.
- The initiative got an upgrade this year with a new boat that houses the cameras and other equipment deployed for the work.
- As the Arctic rapidly loses sea ice, species such as beluga whales and polar bears bear the brunt in terms of losing access to food and their habitats.
AI’s contributions to wildlife conservation (cartoon)
While AI has faced a lot of rightful flak for its environmental impacts, it has also become a tool for wildlife conservation around the world. From monitoring deforestation, impacts of climate change and enhancing wildlife population counts to combating poaching and illegal wildlife trade, AI is revolutionising conservation worldwide.
Bicolored waterberry: The overlooked tree shaping Zambia’s rivers
- The bicolored waterberry (Syzygium guineense subsp. barotsense) is a dominant tree along the Kafue and other major Zambian rivers, where it plays a vital structural and ecological role.
- Though capable of self-pollination, the tree’s flowers attract bees, birds and moths, creating vibrant micro-ecosystems in its canopy.
- While not currently threatened, riparian clearing poses local risks, and the trees’ value to pollinators may offer a path to conservation.
River of giants: Canoe team tracks hippos in one of Africa’s last strongholds
- A team from The Wilderness Project has conducted a survey of hippos along Zambia’s Kafue River, one of the last strongholds of the species in Southern Africa.
- The expedition faced regular close encounters with hippos, which are highly territorial and can be dangerous to people, especially when traveling by boat.
- The team counted nearly 2,400 hippos, most of them along a 350-kilometer (217-mile) stretch of the Kafue within the Kafue National Park and adjoining protected areas, underscoring the park’s conservation importance.
- Despite their ecological significance as ecosystem engineers, hippos remain understudied and increasingly vulnerable to habitat loss and pollution, including upstream mining spills.
Wildlife & tourists on the up in Zambia’s Kafue Park: Q&A with manager Craig Reid
- Zambia’s Kafue National Park, co-managed by Zambia’s Department of National Parks and Wildlife and conservation NGO African Parks, is home to up to 22 different species of antelopes, the highest diversity in Africa, more than 500 species of birds and at least 2,400 hippos in the river from which the park takes its name.
- Park manager Craig Reid says the nine game management areas that provide a buffer zone around the park have been modified in one way or another — including by climate-affected farmers and livestock herders — and illegal hunting also poses a threat to the core zone’s ecological integrity, as does pollution from mining and large settlements upstream.
- But, he says, around 3 million hectares (7.4 million acres) of the GMA buffer remains completely unsettled, and the park and the stretch of the Kafue that runs through it are doing well – more than $4 million worth of fish is sustainably caught within its boundaries every year.
- African Parks plans to introduce as many as 60 black rhinos to Kafue NP in the coming years and has already reestablished a thriving population of Kafue lechwe, a wetlands antelope unique to this landscape.
‘Revolutionary technology’ uses scanners for easier species detection in the wild
Researchers in Brazil’s Amazonas state are testing easy-to-use scanners that can help them identify animal species they come across in the wild, Mongabay contributor Miguel Monteiro reported in June. The scanners use a technology called near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS), which currently has many applications, from measuring food quality to monitoring blood oxygen levels in the medical […]
‘Croc on a rock’: How a group of explorers suffers for science
- A team from The Wilderness Project is traversing Zambia’s Kafue River by canoe, collecting ecological data as part of a long-term survey.
- The expedition involves grueling portages over sharp, slippery rocks, close encounters with crocodiles and hippos and physically demanding conditions.
- Researchers gather DNA from fish and invasive crayfish, record nocturnal wildlife sounds and retrace a sampling transect first surveyed the year before.
- Despite the challenges, moments of beauty and wildlife encounters — from elephant herds to misty hornbill flights — punctuate the journey.
A success story at Zambia’s leopard hotspot: Interview with ecologist Chisomo M’hango
- At the Musekese Conservation research station, deep in Zambia’s Kafue National Park, trainee field ecologist Chisomo M’hango analyzes camera trap images of leopards, lions and wild dogs.
- M’hango and colleagues have identified 95 individual leopards, one of the highest densities of this vulnerable species anywhere in Southern Africa.
- The camera traps have caught relatively few lions, likely due to lack of prey in an area where widespread hunting of large antelopes has taken place for decades; M’hango says lion numbers are starting to rise, signaling renewed efforts to prevent poaching in the park and its buffer areas is bearing fruit.
- There are also encouraging signs that populations of wild dogs are recovering, with the single pair monitored soon after Musekese’s research began in 2020 multiplying into three healthy packs of this gregarious endangered carnivore.
Sharks didn’t rebound—so Mark Erdmann is putting them back
- For over 30 years, Mark Erdmann has combined scientific discovery with grassroots conservation in Indonesia, helping communities protect their reefs from destructive practices and documenting more than 220 new species.
- As a leader behind Raja Ampat’s pioneering community-governed marine protected areas, Erdmann has shown how local stewardship can revive ecosystems—bringing back sharks, rays, and sustainable tourism.
- Despite new threats like over-tourism and revived mining, Erdmann remains hopeful, pointing to rising public resistance, tech-enabled rewilding programs like ReShark, and a new generation of Indonesian conservationists.
- Erdmann spoke with Mongabay Founder and CEO Rhett Ayers Butler during a voyage in the Pacific in June 2025.
From cattle to crayfish, human pressures mount on Zambia’s Kafue River
- A group of scientists paddled the length of Zambia’s Kafue River to document ecological pressures, including invasive species, habitat changes and human encroachment.
- Australian red-clawed crayfish (Cherax quadricarinatus) have infested the river, outcompeting native species, disrupting fisheries and altering fishing practices. The crayfish invasion spans nearly the entire 1,600-kilometer (995-mile) river, traced to an original introduction in 2001.
- Overgrazing and invasive plants like the giant sensitive bush are transforming some riparian zones, threatening biodiversity, including endemic species like the Kafue lechwe (Kobus leche kafuensis).
- Researchers with The Wilderness Project’s Great Spine of Africa project are using standardized field methods to monitor river health and the spread of invasive species to inform future conservation efforts.
Mining spill highlights need to protect Zambia’s vital Kafue River & its fish
- Researchers from The Wilderness Project (TWP) are documenting fish diversity along Zambia’s Kafue River to build a DNA reference library.
- The TWP scientists are collecting fin clippings and environmental DNA to help identify species, including some potentially new to science, without needing to catch them in the future.
- The river, a vital source of food and income for local communities, suffered from major pollution in February when a mine waste dam failed upstream.
- Protected stretches of the river within Kafue National Park offer crucial refuge for fish and other aquatic life, enabling recolonization after environmental shocks like toxic spills.
A new data hub helps small-scale fishers adapt to climate change
Roughly 40% of the global fish catch comes from small-scale fisheries. It’s one of the food production systems most vulnerable to climate change, and governments are lacking data to help fishers adapt. To help address that gap, the global research partnership CGIAR recently launched its Asia Digital Hub at WorldFish’s headquarters in Penang, Malaysia. The Hub […]
In Cameroon, forest mapping app helps Baka protect biodiversity and way of life
- In southeastern Cameroon, the Indigenous Baka people are helping protecting their forests with the Sapelli app.
- They spearheaded the design of this tool as part of a 2021 project launched in six villages around Lobéké National Park.
- The app allows the Baka to map nontimber forest products (NTFPs), flag human-wildlife conflict, and combat poaching.
- According to a recent report co-authored by WWF and the park’s conservation service, no elephants, gorillas or chimpanzees were killed in this protected area between 2022 and 2024, thanks to the park management’s adoption of technology.
Endangered humphead wrasse gets a lifeline from facial recognition tech
- The endangered humphead wrasse, a reef fish that swims the seas from Africa to the South Pacific, is in high demand in mainland China and Hong Kong as a luxury culinary delicacy.
- Despite harvest limits, trading regulations and fishing bans, it’s overfished and illegally traded.
- Researchers in Hong Kong have developed a new AI-based photo identification smartphone app, Saving Face, to help enforcement officers identify individual fish using their unique facial patterns with just a photo.
- Researchers say they hope the app can address both illegal laundering of humphead wrasse and mislabeling of wild-caught fish as captive-bred; its developers say it can be tweaked to identify other species that have unique markings.
Checkout counter tech eases wildlife identification in the field
- Using spectroscopy, scientists can identify species during fieldwork, without the need for lengthy and costly analyses such as genetic testing or bioacoustics.
- Studies show a reliability rate of 80%, with practitioners looking to expand the reference database and provide information that’s crucial for monitoring biodiversity and combating the illegal wildlife trade, among other uses.
- Experts highlight the low cost and practicality of the equipment if improved methods are designed to create new solutions for conservation in areas with a wide variety of fauna, such as the Amazon.
New maps reveal Earth’s largest land mammal migration
Researchers have released new maps documenting the “Great Nile Migration,” the Earth’s largest-known land mammal migration across South Sudan and Ethiopia. The maps chart the seasonal movements of two antelope species, the white-eared kob (Kobus kob leucotis) and the tiang (Damaliscus lunatus tiang). Every year, around 5 million white-eared kob and 400,000 tiang migrate across […]
Conservation tech without Indigenous knowledge and local context has limits (commentary)
- Local and Indigenous communities can now track deforestation, monitor biodiversity and respond to threats on their territories quickly with tools like drones, GPS apps and satellite imagery.
- These are powerful tools, but must not be introduced as standalone solutions, disconnected from the local knowledge of those who have stewarded ecosystems for generations.
- “When introduced with care, technology can help communities act faster, plan better and advocate more effectively, but only when it reflects local realities, and only when it supports — not supplants — cultural wisdom,” a new op-ed argues.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.
New map highlights complex web of marine migrations
- Scientists have launched a new database on marine migratory patterns to address gaps in the knowledge of policymakers and conservationists.
- The Migratory Connectivity in the Ocean (MiCO) database pulled data from 1,300 existing studies in the scientific literature to describe the migratory patterns of 109 mammal, bird and fish species.
- The database highlights the interconnected nature of marine migrations, and underscores the need for cross-border collaboration in conservation efforts.
Young Rwandans support bird conservation through mobile app recordings
A young tour guide and his group of student mentees are helping monitor bird species in Rwanda with the help of a mobile app, Mongabay contributor Mariam Kone reported. Joseph Desiré Dufitumukiza, who enjoys bird-watching, felt moved to take action after he read about the decline of native bird species in Rwanda, including the Maccoa […]
‘Satellites for Biodiversity’ upgrades with new projects and launches insight hub
The Airbus Foundation and the Connected Conservation Foundation (CCF) recently announced the winners of their “Satellites for Biodiversity” grant, which now uses higher-resolution satellite imagery to aid conservation efforts. They also launched an Ecosystem Insight Hub, which comprehensively documents the processes and findings of their grantees. The latest batch of six “Satellites for Biodiversity” awardees […]
Radio tags help reveal the secret lives of tiger salamanders
- Scientists are using radio telemetry to map out the home range and habitats of tiger salamanders in the Hamptons in New York.
- Tiger salamanders spend most of their time in burrows underground; they emerge during breeding season and lay eggs in seasonal pools.
- Studying their movements and how far they move from the pools is challenging because of their underground lifestyle.
- With the help of radio transmitters, scientists have found that the salamanders move greater distances than previously thought; they were also found to burrow under fields.
Indonesian pangolin trafficking prosecution reveals police involvement — and impunity
- Late last year, Indonesian investigators arrested four men for allegedly attempting to traffic nearly 1.2 metric tons of scales from critically endangered pangolins.
- Prosecutors in Asahan district, North Sumatra province, allege that the mastermind of the scheme was a police officer who removed the pangolin scales from a police warehouse used to store evidence and seized goods.
- But while the three other men arrested in the case — two soldiers and a civilian — are facing court-martial and trial, respectively, for their roles in the case, the police officer has so far avoided any charges and has even been promoted.
- Wildlife trade observers say the case highlights the apparent impunity of law enforcement officials involved in wildlife trafficking in Indonesia, a major hub for the illegal pangolin trade.
Angling for answers, this saltwater fishing group boosts research for better conservation
- Though anglers aren’t generally thought of as environmentalists, many people who fish are conservation minded, whether because it’s an outdoor pursuit, or because they wish to ensure future harvests.
- Whatever their reasons, there aren’t many groups that help anglers advocate for sustainable fishing regulations based on solid science, nor ones that also work to generate new data that helps them argue for better conservation.
- “Until we came along, there was no voice for those saltwater anglers who cared about conservation, but didn’t have enough time to put into it to really understand it,” says American Saltwater Guides Association vice president Tony Friedrich.
- His team not only helps its members articulate the need for conservation and regulation, they actively participate in developing data that helps managers set better limits, through projects like their GotOne App.
New report reinforces critical role of Amazonian protected areas in climate fight
- A new report has found that protected areas and Indigenous territories in the Amazon store more aboveground carbon than the rest of the rainforest.
- Protected areas and Indigenous territories were also found to serve as significant carbon sinks between 2013 and 2022, absorbing 257 million metric tons of carbon dioxide.
- Protected areas in Colombia, Brazil, Suriname and French Guiana were found to be significant carbon sinks.
- The report underscores the need to protect these areas that aren’t currently threatened by deforestation as they play a critical role in offsetting emissions from other parts of the forest.
AI uncovers how birds remix their songs over time
- A new study has confirmed the belief that birdsongs evolve as a result of age, population dynamics and movement of the birds.
- Researchers gathered thousands of hours of audio of great tits (Parus major) and used artificial intelligence to analyze songs in the data.
- They found that birds that move around a lot tended to know the popular songs, while the ones that didn’t had pockets with unique songs.
- While older birds were found to act as repositories of old songs, mixed-age bird communities were found to have more song diversity.
Giant rats trained to sniff out illegal wildlife trade
From land mine detection to sniffing out illegally trafficked wildlife parts, a group of trained African giant pouched rats in Tanzania is proving a valuable partner for humans, Mongabay’s Lucia Torres reported in February. In the 1990s, Belgian industrial engineer Bart Weetjens was exploring ways to detect land mines when he thought of rats: they’re […]
New bat detection system in India promises more efficient data collection
Studying insect-eating bats isn’t easy: they’re tiny, fly at night, and navigate using ultrasonic frequencies far above human hearing range. But experts in India have come up with a potential solution to make long-duration bat research easier: they’ve devised an automated, solar-powered instrument called BatEchoMon that continuously listens for bat calls in the surrounding landscape, […]
Singapore biobank offers backup plan for pangolins
- Scientists in Singapore have decided to collect and freeze sperm from pangolins to use in future artificial insemination programs for the threatened mammals should the need arise.
- The eight known species of pangolins are collectively the world’s most trafficked mammal. The Sunda pangolin has seen its population decline by over 50% in the last 15 years.
- All pangolin species are listed as threatened, and scientists say they hope to create a reservoir of genetic material before arriving at a “too little, too late” scenario.
- While it has successfully extracted and stored sperm from 38 pangolins, the Singapore lab hasn’t collected egg cells from female pangolins because the procedure is much more invasive.
Scientists team up for Snapshot USA nationwide mammal survey
- Snapshot USA is an annual project that aims to collate camera-trap data on mammals from across the country.
- Since it was launched in 2019, the project has received data from universities, Native American reservations, non-profit organizations and others from across the U.S.
- Over the past six years, the project has gathered data that include more than 1 million image captures of mammals from about 16 million raw images.
- By establishing a standardized survey protocol to camera-trap mammals, the team at Snapshot USA says it hopes to create a data set that can be used to formulate effective conservation strategies.
Brazil is speeding-up forest fire prevention to avoid dangerous tipping points in the Amazon (commentary)
- In this commentary, Robert Muggah and Ilona Szabo of the Igarapé Institute examine Brazil’s escalating forest fire crisis, highlighting a record 237,000 fires in 2024 that devastated over 30 million hectares of vegetation—most of it in the Amazon—and triggered a national environmental emergency.
- Muggah and Szabo underscore the alarming interplay between human-driven deforestation, climate change, and increasingly severe El Niño and La Niña events, warning that parts of the Amazon may tip into savanna if trends continue.
- While Brazil is pursuing a range of responses—including new technologies, indigenous fire brigades, and international cooperation—Muggah and Szabo stress the need for systemic solutions backed by smart policy, inclusive governance, and innovative financing to truly curb the crisis.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.
Rare polar bear cub footage offers crucial conservation insights
- Scientists have captured rare footage of female polar bears and their newborn cubs emerging from maternal dens in the Arctic.
- Using remote cameras and satellite collars, researchers were able to track down polar bear dens in Norway’s Svalbard region and get insights into their behavior.
- On analyzing the data, researchers found that the bears typically stayed in and around the dens for 12 days after first emerging from them; they were also found to abandon the dens earlier than previously thought.
- Polar bear denning and the subsequent den emergence is a crucial period during which cubs transition from the warm environment of the dens to the harsh environment outside; the amount of time cubs spend in the dens is believed to have implications for their survival.
Surgically implanted tags offer rare insight into rehabilitated sea turtles
In 2021, the New England Aquarium in the U.S. state of Massachusetts began surgically implanting acoustic tags in rescued loggerhead sea turtles before returning them to the ocean. Four years on, these tags are providing a rare peek into where rehabilitated turtles travel. “Surgically implanted acoustic transmitters have been used for many years in many […]
Fish-tracking robot aims to make fishing more sustainable in developing nations
- Israeli scientists have developed a solar-powered underwater robot called SOUND that can roam autonomously for five days at a stretch, counting fish and communicating its findings back to observers onshore.
- The goal is to help local fishers in developing countries understand their fish populations so they can avoid overfishing and the capture of unwanted species.
- They tested the system in Malawi, among other locations, where fishers are facing a myriad of problems related to uncontrolled fishing.
Counting whales by eavesdropping on their chatter, with help from machine learning
- Scientists have combined passive acoustic monitoring, machine-learning tools and aerial surveys to estimate the population of North Atlantic right whales in Cape Cod Bay.
- Using the method, researchers from Cornell University in the U.S. were able to estimate the daily population of the whales over a period of four months.
- While passive acoustic monitoring has helped scientists around the world detect the presence of whales, it’s often challenging to estimate population numbers from the data, especially for species like North Atlantic right whales that have highly variable call rates.
Ugandan researcher wins ‘Emerging Conservationist’ award for work on golden cats
- Ugandan conservationist Mwezi Badru Mugerwa has been awarded the Indianapolis Prize’s Emerging Conservationist Award for 2025.
- Mugerwa has dedicated the past 15 years working with local communities to stop the poaching of the African golden cat (Caracal aurata), a species endemic to West and Central Africa.
- He and his team at conservation organization Embaka are also using camera traps and artificial intelligence tools to monitor and survey the population of the species, and to gauge the impact of their work.
Thermal drones detect rare tree kangaroos in Australia
Tree kangaroos, which live high up in the tall rainforest trees of New Guinea and Australia, are usually very hard to spot from the ground. But thermal drones, which detect animals from their body heat, can help find these animals quickly, a new study has found. In November 2024, Emmeline Norris, a Ph.D. student at […]
Researchers eye marsupial recovery with first IVF kangaroo embryo
Researchers in Australia have successfully created the first kangaroo embryo using in vitro fertilization, or IVF, according to a new study. The team from the University of Queensland used IVF to produce an embryo of the eastern gray kangaroo (Macropus giganteus). Researchers say they hope to use the information they’ve gathered to help with the […]
Can a new DNA test save the world’s rarest turtle?
- Scientists have developed and validated a DNA test kit to help detect the critically endangered Yangtze softshell turtle, a species on the very cusp of extinction.
- The environmental DNA, or eDNA, kit was designed specifically for the species with the hope of finding any unknown individuals in the lakes of Vietnam, in order to eventually establish a captive-breeding program.
- The new method doesn’t require samples to be exported to laboratories abroad; it also allows researchers to obtain results quickly.
- Only two or three individuals of the Yangtze softshell turtle are known to exist; the last known female died in 2023, rendering the species functionally extinct.
Mammals, birds in Vietnam’s rare coastal forests revealed by camera traps
- A new camera-trapping study has found several rare and threatened species in Vietnam’s Nui Chua National Park, home to one of mainland Southeast Asia’s last remnants of dry coastal forest.
- However, the findings also indicate intense pressure on wildlife populations within the reserve from habitat fragmentation and snaring.
- The study found a relatively high diversity of species in transitional habitats between different types of forest, indicating a need for more nuanced conservation planning to target localized measures, the authors say.
- The findings reaffirm the importance of Vietnam’s dry coastal forests for biodiversity and the need for strengthened protection to reduce pressure on wildlife from snaring and habitat degradation.
Indian town trials virtual solar fences to reduce conflict with elephants
A small town in southern India has rolled out an innovative solar-powered “invisible” fencing system designed to alert residents of approaching wildlife. The system makes some residents feel safer, but several challenges remain before it can effectively prevent human-elephant conflict, reports contributor Gowthami Subramaniam in a video produced by Mongabay India. Valparai, a town in […]
How to tell if mangrove restoration is working? Listen to the birds
- Mangrove restoration is often motivated by the desire to bring back biodiversity to degraded coastlines, but it’s difficult to know exactly when that objective has been achieved.
- Researchers in Malaysia say that monitoring mangrove-dwelling bird communities using bioacoustics could be a game-changer for managers tracking mangrove ecosystem recovery.
- Bioacoustics, the use of audio recording devices to listen to animals in their natural habitats, is increasingly being used as a rapid and relatively cost-effective way of measuring ecosystem health.
- The new study found bird species richness increases across a range of mangrove forest characteristics, including greater canopy cover, tree height and ground cover, indicating birds could serve as useful indicators of mangrove health.
World’s tiniest transmitter finds nesting area of rarest migratory shorebird
Using the world’s smallest known satellite transmitter, conservationists were able to track a spoon-billed sandpiper, thought to be the world’s rarest migratory shorebird. The transmitter revealed new stopovers and nesting areas for an individual known as K9. “K9 led us to a newly discovered breeding location and habitat, which could be a game-changer for Spoon-billed […]
Digitizing 6 million plant specimens: Interview with Gunter Fischer & Jordan Teisher
- Researchers at Missouri Botanical Garden in the U.S. have launched an initiative to create a digital repository of the 6 million plant specimens stored in the herbarium there.
- The six-year Revolutionizing Species Identification initiative aims to combine data obtained from visual and hyperspectral scanning with artificial intelligence to build up a plant repository unlike any before.
- The team behind the project says they hope the reference database will speed up plant identification; it could also potentially be used to gauge the health of forests in the face of climate change.
Survey uncovers ‘wildlife treasure’ in Cambodian park — but also signs of threats
- A survey of a little-known patch of forest on Cambodia’s border with Thailand has uncovered a “treasure of wildlife,” including potentially new-to-science plant species.
- The Samlout Multiple Use Area was established 30 years ago to conserve natural resources while also developing economic activities, but deforestation rates in the region have matched the national average.
- The survey, conducted by Fauna & Flora and commissioned by the Maddox Jolie-Pitt Foundation, found about 140 bird, 30 mammal, 15 bat and 50 orchid species.
- But camera traps used in the survey also recorded the presence of armed humans in the area and evidence of snare traps, prompting calls for improved protection by law enforcement agencies.
‘James Bond’ lizard among 35 new species described from Caribbean islands
Shaken, not stirred: That’s how fictional secret service agent James Bond prefers his martini. And now there’s a lizard in the Caribbean that shares his name: the James Bond forest lizard, found close to where author Ian Fleming wrote his iconic Bond novels. Researchers recently described the new species alongside 34 others in a 306-page […]
Satellite ‘backpacks’ help keep track of parrot migration in Mexico
- Scientists and conservationists have deployed lightweight satellite backpacks, containing transmitters, to study and understand the migration patterns of thick-billed parrots.
- Teams from San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance in the U.S. and conservation NGO Organización Vida Silvestre in Mexico have gathered more than 70,000 data points over four years.
- The data helped them identify corridors that are critical for the birds’ movements; they also served to justify the designation of protected areas that are important for the birds.
- Thick-billed parrots, known for their raucous calls, are an endangered species endemic to Mexico; illegal logging in recent years has led to the degradation of their habitats.
‘LIFE’ scores map out where habitat loss for crops drives extinction
- Altering natural habitats for agriculture is the single biggest driver of extinctions.
- Land conversion is contributing to what scientists call Earth’s sixth mass extinction.
- Now, new maps link the conversion of landscapes to the risk of extinction for species; they also help identify places where restoration could increase the probability that species will survive.
- The tool works accurately on areas of land ranging from 0.5-1,000 km² (0.2-386 mi²), and could be used by consumers and conservation groups to identify key areas to prioritize for conservation or restoration.
One atlas to map all ecosystems on Earth: Interview with Yana Gevorgyan
- The Global Ecosystems Atlas is a tool that aims to serve as an open-source repository for data on all the ecosystems in the world.
- Developed by the intergovernmental initiative Group on Earth Observations, the Global Ecosystems Atlas pulls together existing data while also using remote sensing and AI technologies to fill gaps in areas where data don’t exist.
- The proof of concept for the tool was launched at the COP16 biodiversity summit in Cali, Colombia, in November last year.
Companies banking on tech and collaboration to comply with EUDR
- The EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), which takes effect at the end of 2025, will require companies to trace commodity origins along the entire supply chain to ensure they’re deforestation-free.
- Technological solutions, such as satellite data and precise digital mapping, have become essential tools to assess deforestation risks and ensure compliance across complex supply chains.
- Tech isn’t a silver bullet though, experts say, and the best results will blend technological tools, strong partnerships and human collaboration across the supply chain.
- Smallholders in particular risk exclusion from global markets due to challenges in meeting EUDR compliance, especially due to limited access to technology and data tools.
Bangladesh adopts new technology to fight wildlife crimes
- Bangladesh’s forest department has recently included modern technologies and tools to strengthen its crime combat arsenal, after having lagged behind its surrounding countries for over a decade.
- So far, Bangladesh’s wildlife crime control is mostly dependent on volunteers connected by telecommunication and social media.
- Experts say use of technology helps deploy the country’s limited resources to address wildlife crime and prevent wildlife deaths more effectively.
‘Wild Frequencies’: Podcast miniseries from India explores wild animal sounds
Watching wild animals can be exhilarating, educational and a richly rewarding experience. But spotting wildlife and keeping them in sight is often challenging. So wildlife researchers are increasingly turning to learning about animals through the sounds they produce. A new podcast series by Mongabay India titled “Wild Frequencies” explores this emerging science of bioacoustics in […]
Golden jackals thrive in mangroves of Indian megacity Mumbai: Study
The wolf-like golden jackal still thrives in some parts of India’s financial capital, Mumbai, according to a new study, reports contributor Sneha Mahale for Mongabay India. Historically, the golden jackal (Canis aureus) could be spotted in several areas of southern Mumbai, study co-author Nikit Surve, research manager at Wildlife Conservation Society-India told Mongabay India. “Today, […]
Research vessel E/V Nautilus spots multiple nautiluses for the first time
The crew of the research vessel E/V Nautilus erupted in excited chatter as they watched live video from a remotely operated vehicle traversing the German Channel in the Pacific island state of Palau. “It’s finally happened!” someone could be heard saying as the camera on board the ROV Hercules zoomed in to reveal a lone […]
‘We have incredible & applicable solutions’: Interview with Peter Houlihan of XPRIZE
- XPRIZE Rainforest, a $10 million competition to come up with autonomous rainforest monitoring technology, wrapped up earlier this year.
- Four winners were announced in November for their work in combining cutting-edge technology and Indigenous knowledge to monitor a 100-hectare (250-acre) plot in the Amazon Rainforest within 24 hours.
- XPRIZE Foundation, the nonprofit organization that organized the competition, is now collaborating with governments and universities around the world to help scale up the technologies and deploy them for rainforest monitoring.
Satellites and lidar get AI boost to count forest carbon stock worldwide
- A newly launched tool combines satellite images, lidar data and artificial intelligence to estimate carbon stored in forests around the world.
- The Forest Carbon Monitoring tool, developed by Earth-imaging company Planet, trained an AI model using the organization’s archival satellite data and globally available lidar data.
- The model is now being used in conservation efforts as well as in the voluntary carbon market.
How are mangrove restoration projects doing? Interview with Tom Worthington
- A new tool aims to help managers of mangrove restoration projects track their progress and measure final outcomes against initial goals.
- The Mangrove Restoration Tracker Tool was developed by the University of Cambridge, WWF and the Global Mangrove Alliance in a bid to streamline global data on mangrove restoration projects around the world.
- Mangroves are crucial ecosystems that serve as carbon sinks and act as a buffer against coastal erosion; however, they’re threatened by deforestation as well as by the impacts of global warming.
Using science to fight deforestation: Interview with World Forest ID’s Jade Saunders & Andrew Lowe
- World Forest ID, a nonprofit consortium of research organizations, uses chemical and genetic profiling techniques to trace timber to the location where it was grown and harvested.
- The technique has been used to locate the origin of wood in the European Union and to keep a check on the import of products made with sanctioned Russian timber.
- The organization is now working to expand its database to include soy, cocoa and coffee to be able to use its technique when the European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) comes into effect.
Camera traps, drones meant for wildlife can ‘spy’ on women: Study
Technologies like camera traps and drones have made monitoring wildlife in forests easier than ever. However, a new study has found that in a protected area in northern India, these devices also end up watching and harassing women who use those forest spaces. “These findings have caused quite a stir amongst the conservation community,” Chris […]
Citizen scientists can boost IUCN species assessments, but need better guidance from ecologists
- More than 100,000 Australian citizen scientists are contributing crucial biodiversity data about species at risk, helping improve conservation efforts in ways that can enhance IUCN Red List decisions.
- Citizen science projects like Fungimap and FrogID showcase how such observations have influenced threat assessments and conservation outcomes.
- Researchers stress the need for clear goals, standardized protocols, and expert oversight to maximize the impact of citizen science.
Five-year rainforest tech competition culminates with four winners
- Limelight Rainforest, a team of ecologists, robotics engineers and Indigenous scientists, has won first place in a $10 million rainforest tech competition.
- At the finals in Brazil in July, the team deployed canopy rafts, drones and artificial intelligence models to identify and detect the highest amount of biodiversity from a forest plot within 24 hours.
- Three other teams were also recognized for their work in developing tech solutions to monitor rainforests around the world.
- The five-year XPRIZE Rainforest competition was launched in 2019 to identify solutions to automate rainforest monitoring.
Camera traps reveal little-known Sumatran tiger forests need better protection
- A new camera-trapping study in Indonesia’s Aceh province has identified an ample but struggling population of Sumatran tigers, lending fresh urgency to calls from conservationists for greater protection efforts in the critically endangered subspecies’ northernmost stronghold forests.
- The study focused on the Ulu Masen Ecosystem, an expanse of unprotected and little-studied forest connected to the better-known Leuser Ecosystem, the only place on Earth that houses rhinos, tigers, elephants and orangutans.
- The big cat population and its prey likely contend with intense poaching pressure, the study concludes; their forest home is also under threat from development pressure, illegal logging, rampant mining and agricultural encroachment.
- As a key part of the Leuser–Ulu Masen Tiger Conservation Landscape, experts say Ulu Masen merits more conservation focus to protect the tigers, their prey populations and their habitats.
Tracking footprints to monitor wildlife: Interview with WildTrack’s Zoe Jewell
- WildTrack, a U.S.-based nonprofit, uses footprints as a noninvasive way of identifying and tracking wildlife.
- The organization has developed an artificial intelligence model that can identify 17 species, including rhinos, lions, leopards and polar bears.
- The footprint identification model has been used to identify the home range of fishers in California, support antipoaching efforts in Botswana, and understand human-wildlife conflict in South America.
Camera trap survey in Cambodia’s Cardamom Mountains finds 108 species
What’s new: The first ever camera trap study from Cambodia’s Central Cardamom Mountains has captured footage of 108 wildlife species, including 23 that are threatened with extinction. This survey confirms the area’s importance as a biodiversity hotspot, a recent report says. What the study says: The Central Cardamom Mountain Landscape (CCML), part of the Indo-Burma […]
As Nepal counts its snow leopards, even the best estimate is still a guess
- A committee of experts is combining various studies across different times and regions to estimate Nepal’s snow leopard population for the first time using new standards.
- Past studies varied in their methodology, often leading to overestimates due to sampling bias. The committee is integrating camera-trap and genetic data from fragmented research across Nepal’s snow leopard habitat landscapes.
- Unlike tigers, Nepal’s better-known big cats, snow leopards live in rugged, expansive habitats, making simultaneous surveys across all habitats impractical. Setting up extensive camera traps, as is done for tigers, would be costly and logistically challenging.
- Accurate population estimates are crucial for funding and assessing conservation impact, though the elusive nature of snow leopards means even the best estimate, backed by science, will still be an educated guess.
Satellite firm Planet’s ‘biodiversity subscription’ aims to make tech accessible
- A new initiative by Earth-imaging company Planet gives conservation organizations in biodiversity hotspots access to high-resolution, high-frequency satellite data.
- As part of Project Centinela, eight entities have received access to satellite data and analysis tools to help them track and monitor biodiversity in places including Bolivia, Costa Rica, Indonesia and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
- The organizations will have access to the data for three years as part of what Planet calls a “biodiversity subscription.”
- Planet aims to partner with 50 organizations around the world over the next three years as part of the initiative.
Startups replace plastics with mushrooms in the seafood industry
- A handful of startups in the U.S., Europe and Asia are helping the seafood industry fight plastic pollution by creating equipment made from fungi.
- Efforts are currently focused on replacing plastic foam, a polluting component of numerous elements of the seafood supply chain, with mycelium, the root-like structure of fungi.
- A company in Maine makes mycelium-based buoys for the aquaculture industry, for example.
- Elsewhere, projects are seeking to create biodegradable mycelium-based coolers for transporting fish.
Bird-watching with drones? Might want to watch your distance, study says
As researchers and wildlife enthusiasts increasingly use drones to watch birds, a new study has come out with guidelines for best drone operating practices that minimize disturbance. “This study represents an important first step in understanding wildlife responses to drones and promoting ethical considerations in the use of new technologies in wildlife monitoring,” Meredith Palmer, […]
New study upends common belief that birds escape winter to save energy
- Scientists have found Eurasian blackbirds migrating to warmer regions in winter didn’t save more energy compared to members of the same species that stayed behind.
- A recently published study used surgically implanted biologgers to measure the birds’ heart rate and body temperature over the course of the winter.
- The study also found that migrating birds started saving energy for migration by lowering their heart rate and body temperature almost a month before their departure.
- The research raises important questions on why birds migrate if there’s no energy benefit, and where the unaccounted energy is being used instead.
Two new initiatives provide cutting-edge satellite images for conservation
Global conservation efforts will receive a much-needed boost with the recent launch of two initiatives involving the use of satellite data. The Airbus Foundation and the Connected Conservation Foundation (CCF) recently opened a third round of applications for their Satellites for Biodiversity Award, which now offers access to finer-resolution satellite imagery to help protect habitats […]
An inventory for acoustic monitoring: Interview with Kevin Darras
- The Worldwide Soundscapes project is a global database that documents when and where passive acoustic monitoring has been deployed to study biodiversity in terrestrial as well as aquatic ecosystems.
- The initiative aims to build a community of bioacoustics researchers with the goal of fostering collaboration and facilitating macro-ecological analyses.
- Passive acoustic monitoring, which involves listening in on wildlife using audio recorders, has helped scientists detect elusive species; it also helps understand complicated behavioral patterns.
- Kevin Darras, who initiated the Worldwide Soundscapes project, said the goal is to “harmonize our approaches and to benefit from each other’s experience.”
Third edition of Satellites for Biodiversity Award opens for applications
- The third edition of the Satellites for Biodiversity Award has been announced by the Airbus Foundation and the Connected Conservation Foundation.
- The award, launched in 2022, aims to encourage the use of satellite data for wildlife monitoring and biodiversity protection.
- Winners will receive access to Airbus Foundation’s high-resolution satellites; they will also receive funding and technical support.
- The winners of the second round included conservation projects that used satellite data to track chimpanzees, bears, wolves and rhinos in order to protect their habitats in South Sudan, Peru, Ethiopia and Nepal respectively.
Jumbo collaring effort reveals key elephant movement corridors
- Scientists and conservationists have collaborated to create what is possibly the largest database of GPS-collared elephants.
- The database contains 4 million GPS data points that were collected by collaring 300 African elephants in the Kavango-Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area, home to the largest population of African elephants in the world.
- Based on the movement of elephants, the team assessed the landscape to identify key areas and corridors for conservation purposes.
- The findings have already been used to identify small-scale movement corridors for elephants in Zambia.
Clearest picture yet of Amazon carbon density could help guide conservation
- A combination of machine-learning models and satellite readings show that the Amazon Rainforest contains 56.8 billion metric tons of aboveground carbon, or more than one and a half times what humanity emitted in 2023.
- The map is the result of an analysis of data measuring tree cover, tree height and the carbon storage of trees, and yields one of the most precise estimates to date.
- The highest carbon levels are located in the southwest Amazon — specifically southern Peru and western Brazil — and in the northeast Amazon, in countries like French Guiana and Suriname. The findings could help conservationists and policymakers choose more effective conservation strategies in the future.
- The report concluded that, as a whole, the Amazon Rainforest is still acting as a carbon sink rather than a carbon emitter, a key to keeping global temperatures below 1.5°C (2.7°F) and preventing climate change.
Scientists find unexpected biodiversity in an African river, thanks to eDNA
- Scientists have used environmental DNA analysis to identify 125 species of aquatic and terrestrial animals in the remote Corubal River in West Africa.
- The identified species include critically endangered animals as well as species that weren’t previously known to occur in the region.
- The Corubal flows through Guinea and Guinea-Bissau; because of its remote nature, there haven’t been a lot of large-scale attempts to study the biodiversity in the river and its basin.
- The scientists are also working to collect specimens and tissue samples from animals encountered along the river to build a DNA reference database for the future.
At the ‘Biodiversity Olympics,’ scientists work to democratize rainforest tech
- Over the course of three weeks in July, six teams showcased technology that could potentially automate biodiversity monitoring in rainforests.
- The event in Manaus, Brazil, was the final round of testing for a $10 million competition organized by the nonprofit XPRIZE Foundation.
- Most of the teams deployed drones and AI models, and also used environmental DNA analysis to identify plants and animals in the forest.
- In addition to gauging how the teams presented scalable and affordable solutions, the competition also judged them on how they collaborated with Indigenous communities in Brazil.
Blockchain as a carbon market fix: Interview with William ten Zijthoff, Flávia De Souza Mendes & Maximilian Rösgen
- Satellite and blockchain technology could be combined to address the lack of transparency and accountability in the carbon market, according to a recently published report.
- The report suggests that while satellite imagery can provide data in real time, blockchain technology could be used to ensure that the data are accessible, transparent and not tampered with.
- The combination of the two technologies, according to the report, could also be used to improve traceability and ensure compliance with deforestation regulations.
- The complicated nature of blockchain technology, the lack of regulatory infrastructure and high energy consumption are likely causing skepticism and relatively slower uptake for its application in environmental monitoring.
Raw materials become high-value bioeconomy goods at an Amazon science park
- Ahead of hosting 2025’s COP30 climate summit, Belém is betting on the development of products such as honey-based spirits, digital glasses from local wood and jambu-infused medicine at a local tech park.
- The Guamá Science and Technology Park (PCT), operating since 2010 and the first of its kind in the Brazilian Amazon Rainforest, uses technology to transform forest-based resources into high-value products.
- It’s a step toward building a sustainable and thriving billion-dollar bioeconomy that provides local populations with alternatives to deforestation and increases the appeal of sustainably harvesting the region’s resources.
- Future plans include expanding the park for further innovation and to build more science and technology parks in the Amazon as well as fostering networks with other Pan Amazonian countries with similar hubs such as Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru.
The Inventory, a Wiki for wild tech: Interview with Jake Burton & Alex Rood
- A Wikipedia-style tool cataloging conservation technology aims to help scientists and conservationists identify the best technology tools that can be deployed for their work.
- The Inventory was developed by conservation technology community WILDLABS in collaboration with Octophin Digital.
- Apart from serving as a database, users can also leave reviews of tech products used for conservation and wildlife monitoring.
- The Inventory also displays projects that are still in development and could benefit from funding and external expertise.
Are the Amazon’s biggest trees dying? Forest coroners investigate
- As tropical forests are degraded and decline at increasing rates the world over, the fate of these forests’ largest trees remains unknown.
- Big trees store a huge amount of carbon, so assessing their current mortality rates and causes of death (especially due to escalating climate change) is vital to calculating how much tropical forest carbon sinks could decline in the future.
- The Gigante project, getting started in the Brazilian Amazon in June 2024, is initiating an innovative new protocol utilizing detailed drone surveys combined with ground truthing to evaluate tropical big tree mortality.
- The project has begun an identical survey in Panama and will conduct others in Malaysia, Cameroon and at another Amazon location. Knowledge of how tropical big trees are faring could help improve climate model accuracy. A Mongabay reporting team joined the Gigante project in Brazil at the start of this groundbreaking work.
Space mission that maps forests in 3D makes an early comeback
- NASA’s GEDI mission, which maps the Earth’s forests in 3D using lasers, is back in operation from a hiatus, six months earlier than expected.
- Since 2018, GEDI has used spaceborne laser altimeters to help scientists gather data on forest structure, aboveground biomass and carbon stored in forests.
- Following resumption of operations, researchers have used GEDI data along with data from other missions as well as analysis tools to estimate the aboveground carbon stored in protected areas and Indigenous territories in the Amazon Rainforest.
Thai tiger numbers swell as prey populations stabilize in western forests
- Camera-trapping data revealed in a new study show a steady recovery of tigers in Thailand’s Western Forest Complex over the past two decades.
- The tiger recovery has been mirrored by a simultaneous increase in the numbers of the tigers’ prey animals, such as sambar deer and types of wild cattle.
- The authors attribute the recovery of the tigers and their prey to long-term efforts to strengthen systematic ranger patrols to control poaching as well as efforts to restore key habitats and water sources.
- Experts say the lessons learnt can be applied to support tiger recovery in other parts of Thailand and underscore the importance of the core WEFCOM population as a vital source of tigers repopulating adjacent landscapes.
Regions with highest risks to wildlife have fewest camera traps, study finds
- Camera traps are widely used to monitor biodiversity and guide conservation actions, but a first-of-its-kind study finds the technology isn’t as prevalent in highly biodiverse areas that face the most threats from human activities, such as the Congo Basin and the Amazon Rainforest.
- Even in areas with a high number of camera-trap studies, nearly two-thirds were conducted outside the regions facing the highest risk of animal extinctions.
- Country income, accessibility, mammal diversity and biome largely determine the locations of nearly two-thirds of camera-trap research.
- Experts suggest expanding the network of camera-trap studies, building capacity among local research communities, and leveraging tools and platforms that help with data sharing and analysis to address these disparities.
Study finds best plants for bee health and conservation in North America
- A new study analyzed pollen from 57 North American plant species, identifying those most nutritionally beneficial for bees, which could inform conservation efforts and wildflower restoration projects.
- Based on their findings, the researchers recommend emphasizing roses (Rosa sp.), clovers (Trifolium sp.), red raspberry (Rubus idaeus), tall buttercup (Ranunculus acris), and Tara vine (Actinidia arguta) in wildflower restoration projects, citing their ideal protein-to-lipid ratios in pollen for wild bee nutrition.
- The research found that bees require a diverse diet from multiple plant sources to obtain a balanced intake of fatty acids and essential amino acids, as no single plant species provides the optimal nutrition.
- With many bee species facing significant threats, the researchers say they hope these findings can inform conservation efforts from policy changes to individual actions like planting native flowers and reducing pesticide use.
For the first time ever, we’re farming more seafood than we’re catching: FAO
- For the first time in history, we now farm more seafood than we catch from the wild.
- At the same time, overfishing of wild fish stocks continues to increase, and the number of sustainably fished stocks declines.
- Those are among the key findings of the 2024 installment of the flagship global fisheries and aquaculture report from the U.N.’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). The biennial report provides data, analysis and projections that inform decision-making internationally.
- Sustainably growing aquaculture and better managing fisheries are central to the FAO’s “Blue Transformation road map,” a strategy for meeting the U.N.’s Sustainable Development Goal 14, which seeks to improve the social, economic and environmental sustainability of aquatic food to feed more people more equitably. However, progress is “either moving much too slowly or has regressed,” the report says.
Nepal launches new plan to boost critically endangered Bengal florican
- Nepal has launched a 10-year conservation action plan for the Bengal florican to recover and restore the population of the critically endangered bird to the country’s grasslands.
- The plan focuses on habitat expansion, captive breeding, and raising awareness among communities living in the bird’s range.
- These approaches aim to tackle the key challenges of grassland management, habitat conversion, poaching, and insufficient research.
- Conservationists have welcomed the plan, but warn it faces difficulty securing funding, given that much of the resources for wildlife conservation in Nepal go toward charismatic species such as tigers and rhinos.
Studying snakes without rattling them? There’s now tech for that
- Scientists have used tiny, noninvasive radio transmitters and accelerometers to study the habitats and behaviors of red diamond rattlesnakes.
- While the radio transmitters help researchers keep track of the snakes, the accelerometers give them an in-depth understanding of the snakes’ physical movements as they hunt, eat and even mate.
- Historically, tracking snakes has involved surgically implanting telemetry radios into them, but this process is time-consuming and also risks infecting the animals.
- Red diamond rattlesnakes, native to southwest California in the U.S. and Baja California in Mexico, face increasing threats from habitat loss and vehicle strikes.
Camera-trap study brings the lesula, Congo’s cryptic monkey, into focus
- Only found in the rainforests of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the lesula monkey (Cercopithecus lomamiensis) was first described by scientists in 2012.
- A 2023 Animals study finds that the lesula is mostly terrestrial, unlike the other species of guenon monkeys in the region.
- The study also finds that the lesula is active during the day, has a seasonal reproductive cycle, and lives in family groups of up to 32 individuals, with males dispersing out to form bachelor groups.
- Researchers say the Tshuapa, Lomami and Lualaba Rivers Landscape, where the study was conducted, holds incredible primate diversity.
Reimagining insect research: Interview with Roel van Klink and Leandro Nascimento
- Three out of every four known species on Earth are insects, but efforts to monitor, study and protect them have been lagging worldwide.
- A new themed issue published in the journal Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society delves into four tech tools that have the ability to reshape insect research in the coming years.
- The issue highlights acoustic monitoring, remote sensing using radars, computer vision, and DNA sequencing as potential tools that could help scientists and researchers ramp up global insect biodiversity monitoring.
Crowdsourcing eDNA for biodiversity monitoring: Interview with Kristy Deiner
- Scientists at ETH Zurich launched a global project to gather biodiversity data from 500 lakes around the world.
- As part of LeDNA, citizen scientists from around the world collected environmental DNA samples from lakes to commemorate the U.N.’s International Day for Biological Diversity.
- With the samples, the team behind the project aims to understand more about how lakes could potentially serve as “sensors” detecting the richness of life in the catchments surrounding them.
Efforts to save Cambodia’s coast tread water as fish stocks plummet
- Along the coast of Cambodia, illegal fishing is driving fish stocks toward collapse and fishing communities into poverty.
- The Cambodian government’s capacity for and will to counter fisheries problems are minimal, and several government fisheries reform efforts are off track or behind schedule.
- As one multimillion-dollar foreign project to bolster government capacity and revive Cambodian fish stocks comes to an end, another is just kicking off.
- Whether these efforts to salvage Cambodia’s coastal resources will pay off depends on a range of factors and actors, but so far the plans implemented haven’t been enough to stave off the impending collapse of marine fish stocks.
As Big Tech eyes the carbon market, will it work this time?
- Tech giants Meta, Microsoft, Google and Salesforce have announced the launch of an alliance that aims to invest in nature-based carbon removal projects.
- The Symbiosis Coalition has promised to purchase carbon credits worth 20 million metric tons of carbon dioxide by 2030.
- The collaboration comes at a time when the voluntary carbon market has faced increasing scrutiny over allegations of greenwashing, human rights abuses and lack of transparency.
- The coalition says that it will focus initially on afforestation, reforestation and revegetation, and that it has worked with independent experts to establish guidelines to ensure accountability and benefit sharing with local communities.
Collar cameras shed light on quirky baboon diet
- A new study has found that chacma baboons (Papio ursinus) like to feed on antelope poop, especially during drier months when vegetation might be sparse.
- Researchers deployed collar cameras attached to four baboons in South Africa as part of a documentary film in 2017; they later analyzed footage from two of them.
- They also gained insights into how baboons were interacting with other species that share their habitat.
- According to the study, collar cameras gave researchers a “primate-eye perspective” into the animals’ lives, and could be used in the future to gain more insights into other behavioral traits.
Governments are ramping up actions to fight environmental crime across the Amazon, but is it working? (commentary)
- In 2023, Amazon deforestation rates declined after years of record-breaking losses, thanks to efforts led by Brazil and Colombia. However, these gains are fragile, and anti-deforestation efforts show signs of weakening, with persistent risks of a tipping point, argues Robert Muggah, Co-Founder of the Igarapé Institute.
- Government measures focus on forest conservation, green development, and strengthening the rule of law but face challenges due to underfunding and limited municipal support. Public security forces are overwhelmed by environmental crimes like illegal mining and wildlife trafficking, exacerbating forest and biodiversity loss.
- Environmental crime is gaining more attention from decision-makers, law enforcement, and civil society, leading to increased media coverage and public commitments. Despite this, interventions remain fragmented, with inconsistent political backing and funding, writes Muggah.
- “Ultimately, Brazil and other countries in the Amazon Basin cannot reverse environmental crime through police and prosecutions alone,” he writes. “A comprehensive strategy that combines law enforcement with nature-based development opportunities is critical.” This post is a commentary, so the views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.
New satellite data documents deforestation across ecosystems worldwide
- New satellite data documents the loss of vegetation in all types of ecosystems, not just tropical rainforests, around the world.
- The OPERA DIST-ALERT was developed by the makers of popular forest monitoring platform Global Forest Watch.
- The monitoring system incorporates managed forests, grasslands, shrublands and croplands along with tropical forests.
- The data obtained from two of NASA’s Landsat satellites and two of the European Space Agency’s Sentinel-2 satellites reflected lost vegetation around the world due to various factors — ranging from fires in Canada to logging in the Republic of Congo and cyclones in Malawi.
On foot and by drone, radio tracking helps rehabilitate pangolins in Vietnam
- Conservation NGO Save Vietnam’s Wildlife is employing radio tracking to follow rehabilitated pangolins rescued from the illegal wildlife trade, even in difficult terrain and when the animals burrow underground.
- Tracking these pangolins on foot and using a novel radio telemetry drone has not only allowed the organization to assess the survival of released pangolins, but also improved the team’s knowledge of the secretive animals’ behaviors and habitat needs.
- However, this radio-tracking work is vulnerable to funding challenges, as the expectation that conservation work result in published papers can make it difficult to find long-term funding for basic equipment like radio tags.
Scientists explore nature’s promise in combating plastic waste
- Since 1950, humanity has produced more than 8.3 billion metric tons of plastic. Most has ended up in landfills or the environment. Now, scientists are working on biological solutions to address the plastic pollution crisis at every stage of the material’s life cycle.
- Innovative new filters built from naturally occurring ingredients can capture micro- and nanoplastics in all their diverse forms. These filters could remove plastic contamination from drinking water, and prevent microplastic pollution in industrial and domestic wastewater from reaching rivers and oceans.
- Plastic-degrading enzymes, isolated from microbes and insects and engineered for efficiency and performance in industrial conditions, can break plastics down at the molecular level and even be used to turn plastic waste into new useful chemicals.
- Biological solutions are being developed for a range of pollutants, not just plastics. But this technological research is still young. Crucially, we must not allow solutions for existing pollutants to make us complacent about the impact of new chemicals on the environment, or we could risk making the same mistakes again.
AI model maps global tree canopy heights in hi-res, with carbon counting in mind
- Scientists have used high-resolution satellite images to create a map of global canopy heights, and to also develop an AI model that can predict canopy heights.
- Tech company Meta collaborated with nonprofit organization World Resources Institute to develop the open-source map and model.
- While the map aims to establish and serve as a baseline for conservation initiatives, the AI model could be used to predict canopy heights in areas where high-quality data aren’t available.
- Canopy height is an important indicator of forest biomass and aboveground carbon stock, and is used to measure the progress of forest restoration efforts.
Bioacoustics and AI help scientists listen in on elusive Australian cockatoos
- Researchers in Australia have deployed acoustic recorders and artificial intelligence to study, monitor and protect eastern pink cockatoos (Lophochroa leadbeateri leadbeateri).
- The technology led scientists at the Queensland University of Technology to a previously unknown breeding hollow of the birds.
- Pink cockatoos, with eastern and western subspecies, are endemic to Australia and hard to monitor because they live in remote arid and semiarid ecosystems.
- With the research, scientists say they hope to understand more about where the birds live and how they react to changes in rainfall and temperature.
Wildlife from space: Winners of Satellites for Biodiversity Award named
- The winners of the second edition of the Satellites for Biodiversity Award have been announced.
- The winners include conservation initiatives that use satellite data to monitor and protect wildlife such as chimpanzees, bears, wolves and rhinos in South Sudan, Peru, Ethiopia and Nepal respectively.
- The award was launched in December 2022 as a partnership between the Airbus Foundation and U.K.-based nonprofit the Connected Conservation Foundation.
- The winners of the award will be granted access to Airbus’s high-resolution satellites as well as funding and training from the Connected Conservation Foundation.
Drone cameras help scientists distinguish between drought stress & fungus in oaks
- Scientists have used remote sensing, spectroscopy and machine learning to detect sick oak trees and distinguish between drought stress and oak wilt, a fungal disease.
- A recently published study describes how researchers established a link between physiological traits of trees and light reflectance to monitor the progression of symptoms in trees afflicted by oak wilt and drought.
- They used the data to build a predictive model that can identify symptoms and detect sick oaks 12 days before visual symptoms appear.
- Oaks are vital for climate regulation and carbon sequestration; however, the trees face threats to their survival because of a fatal fungal disease as well as the worsening impacts of climate change.
New technologies to map environmental crime in the Amazon Basin (commentary)
- Environmental crimes like land grabbing, illegal deforestation, and poaching hinder climate action, deter investment in sustainable practices, and threaten biodiversity across major biomes worldwide.
- Despite challenges such as vast territories difficult to police and weak rule of law, new technologies like geospatial and predictive analytics are being leveraged to enhance the detection and disruption of these activities.
- Innovative approaches, including public-private partnerships and AI tools, show promise in improving real-time monitoring and enforcement, although they require increased investment and training to be truly effective, argue Robert Muggah and Peter Smith of Instituto Igarapé, a “think and do tank” in Brazil.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily Mongabay.
Unseen and unregulated: ‘Ghost’ roads carve up Asia-Pacific tropical forests
- A new study indicates that significant networks of informal, unmapped and unregulated roads sprawl into forest-rich regions of Southeast Asia and the Pacific.
- Slipping beneath the purview of environmental governance, construction of these “ghost roads” typically precede sharp spikes in deforestation and represent blind spots in zoning and law enforcement, the study says.
- The authors underscore that the relentless proliferation of ghost roads ranks among the gravest of threats facing the world’s remaining tropical forests.
- The findings bolster a growing momentum toward the development of AI-based road-mapping systems to help conservation biologists and resource managers better keep track of informal and illegal road networks and curb associated deforestation rates.
The potential for tracking wildlife health & disease via bioacoustics is great (commentary)
- Bioacoustics is the passive, non-invasive recording of sounds emitted by a wide range of animals.
- Analysis of this information reveals the presence and behavior of wildlife, and can also be valuable indicator of animal health, which can then be used in ecosystem monitoring.
- “As disease prevalence skyrockets in wildlife, we are desperately in need of tools to remotely monitor ecosystem health,” a new op-ed argues.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.
Ancient giant river dolphin species found in the Peruvian Amazon
- Paleontologists discovered a fossilized skull of a newly described species of giant freshwater dolphin in the Peruvian Amazon, which lived around 16 million years ago and is considered the largest-known river dolphin ever found.
- The ancient creature, measuring 3-3.5 meters (9.8-11.5 feet), was surprisingly related to South Asian river dolphins rather than the local, living Amazon river pink dolphin and shared highly developed facial crests used for echolocation.
- The discovery comes at a time when the six existing species of modern river dolphins face unprecedented threats, with their combined populations decreasing by 73% since the 1980s due to unsustainable fishing practices, climate change, pollution, illegal mining and infrastructure development.
- Conservation efforts are underway, including the signing of the Global Declaration for River Dolphins by nine countries and successful initiatives in China and Indonesia, highlighting the importance of protecting these critical species that serve as indicators of river ecosystem health.
Spying on wildlife with biorobots: Interview with engineer Kamilo Melo
- Biorobotics combines engineering and biology, yielding robots that can mimic biological systems.
- Biorobots can and have been used in wildlife studies to better understand animal movements, behaviors and interactions between different species.
- In 2016, engineer Kamilo Melo designed two robots, one shaped like a crocodile and the other like a monitor lizard, for the BBC nature documentary series “Spy in the Wild” that captured animal interactions in real life.
- A recent study authored by Melo documents his experience of using biorobots in the field and the scope of using biorobots for scientific research purposes.
To detect illegal roads in remote areas, AI comes into play
- Scientists have deployed an artificial intelligence model to identify and detect roads in rural and remote areas.
- The model was trained to analyze satellite images and pick out the roads within them; according to a recent study, it managed to do this accurately eight times out of 10.
- Road construction has increased drastically in recent decades, with 25 million kilometers (15.5 million miles) of paved roads expected to be built by 2050.
- Illegal roads, which fall outside the purview of environmental governance, often cut through dense forests and cause harm to the biodiversity living in fragile ecosystems.
Mini radio tags help track ‘murder hornets’ and other invasive insects
- Our increasingly interconnected world is moving insect pests around the planet, introducing invasive species that threaten agriculture and local ecologies.
- But tech is fighting back: Researchers have developed radio-tracking tags small enough to attach to invasive yellow-legged hornets in the U.K. and Europe, allowing scientists to find
and destroy their nests.
- Researchers are now deploying this technology in the U.S., to address yellow-legged hornets in Georgia and northern giant hornets in the Pacific Northwest.
Gundi tool gets conservation hardware and software talking the same language
- A new open-source platform aims to help conservationists and protected-area managers seamlessly integrate data between hardware and software tools.
- Currently being used at 600 sites, Gundi takes data from different sources — wildlife trackers, camera traps, acoustic monitors — transforms them into a common format, and sends them to different destinations for analysis.
- Gundi was developed with the goal of helping reduce the time and effort required to figure out compatibility issues between different conservation technology tools.
New trackers bring prairie dogs’ little-known underground life to light
- Researchers have deployed a new tracker that helps them monitor prairie dogs and track their movements underground.
- The tracker uses sensors, including accelerometers and magnetometers, and combines them with GPS technology to enable researchers to retrace the trajectories of the animals.
- Prairie dogs dig up complex burrow systems and spend most of their time underground, making their movements elusive.
- During initial trials, researchers were able to use the trackers to reconstruct the trajectories of prairie dogs while they were underground.
New funding boosts AI-enabled wildlife identification project in Australia
- An artificial intelligence project to identify native species from camera-trap images in Australia has received a A$750,000 ($492,000) grant from the government.
- The project by the conservation nonprofit Australian Wildlife Conservancy has already trained the AI model to identify 44 species from camera-trap images, from native animals such as kangaroos and dingoes, and invasive ones like cats and foxes.
- With the new funding, the team at AWC aims to scale up the model to be able to identify 120 species; the model can also be applied to alert land managers about invasive predators that are harmful to native species.
- Camera traps continue to be one of the most widely used technologies for biodiversity surveys, but the analysis of the thousands of images generated by camera traps remains a major bottleneck.
Tech to recover rainforest: Interview with Osa Conservation’s Carolina Pinto & Paulina Rodriguez
- Osa Conservation is a nonprofit organization working to monitor and protect biodiversity in the Osa Peninsula in Costa Rica.
- The peninsula is home to plants and animals seen nowhere else on the planet, and is estimated to harbor 2.5% of the global terrestrial biodiversity.
- The organization uses a wide array of tech tools — from camera traps to acoustic recorders and GPS tags — to study, monitor and protect animals such as sea turtles, jaguars and spider monkeys.
- However, the harsh terrain, weak internet connectivity and the remote nature of the ecosystem are proving to be hurdles to quicker and more efficient deployment of tech tools.
On Kaho’olawe, new technology could restore a sacred Hawaiian island
- The small Hawaiian island of Kaho‘olawe is a sacred site for Indigenous Hawaiians, who used it for navigational training, religious ceremonies, and fishing.
- But the island has faced decades of ecological destruction due to invasive plants and animals, erosion, and bombings as a test site by the U.S. military.
- A new conservation project has successfully tested a novel method using AI-equipped camera traps and an aerial drone to collect images of invasive cats, which have destroyed the island’s seabird populations, in dangerous and difficult-to-access parts of the island.
- But funding for the work on Kaho‘olawe remains scarce, and the drone project is now on hold as local organizations seek further funding to deal with the feral cats.
Find the manatee: New AI model spots sea cows from images
- A new computer model developed by engineers at the Florida Atlantic University uses deep learning to count manatees in images captured by cameras.
- The model has been trained to identify manatees in shallow waters, and can be used to identify where they aggregate, which can, in turn, be helpful to plan conservation actions and design rules for boaters and divers.
- However, the model can’t yet distinguish between adults and calves, or between males and females, both of which are details that are vital for conservation and research purposes.
- The engineering team says it plans to continue training the model in the months ahead, while also working with biologists to get their feedback on how to improve it further.
‘We’re doing so much with so little’: Interview with WildLabs’ Talia Speaker
- The use of technology for conservation and wildlife monitoring increased in recent years, with camera traps and remote sensing being the most popular tools, a report has found.
- The report by conservation technology network WildLabs also found that artificial intelligence was highly ranked for its potential impact, but was ranked low in terms of current performance because of accessibility issues.
- Marginalized groups, including women and people from lower-income countries, were found to face disproportionate barriers to accessing resources and training.
- “The motivation behind this research was to capture the experiences of the global conservation technology community, and to speak with a united voice,” says Talia Speaker, who led the research.
Scientists warn of ‘extinction crisis’ stalking Africa’s raptors
- A Nature Ecology & Evolution paper found that of 42 African raptor species, 37 had suffered a population decline over just three generations (up to 40 years).
- Raptors like secretarybirds (Sagittarius serpentarius) stand out among birds thanks to their razor-sharp vision, piercing talons and hooked beaks, making them such effective hunters of everything from other birds to mammals.
- The secretarybird, a charismatic and rare long-legged raptor that hunts on the ground, saw an 80% decline in populations in four African regions.
- The research also highlighted the grave risk to large-bodied raptor populations and the danger of some of the most threatened species being confined to protected areas.
New tool aims to help palm oil firms comply with deforestation regulations
- A new online tool launched by web-based monitoring platform Palmoil.io aims to help companies check their compliance with deforestation regulations for palm oil.
- PlotCheck enables companies to upload plot boundaries without having to store it in the cloud, thereby working around concerns on data security and privacy.
- The tool analyzes the plot for deforestation based on publicly available satellite data; it also displays data on historical deforestation in the plot as well as palm oil processing mills in the proximity.
- “The output is going to be a statement which companies can submit to authorities to prove that their shipment is deforestation-free,” said Leo Bottrill, founder of Palmoil.io.
We need a better understanding of how crops fare under solar panels, study shows
- In agrivoltaics, farmers grow crops beneath or between solar panels.
- Proponents say the technology can help achieve clean energy goals while maintaining food production, but experts caution that careful analysis and guidelines are needed if we’re not to compromise agricultural production.
- A new synthesis of previously published studies finds that overall crop yields decline as the amount of land covered by solar panels increases.
- This ground cover ratio is a convenient, easily measured and reproducible metric that can be used to predict crop yields and better evaluate agrivoltaic systems.
AI and satellite data map true scale of untracked fishing and ocean industry
- A new study shows that more than 75% of industrial fishing activity and almost 30% of transport and energy activity in the oceans has not been tracked by public systems, revealing a significant gap in global observational data.
- The study, led by Global Fishing Watch, used AI to analyze 2 petabytes of satellite imagery collected between 2017 and 2021, providing unprecedented insights into hidden fishing hotspots and offshore energy infrastructure development.
- The research highlighted the potential of combining AI with Earth observation data to gain a more comprehensive understanding of ocean activities, which is needed to manage and improve the sustainability of the $2.5 trillion blue economy.
- The open-source code developed during the study can help inform policy for safeguarding ocean ecosystems, enforcing laws and identifying renewable energy expansion sites, the study authors said.
Conservation X Labs announces merger with AI nonprofit Wild Me
- Conservation technology company Conservation X Labs has announced a merger with Wild Me, a nonprofit that focuses on using artificial intelligence for conservation purposes.
- The two organizations plan to combine their resources and expertise to ramp up the use of artificial intelligence to prevent the sixth mass extinction.
- The merger comes at a time when AI’s role in biodiversity monitoring and conservation has seen rising popularity.
- According to a press statement by Conservation X Labs, the company will “integrate Wild Me’s technology into its product offerings.”
Camera-traps help identify conservation needs of Thailand’s coastal otters
- Otters are sometimes described as the “tigers of the mangrove” in Southeast Asia, where they’re well-known to display extraordinary resilience and adaptability to human activity and urbanization.
- A new camera-trap study now highlights the importance of expanses of natural habitat, such as coastal forests and wetlands, for two species of otter living along southern Thailand’s increasingly modified coasts.
- The research team found that while otters are able to live within human-modified landscapes, tracts of natural habitat offer them vital refugia from a slew of threats, such as road collisions, prey depletion due to pollution of watercourses, and conflict with fish and shrimp farmers.
- The authors used their findings to create maps that indicate where conservationists and wildlife departments should prioritize management and monitoring for these vital top wetland predators.
‘No end in sight’ for potential of conservation tech: Q&A with Megan Owen
- For the past seven years, the conservation technology lab at the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance has been working to develop and deploy technology that can automate the collection and processing of wildlife data.
- Running a tech lab in a zoo has the benefit of providing scientists with a setting where they can use the wildlife in their care to validate the data and calibrate the technology.
- Team members at the lab are also working to develop and mentor the next generation of conservation technologists who can keep up with the rapidly evolving field.
- Making the technology “low-cost and accessible, fixable, deployable and programmable” continue to be some of the challenges that the team is working to overcome, according to SDZWA vice president of conservation science Megan Owen.
For Nepal, 2023 changed course of tiger conservation efforts
- In 2023, Nepali conservation officials and stakeholders shifted their focus from shoring up numbers to human-tiger coexistence and development of corridors to enhance movement of the animal between different habitats.
- Although the problem of poaching has largely been addressed, negative human-tiger interactions and development of infrastructure pose significant challenges in achieving the goals.
- Also in 2023, the country’s environment minister proposed allowing sport hunting to control the tiger population, but that didn’t go down well with the conservationists.
Marine conservation technology hub rises from old L.A. wharf (analysis)
- In 2014, the Port of Los Angeles gave a 50-year lease to an aging wharf called City Dock No. 1 to a project called AltaSea.
- AltaSea is a non-profit project founded in 2014 that in less than 10 years has become a leading ‘blue economy’ research hub focused on renewable ocean energy, sustainable aquaculture and other blue technologies.
- Hub tenants include marine renewable energy startups, sustainable aquaculture projects, a marine seed bank, a research effort aimed at decarbonizing oceanic shipping, and other projects.
- This article is an analysis. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.
‘Shark dust’ helps researchers ID threatened species in Indonesia fish trade
- Researchers have developed a new tool to identify a wide range of threatened and protected sharks being processed at fish factories in Indonesia.
- The method relies on DNA analysis of “shark dust,” the tiny fragments of skin and cartilage swept from the floors of fish-processing plants and export warehouses.
- From 28 shark dust samples collected from seven processing plants across Java Island, they found the genetic sequences of 61 shark and ray species.
- About 84% of these are CITES-listed species, meaning there are official restrictions in place on the international trade in these species.
Where do illegal lion parts come from? A new tool offers answers
- To trace wildlife parts to their source populations, researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign developed a web tool, the Lion Localizer, which uses DNA testing to pinpoint the geographic source of contraband lion parts.
- Its creators say the DNA-based tool is a “valuable resource for combating lion poaching, by rapidly identifying populations that are newly targeted, or that are being targeted most aggressively by poachers.”
- Most of the illicit trade feeds demand from outside the continent; demand for lion parts is high in China and Southeast Asian countries like Laos and Vietnam.
- Despite being user-friendly, the Lion Localizer can sometimes fail to generate useful information in some cases, for example where there are multiple potential source populations or because the database used to generate matches is incomplete.
Tropical deforestation increases even as a few hotspots see respite, new data shows
- Emissions from deforestation in tropical forests rose by 5% in 2022, even as temperate forests strengthened their role as carbon sinks, according to data from a carbon mapping tool developed by nonprofit CTrees.
- According to the data, emissions from deforestation saw a dip in Indonesia and the Congo Basin in 2022; in Brazil, however, emissions continued to rise through 2022, and only started dropping this year.
- The JMRV platform uses satellite imagery and machine learning to map forests and non-forest lands around the world to monitor forest cover, carbon stocks and emissions.
- In addition to broader global data, the tool can also help local jurisdictions monitor and verify their carbon stocks to keep track of their emissions-reduction progress under the Paris climate agreement.
No animals harmed as wildlife specimen collection goes digital in 3D
- Conservationist and photographer Scott Trageser has developed a 3D scanning system that could potentially reshape how animals are studied in the wild.
- The system uses an array of cameras that work in sync to rapidly capture photos of animals in the wild, yielding a virtual 3D specimen viewable on smartphone or with a VR/AR headset.
- The noninvasive methodology will enable scientists to conduct research without euthanizing animals; digital specimens also have the advantage of not degrading over time.
- However, the high cost and technical skills required to assemble and operate the system, in addition to its inability to gather internal morphological data, are hurdles to its widespread use.
New algorithm looks at how Amazon vegetation will behave after climate change
- Brazilian scientists have pioneered a new vegetation model with a broader array of life strategies that is expected to provide a more accurate representation of the Amazon ecosystem’s functioning and the forest’s responses to climate change.
- The new model suggests that Amazon plants would reorganize, allocating more energy to their roots at the expense of stems and leaves; consequently, they would have a lower capacity to retain and absorb carbon in a scenario with reduced rainfall.
- Field research and future contributions will add new information to the model, and experts hope it will get better at predicting the future and shaping policies for conservation.
Growing rubber drives more deforestation than previously thought, study finds
- A recently published study has used high-resolution satellite data to show that deforestation linked to rubber cultivation is much higher than previously thought.
- Deforestation for rubber in Southeast Asia, which produces 90% of the world’s natural rubber, was found to be “at least twofold to threefold higher” than earlier estimates.
- The underestimation of rubber-linked deforestation has led to gaps in policy setting and implementation when it comes to managing rubber cultivation, the study says.
- While synthetic rubber, made from fossil fuels, accounts for the most of the rubber produced today, rising demand for rubber overall drove the expansion of rubber plantation areas by 3.3 million hectares (8.2 million acres) from 2010-2020.
New platform offers toolkit for companies to prove their eco claims
- As governments around the world consider new regulations that would require corporations to track their impacts on biodiversity, a new platform called NatureHelm provides companies and individual landowners with a tool to track indicators of ecosystem health.
- The tool analyzes various databases and scientific papers to find relevant local biodiversity targets and automatically pulls in data from remote tools, such as camera traps, to track them.
- NatureHelm also provides consulting to help companies choose the best tools to track biodiversity targets, and produces annual reports that allow companies to show how different metrics change over time and in response to conservation actions.
As U.S. insurers stop covering prescribed burns, states and communities step up
- Prescribed fires are a positive land management method, but when the flames occasionally escape control, the resulting damage to land and private property also hurts this conservation tool’s reputation.
- U.S. insurance companies are thus charging increasingly unaffordable premiums for coverage of this activity or are dropping the service altogether in the wake of some particularly large recent accidents.
- As a result, many small conservation groups and private businesses are getting out of the habit of using fire to improve grassland health, boost wildlife habitat, and decrease likelihood of catastrophic wildfires.
- California is bridging this gap with a new state program that insures the activity, while prescribed fire associations, where residents and firefighters cooperate to carry out burns on private land, are increasingly popping up in communities.
New AI model gives bird’s-eye view of avian distribution at vast scale
- An artificial intelligence model is helping researchers use bird-sighting data to estimate their presence at a given time and location.
- Developed by researchers at Cornell University, the model makes predictions on when and where species of birds in North America might occur throughout the year, providing information that could be vital for conservation purposes.
- The model was trained using billions of data points from eBird, an online portal and database where birders can record the observations they make in the field.
- The researchers are now working to train the model to get estimates on abundance of species as opposed to only getting information on their presence or absence.
Betting on biodiversity: Q&A with Superorganism’s Kevin Webb & Tom Quigley
- Superorganism is a newly launched venture capital firm, touted to be the first that’s dedicated to addressing the biodiversity crisis.
- The firm aims to support startups that are developing and deploying technology to prevent biodiversity loss and protect nature.
- The firm’s early portfolio includes companies that are working to tackle extinction drivers and finding solutions that lay at the intersection of biodiversity conservation and climate change mitigation.
Can digital twins help save the Amazon? (commentary)
- Spread across highland forests, tropical steppes, and low-lying floodplains — all of which are affected by varying degrees of human influence — the Amazon is a complex ecosystem. Yet, it remains inadequately mapped.
- Considering the degree of threat facing the Amazon and its global importance, it is critical to develop better methods for monitoring and comprehending this ecosystem.
- Carlo Ratti, the director of MIT’s Senseable City Lab, and Robert Muggah, the co-founder of the Igarapé Institute, argue that creating a “digital twin” of the Amazonian ecosystem could potentially serve as a means to aid its preservation while fostering a regional bioeconomy.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily of Mongabay.
Conservationists look to defy gloomy outlook for Borneo’s sun bears
- Sun bears are keystone species, helping sustain healthy tropical forests. Yet they’re facing relentless challenges to their survival from deforestation, habitat degradation, poaching and indiscriminate snaring; fewer than 10,000 are thought to remain across the species’ entire global range.
- A bear rehabilitation program in Malaysian Borneo cares for 44 sun bears rescued from captivity and the pet trade and has been releasing bears back into the wild since 2015. But with threats in the wild continuing unabated, success has been mixed.
- A recent study indicates that as few as half of the released bears are still alive, demonstrating that rehabilitation alone will never be enough to tackle the enormous threats and conservation issues facing the bears in the wild.
- Preventing bears from being poached from the wild in the first place should be the top priority, experts say, calling for a holistic approach centered on livelihood support for local communities through ecotourism to encourage lifestyles that don’t involve setting snares that can kill bears.
Can aquaculture solve the Mediterranean’s overfishing problem?
- In the Mediterranean, 73% of commercial fish stocks are fished beyond biologically sustainable limits.
- Part of the strategy to reduce overfishing promoted by the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean, a regional fisheries management organization, is to promote the expansion of aquaculture, which is growing rapidly.
- However, most fish farms in the region produce carnivorous species, causing concern among experts and NGOs about the risk of worsening the burden on wild marine stocks to produce enough feed.
Meet Japan’s Iriomote and Tsushima cats: Ambassadors for island conservation
- Two rare subspecies of leopard cat, the Iriomote cat and Tsushima cat, can be found only on the Japanese islands they’re named after. With populations hovering around 100 individuals each, the cats are the focus of Ministry of the Environment-led conservation measures.
- The Iriomote cat has adapted to its isolated ecosystem by developing a more diverse diet than other felids. Following its well-publicized discovery in the 1960s, the cat has become an enduringly popular symbol of the island’s nature, and locals eagerly assist in conservation efforts.
- The Tsushima cat has faced habitat degradation caused by deforestation, canal construction and, most recently, ravenous deer. As the islands’ human population declines, local farmers are working to preserve the wet rice fields that help support the cat population.
- On both Iriomote and Tsushima, roadkill accidents are a major threat to the low wildcat populations. Conservation centers on the islands aim to raise driver awareness by providing crowdsourced info on cat sightings, posting cautionary signs at cat crossing hotspots, and educating locals and tourists.
Sound recordings and AI tell us if forests are recovering, new study from Ecuador shows
- Acoustic monitoring and AI tools were used to track biodiversity recovery in plots of tropical Chocó forest in northwestern Ecuador.
- The study found that species returned to regenerating forests in as little as 25 years, indicating positive progress in forest recovery.
- Acoustic monitoring and AI-based methods proved to be powerful and cost-effective techniques for assessing biodiversity levels in restored forests, including insects and animals that don’t vocalize.
- The authors hope these methods make biodiversity monitoring more transparent, accountable, and accessible to support land managers and market-based conservation mechanisms that rely on forest restoration, such as payments for ecosystem services.
Nepal’s tiger conservation gets tech boost with AI-powered deer tracking
- Endangered tigers in Nepal heavily rely on spotted deer as their primary prey, making their conservation crucial.
- Researchers in Nepal are using vertical cameras and AI technology to track and profile individual spotted deer (Axis axis), similar to the methods used for tigers.
- However, the project has faced challenges, including low recapture rates and difficulty in distinguishing individual deer in the wild.
Origami-inspired sensor platforms tumble like leaves to study forests
- Scientists have developed a tiny, lightweight, shape-shifting platform that can hold a variety of environmental sensors and be dropped from drones to study far-flung locations.
- The design for the platforms, known as microfliers, was inspired by origami, the Japanese art of paper folding.
- Each microflier can snap between two shapes while in the air, allowing them to have different trajectories and thus disperse across a larger area when they land.
- Though they haven’t been used in any scientific studies yet, microfliers could be useful for the large-scale deployment of environmental sensors measuring and transmitting data on pressure, temperature, humidity, or lighting conditions, among others.
Taking the global pulse of biodiversity monitoring: Q&A with Andrew Gonzalez
- A group of scientists have put forward a proposal to set up a global network that centralizes biodiversity monitoring and facilitates seamless sharing of data.
- The group wants its proposed Global Biodiversity Observing System (GBiOS) to function similarly to the network of local weather monitoring stations across the world, whose data are used to analyze and monitor climate change.
- While the technology being used to monitor biodiversity has become more sophisticated over the years, there still exists a void in getting different communities to work together to address the broader challenges in dealing with the biodiversity crisis.
- “We would not only federate people who are working together more effectively, but also fill many of the gaps in the data that currently exist in the biodiversity field,” Andrew Gonzalez, who is leading the proposal for GBiOS, told Mongabay.
Applications open for Airbus’s ‘Satellites for Biodiversity Award’
- The second edition of the “Satellites for Biodiversity Award” has been announced by the Airbus Foundation and the Connected Conservation Foundation.
- The two organizations are accepting applications until Dec. 15 for an award to support the use of high-resolution satellites for monitoring, tracking and protecting global biodiversity.
- Winners will receive access to Airbus’s high-resolution Pléiades and Pléiades Neo satellites, along with access to global mapping software from Esri and funding of $6,000.
- Previous winners include a project to map elephant habitats in Sai Yok National Park in Thailand, and community-led efforts to use drones and satellites to save tree kangaroos in Papua New Guinea.
Swab a leaf and find a species. Or 50, thanks to eDNA
- A new study has highlighted swabbing leaves as a potentially effective way to gather DNA samples of vertebrates in terrestrial ecosystems.
- Researchers identified 50 species of animals in Kibale National Park in Uganda by swabbing leaves there for a little over an hour.
- This easy and cost-effective method could potentially help scientists and wildlife managers apply environmental DNA, or eDNA, analysis more widely to terrestrial settings.
- Sampling and analysis of eDNA has been gaining popularity among researchers as an effective and non-invasive way to survey large ecosystems, especially in aquatic settings; its use in terrestrial environments has, however, faced a few restrictions.
New online map tracks threats to uncontacted Indigenous peoples in Brazil’s Amazon
- Mobi, a new online interactive map, draws information from public databases, government statistics and field observations to paint a comprehensive picture of the threats that uncontacted Indigenous peoples face in the Brazilian Amazon.
- The exact location of uncontacted communities is deliberately displaced on the map to avoid any subsequent attacks against them from those who engage in illegal activity in or near their territories.
- The tool can help Indigenous agencies deploy more effective protective actions to fend off threats such as diseases and environmental destruction, which can wipe out vulnerable populations.
- Activists hope the platform will help create a vulnerability index that ranks uncontacted populations according to the severity of threats against them, which can promote stronger public policies.
How hot are the desert tortoises getting? iButtons help find the answer
- Researchers are using a button-shaped device to gather data about desert tortoises (Gopherus agassizii) and their habitats in the Mojave Desert in Southern California.
- Using iButtons, the researchers are trying to understand how hot the tortoises get, and the temperatures that they prefer in the burrows where they spend most of their time.
- Identifying the critically endangered species’ temperature preferences is an urgent task: the tortoise faces threats to its survival from various quarters such as rising temperatures, habitat loss, and attacks by predators.
- With this research, scientists say they hope to find habitats that are safer and where the thermal conditions are suitable for the long-term survival of the tortoises.
Protected areas a boon for vertebrate diversity in wider landscape, study shows
- A new study reveals that protected areas in Southeast Asia not only boost bird and mammal diversity within their confines, but they also elevate numbers of species in nearby unprotected habitats.
- The researchers say their findings back up the U.N.’s 30×30 target to protect 30% of Earth’s lands and waters by 2030.
- The findings indicate that larger reserves result in more spillover of biodiversity benefits into surrounding landscapes. The authors call on governments to invest in expanding larger reserves over the proliferation of smaller ones.
- Conservationists say that while expanding protected area coverage is part of the solution, serious investment in management and resourcing for existing protected areas is a matter of urgency to ensure they are not simply “paper parks.”
Taking up the cause of red pandas: Q&A with actor and activist Dayahang Rai
- Dayahang Rai, a popular Nepali actor, shares his passion and challenges for red panda conservation, as an ambassador for the Red Panda Network, an NGO working to save the endangered animal in Nepal.
- Rai says he’s been inspired by nature since childhood, and that working on red panda conservation is his way of giving back to nature by reaching out to a wide audience to convey the urgency of the situation.
- He adds that while he has limited scientific knowledge of the species, he understands that red pandas are at risk of disappearing due to human activity, such as illegal hunting for their pelts, and unplanned road construction through their habitats.
- In an interview with Mongabay ahead of International Red Panda Day, Rai talks about prospective avenues for getting the conservation message out, and his plans to visit red panda habitat areas soon to see them in the wild.
NASA satellites reveal restoration power of beavers
- A new partnership between NASA and researchers is measuring the impact of beavers reintroduced to landscapes in Idaho.
- Beavers are one of the world’s most powerful ecosystem engineers, building new habitats by slowing water flow and reducing flooding, while also boosting biodiversity.
- Beavers are all the more important in an age of rapid climate change, as they produce wetter and more resilient habitats, even in the face of wildfires.
- “NASA is interested in how satellite Earth observations can be used for natural resource management,” a member of the space agency’s Ecological Conservation Program tells Mongabay.
With fewer birds seen on farms, scientists try listening for them
- Scientists in the U.S. Midwest have piloted a methodology that combines satellite imagery and audio data to study and monitor birds in croplands.
- While remote-sensing technology helped researchers understand the attributes of the habitat, bioacoustic data aided them in identifying the birds that live there.
- Biodiversity monitoring on working lands often doesn’t get a lot of attention due to the logistical hurdles involved in accessing these often privately owned areas.
- The methods used by the scientists involved engaging with farmers and landowners to put up audio recorders in an effort to be more collaborative.
Mongabay Explains: How high-tech tools are used for successful reforestation
- This Mongabay Explains’ episode is part of a four-part Mongabay mini-series that examines the latest technological solutions to help tree-planting projects achieve scale and long-term efficiency.
- Using these innovative approaches could be vital for meeting international targets to repair degraded ecosystems, sequester carbon, and restore biodiversity.
- Advanced computer modeling, machine learning, drones, niche models using data, robotics and other technologies are helping to restore hundreds of millions of hectares of lost and degraded forest worldwide.
In the chain of species extinctions, AI can predict the next link to break
- Scientists at Flinders University in Australia have developed a machine-learning model that predicts which species are at risk of extinction if another species is removed from an ecosystem or an invasive one is introduced.
- Trained on data on how species interact with each other, the model could serve to alert conservation managers on which vulnerable species to focus on, the developers say.
- They tested the model successfully in Australia’s Simpson Desert, where it accurately predicted which species invasive foxes and cats preyed on.
- However, the shortage of data on species interactions, along with the possible biases that arise, are gaps that still need to be filled in the model.
Where are the giraffes hiding? Predictive tracking tech points the way
- Researchers have combined tagging technology, satellite data and machine learning to create a model that predicts the potential locations of unknown populations of reticulated giraffes in Africa.
- The model also predicts suitable habitats where giraffes could be moved to for conservation purposes.
- Reticulated giraffes are endangered, with their populations declining due to habitat loss triggered by deforestation, urbanization and agricultural expansion.
- Findings from the model have estimated huge swaths of suitable habitats in Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia; they’ve also contributed to the translocation of 14 giraffes to Angola, from where the animals were driven out by conflict years back.
To protect the oceans, we must map them (commentary)
- About 80% of our oceans remain “unmapped, unobserved, and unexplored,” according to NOAA.
- Technologies like un-crewed marine drones, high-resolution satellites, and remote operating vehicles are now being paired with modern digital mapping techniques to reveal critical new insights about the oceans.
- “Considering we’ve barely mapped a quarter of [the oceans] so far, imagine what we could know, what we could prepare for, if every inch was mapped,” a new op-ed suggests.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.
Wildlife management platform EarthRanger goes mobile with new app
- Since it was launched in 2017, the EarthRanger software has helped protected-area managers, law enforcement agencies and wildlife conservationists to collect, visualize and track data from the field on a single platform.
- In a bid to be nimbler, the software has now gone mobile with an app that builds on the functions of the web-based platform; it also helps rangers use their phones as tracking devices.
- The app has already been used to track elephants as well as rangers in Kenya’s Maasai Mara, as well as to plan the response to an oil spill off the coast of the Philippines.
Oil palms may be magnet for macaques, boars, at expense of other biodiversity
- A new study documents the “hyperabundance” of two generalist mammals around oil palm plantations in Southeast Asia, highlighting the indirect ecological impacts of oil palm expansion across the region.
- The research team found local numbers of wild pigs and macaques “exploded” in proximity to oil palm plantations, where they believe the animals derive enormous fitness benefits by consuming high-calorie palm fruit.
- Scientists caution that while these species can aggregate in some areas, their overall numbers are in decline due to a wide range of threats, including habitat loss, environmental degradation, disease outbreak, and poaching for the pet trade and biomedical research.
- The researchers call for the establishment of buffer zones around oil palm plantations and avoiding encroachment into intact forest as a way to address any problems arising from negative human-wildlife interactions and ecological impacts.
Machine learning helps researchers identify underground fungal networks
- Researchers are using remote-sensing technology and machine-learning algorithms to map and predict the presence of mycorrhizal fungi in ecosystems around the world.
- The Society for the Protection of Underground Networks (SPUN) is an initiative that aims to map the distribution of fungal networks to spread awareness and advocate for their protection.
- Mycorrhizal fungi form symbiotic relationships with plants, serving as a vital interface for transferring water and nutrients from the soil while also storing massive amounts of carbon underground.
- SPUN is also working to provide financial and technical support to researchers and local communities to help them map fungal networks in their home countries.
Funding circularity: Investing in Asia’s circular economy business models
- As global raw material consumption soars and pollution skyrockets, the need to transition from a consumptive linear economy to a circular one — centering on reduced resource extraction and reuse and recycling to achieve zero waste — has grown more urgent. But paying for that transition poses many challenges.
- Circulate Capital is a Singapore-based investment management firm that finds and funds companies in emerging economies that are developing innovative circular economy business models.
- The company currently invests in companies in South and Southeast Asia that have come up with effective solutions to prevent plastic waste from reaching the ocean. It’s also looking to expand to Latin America.
- “It’s a whole way of creating value that decouples the extraction of resources from the environment and finding ways of making those resources more productive,” Ellen Martin, chief impact officer at Circulate Capital, told Mongabay.
AI unlocks secrets of Amazon river dolphins’ behavior, no tagging required
- Freshwater dolphins in the Amazon Basin navigate through flooded forests during the wet season using their flexible bodies and echolocation clicks.
- Researchers have combined advanced acoustic monitoring and AI to study the habits of endangered pink river dolphins (boto) and tucuxi in seasonally flooded habitats.
- They used hydrophones to record sounds in various habitats and employed convolutional neural networks (CNN) to classify the sounds as either echolocation clicks, boat engine noises, or rain — with high accuracy.
- Understanding the dolphins’ movements and behaviors can aid conservation efforts to protect these endangered species, as they face various threats such as fishing entanglement, dam construction, mining, agriculture and cattle ranching.
When wildlife surveillance tech ‘watches’ people
- Conservation technologies such as camera traps, drones and acoustic sensors, are playing a greater role in protecting endangered species, preventing poaching, finding rare plants, tackling forest fires, and monitoring changes in forests and oceans.
- However, researchers and communities say these technologies are also increasingly playing a role in human surveillance, infringing on privacy, exasperating human conflicts with conservation, and posing serious social and ethical implications through their use.
- As conservation technologies increasingly monitor people much the same way CCTV cameras do, their use must be subjected to similar ethical guidelines of other public surveillance tech — which they lack, say researchers.
- Some researchers have drawn up checklists of best practices, such as getting consent from nearby communities, being transparent about how the technology will be used, not using human images opportunistically, and using tech only when there’s no alternative, less-intrusive way of collecting data.
‘Immense potential’ in tech: Q&A with Wildlife Drones CEO Debbie Saunders
- Drones have long been used to visually document and monitor wildlife, but an Australian startup is using the technology to listen for radio signals emitted from tagged wild animals.
- Wildlife Drones combines drone technology with radio telemetry to allow scientists and researchers to track the movements of birds and mammals in the wild.
- The technology, which has already been used in Vietnam, Australia, New Zealand and the U.S., enables researchers to expand the area they can monitor while tracking multiple animals at the same time.
Genetically engineered trees stoke climate hope — and environmental fears
- U.S. climate technology startup Living Carbon has been developing genetically engineered poplar trees that it says can absorb more carbon – a potential tool in the climate crisis.
- Some experts say the company lacks long-term field data and is rushing to commercialize its “supertrees,” potentially putting other species at risk.
- Despite such concerns, Living Carbon is going ahead and planting mixed forests that include its GE trees, funded by carbon offsets.
XPRIZE Rainforest finalists named for top conservation technology award
- The California-based XPRIZE Foundation that organizes competitions incentivizing innovations in health, energy and other sectors, has announced the six finalists for its rainforest biodiversity competition.
- Aimed at developing novel technologies for biodiversity mapping, XPRIZE Rainforest comes with a $10 million prize.
- Mongabay staff writer Abhishyant Kidangoor attended the semifinals in Singapore last month and spoke with Peter Houlihan, executive vice president of biodiversity and conservation at XPRIZE, to learn more about why the competition was launched and how, as Houlihan says, it has become a movement.
Virtual fences can benefit both ranchers and wildlife
- Virtual fencing manages livestock using GPS-linked collars to train animals to stay within a set boundary, similar to an invisible dog fence.
- Coupled with the removal of existing barbed-wire fencing, it could open up whole landscapes for wildlife by removing injurious barriers for migratory herds, reducing mortality from fence strikes for numerous bird species, and protecting sensitive habitats from trampling by cattle.
- Virtual fences are easily moved with a tap on an app, and can be used to improve pasture management through rotational grazing, reduce wildfire risk, and other benefits.
- These systems are cheaper than building and maintaining physical fences, and are already in use in the U.S., U.K., Australia and Norway.
Tag team effort brings tech to aid leatherback turtle conservation
- In Puerto Rico, scientists and conservationists are deploying drones and satellite tags to gather data about leatherback sea turtles.
- Leatherback sea turtles, the largest species of turtles in the world, have seen their populations decline due to poaching, habitat loss and bycatch in fishing nets.
- Two teams are now collaborating to use drones to identify nesting sites in Maunabo in Puerto Rico.
- They’re also tagging the animals to understand more about their migration patterns once they leave the nesting beach.
New Tree Tech: Real-time, long-term, high-tech reforestation monitoring
- This four-part Mongabay mini-series examines the latest technological solutions to help tree-planting projects achieve scale and long-term efficiency. Using these innovative approaches could be vital for meeting international targets to repair degraded ecosystems, sequester carbon, and restore biodiversity.
- Many people see reforestation as a quick fix to the climate emergency, but tree-planting projects often fail to put in place the monitoring programs needed to track newly planted forests. Traditionally, forest monitoring has been done by hand, one tree at a time, which is extremely expensive and time-consuming.
- Satellites are mapping and remapping the entire planet daily, providing real-time data that can be used to monitor forests remotely. Drones can fly over or through forests to collect data on tree growth, bridging the gap between on-site measurements and distant satellites.
- Sensors can be installed to monitor individual trees directly, while people can collect and analyze the data electronically from a safer and easier-to-access location. Multiple sensors can form a distributed network that returns detailed information on the growth of each tree within huge reforestation plots.
Drones improve counts of rare Cao-vit gibbon, identify conservation priorities
- A survey using drones has come up with a more accurate, albeit smaller, population estimate for the critically endangered Cao-vit gibbon in the border region between Vietnam and China.
- Researchers emphasize the lower estimate isn’t the result of a population decline, citing the discovery of new gibbon groups.
- The finding, they say, “feeds into our assessments of how viable the population is [and] helps us decide what conservation actions are the most urgent.”
- The survey is the latest to underscore the “limitless” utility of drones and their growing importance in wildlife surveys and wildlife research in general.
New Tree Tech: Cutting-edge drones give reforestation a helping hand
- This four-part Mongabay mini-series examines the latest technological solutions to help tree-planting projects achieve scale and long-term efficiency. Using these innovative approaches could be vital for meeting international targets to repair degraded ecosystems, sequester carbon, and restore biodiversity.
- Restoring hundreds of millions of hectares of lost and degraded forest worldwide will require a gigantic effort, a challenge made doubly hard by the fact that many sites are inaccessible by road, stopping manual replanting projects in their tracks.
- Manual planting is labor-intensive and slow. Drone seeding uses the latest in robotic technology to deliver seeds directly to where they’re needed. Drones can drop seeds along a predefined route, working together in a “swarm” to complete the task with a single human supervisor overseeing the process.
- Drone-dropped seed success rates are lower than for manually planted seedlings, but biotech solutions are helping. Specially designed pods encase the seeds in a tailored mix of nutrients to help them thrive. Drones are tech-intensive, and still available mostly in industrialized countries, but could one day help reseed forests worldwide.
Biological field stations: Indispensable but ‘invisible’
- Biological field stations are critical to conservation research and rewilding efforts, yet they’re often overlooked in discussions of global environmental policy.
- Beside their visibility problem, reduced funding is a major challenge for most research stations, yet their impact has been measurable in places such as southwestern Peru and in Costa Rica.
- Joining the Mongabay Newscast to discuss the importance of field research stations — and the conservation successes they’ve fostered in nations like Costa Rica — is wildlife ecologist and director of Osa Conservation, Andrew Whitworth.
- “With the climate and biodiversity crises, we need field stations more than ever, yet they’re often under threat of being closed,” Whitworth says in calling for greater philanthropic support for this global network of research hubs.
New Tree Tech: Data-driven reforestation methods match trees to habitats
- This four-part Mongabay mini-series examines the latest technological solutions to help tree-planting projects achieve scale and long-term efficiency. Using these innovative approaches could be vital for meeting international targets to repair degraded ecosystems, sequester carbon, and restore biodiversity.
- To create healthy, diverse ecosystems, native tree species need to be identified that will thrive at each unique site within a habitat. But with more than 70,000 tree species worldwide, gathering and analyzing the data needed to understand species’ needs, habitat preferences and limitations is no small feat.
- Environmental niche models use data on climate, soil conditions and other characteristics within a species’ range to calculate a tree’s requirements. Artificial intelligence helps sort through vast data sets to make informed predictions about the species suited to an ecosystem, now and in a warmer future.
- Biotechnology company Spades uses laboratory testing of tissue samples from plant species to quantify what growing conditions a species can tolerate and to identify its optimum growing conditions.
New Tree Tech: AI, drones, satellites and sensors give reforestation a boost
- This four-part Mongabay mini-series examines the latest technological solutions to help tree-planting projects achieve scale and long-term efficiency. Using these innovative approaches could be vital for meeting international targets to repair degraded ecosystems, sequester carbon, and restore biodiversity.
- Current forest restoration efforts fall far short of international goals, and behind the hype lies a string of failed projects and unintended environmental consequences that have left a bad taste in the mouths of many investors, politicians and conservationists. Projects are often expensive and labor-intensive.
- Applying cutting-edge technology to the problem is helping: Advanced computer modeling and machine learning can aid tree-planting initiatives in identifying a diverse set of native species best able to thrive in unique local conditions, today and in a warming future.
- Drones are revolutionizing large-scale tree planting, especially in remote and inaccessible locations. Once trees are planted, satellite-based and on-site sensors can help monitor young forests — offering long-term scrutiny and protection often missing from traditional reforestation initiatives, and at a lower cost.
Scientists hope to tech the heck out of eDNA sampling with drones, robots
- The collection of DNA samples with the assistance of drones and robots was a recurring theme at the semifinals of a $10 million competition to identify automated rainforest conservation solutions.
- At least half of the 13 teams used drones and robots to retrieve genetic samples left behind by wildlife on tree canopies, water and air.
- As the field of environmental DNA, or eDNA, evolves, there’s rising interest in using automated technology to collect samples from difficult terrain.
- While limitations continue to exist, scientists say they’re hopeful that the gaps will be filled as the field of eDNA continues to grow.
Sounds of the soil: A new tool for conservation?
- Researchers are discovering that listening to the soil can be a way to understand biodiversity belowground without having to overturn every bit of the land.
- Studies have shown that soils of restored forest areas have both more complex sounds and more critters than soils of degraded sites.
- Soils of intensively managed agricultural lands, also appear to be quieter, indicating that soil sounds could be a proxy for soil health.
- Some researchers are also using sounds to identify distinct species in the soil, which could open up lots of possibilities for both pest management and wildlife conservation.
Air pollution sensors found to store crucial biodiversity data
- A team of scientists have discovered that two air quality monitoring stations in the U.K. also collected DNA samples that could benefit biodiversity monitoring.
- Scientists analyzed DNA samples trapped in the two air pollution sensors and identified 180 taxa of mammals, plants, birds and invertebrates.
- The findings signal the presence of a trove of biodiversity data hidden in air pollution sensors around the world.
- The sampling and analysis of airborne DNA is a relatively new methodology to survey biodiversity; experts say further studies are required to determine its wider applications.
Meet the tech projects competing for a $10m prize to save rainforests
- Thirteen teams took part in the semifinals of a $10 million competition that aims to identify technologies that would automate the assessment of rainforest biodiversity.
- During the semifinals in Singapore, a wide array of projects that incorporated drones, robots and machine learning were tested by the teams.
- The teams that move to the next round, to be announced in July, will get one year to improve their projects ahead of the finals in 2024.
Can an app help Liberian artisanal fishers fight illegal fishing?
- Small-scale fishers in Liberia are using a data collection platform to document cases of illegal activity at sea.
- Artisanal fishers have long borne the brunt of illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, some of it occurring within an inshore exclusion zone that extends 6 nautical miles from shore.
- Through the use of a mobile app called DASE, released by the NGO Environmental Justice Foundation, local fishers can geotag images and videos of incidents at sea and submit them to the National Fisheries and Aquaculture Authority for verification and possible investigation.
- Though the app has not resulted in any prosecutions yet, fishers say it is having a deterrent effect on illegal activities.
Strengthening crops with insect exoskeletons? Study says yes, by way of the soil
- Supplementing soil with insects’ cast-off outer skin after a molt can help increase plant biomass, the number of flowers, pollinator attraction, seed production, and even resilience to insect herbivore attacks, according to researchers.
- Farmers are already using insects, in particular the black soldier fly, for livestock feed and waste reduction, and this new use could help the transition to a more sustainable and circular agricultural system, scientists say.
- Along with further investments in research and development, a higher uptake in insect farming practices, by both small and industrial farmers, will improve for boosting crop productivity within circular agriculture.
New digital tool maps blue carbon ecosystems in high resolution
- The Blue Carbon Explorer, a digital tool developed by the nonprofit Nature Conservancy and the Earth-imaging company Planet, combines satellite imagery, drone footage and fieldwork to map mangroves and seagrass in the Caribbean, Papua New Guinea and Indonesia.
- The tool aims to help scientists, conservationists and governments gauge mangrove health and identify areas in need of restoration.
- The Blue Carbon Explorer comes at a time of growing interest in blue carbon ecosystems as potential nature-based solutions for climate change.
Seeking environmental DNA in Himalayan rivers: Q&A with Adarsh Man Sherchan
- Conservation geneticist Adarsh Man Sherchan is one of the leading experts keeping track of the impacts that Nepal’s dozens of dams are having on freshwater species.
- The Himalayan country has more than 120 hydroelectricity plants, many of which were built without prior aquatic biodiversity assessments.
- With advances in assessment technologies, notably environmental DNA (eDNA), and a growing cohort of trained experts like Sherchan, there’s a greater focus on identifying and mitigating the impacts of dams on river life.
- In an interview with Mongabay, Sherchan talks about why eDNA is a gamechanger for monitoring species, the process of getting eDNA samples from rivers, and why jeans and flip-flops are a no-go for fieldwork.
Competing for rainforest conservation: Q&A with XPRIZE’s Kevin Marriott
- The semifinal testing for a $10 million competition to identify technology that automates the assessment of rainforest biodiversity is underway in Singapore.
- The five-year competition is organized by California-based nonprofit XPRIZE Foundation.
- From robotic dogs to drones and novel methods to gather environmental DNA, 13 teams are competing for a place in the finals next year.
Woodpeckers for fire recovery? A new online tool tells you how
- An online tool maps and predicts the presence of black-backed woodpeckers (Picoides arcticus) in newly burned forests in California.
- The tool aims to aid fire managers in incorporating the protection of these birds into their efforts to revive burned forests.
- Black-backed woodpeckers thrive in the diverse ecosystem left behind by wildfires, but fire suppression efforts and salvage logging often disturb their habitats.
- Through the case study of black-backed woodpeckers, the tool aims to illustrate how wildlife conservation and pyrodiversity (the variation in which fires burn landscapes) should be incorporated into fire management efforts around the world.
A Twitter bot tracks meat production in the Brazilian Amazon
- An online tool developed last year by the NGO Global Witness aims to monitor and expose deforestation linked to the indirect supply chain of Brazilian meat company JBS.
- Brazil Big Beef Watch, a Twitter bot, uses satellite data and cattle transit permit data to identify whether a ranch where deforestation was detected is part of JBS’s supply chain.
- Environmentalists have often criticized JBS, the world’s biggest meat producer, for being opaque about its indirect supply chain and its inability to take action.
- The new tool, Global Witness says, aims to serve as a way to call on JBS to take action and for the company’s financers to stop backing it until JBS can prove that its supply chain is deforestation-free.
Targeting 3% of protected areas could accelerate progress on 30×30 goals, says Global Conservation’s Jeff Morgan
- In December, world leaders adopted the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, targeting the conservation of 30% of Earth by 2030.
- However, Jeff Morgan, founder of Global Conservation, points out that simply designating protected areas is not enough to safeguard nature. His organization, therefore, focuses on strengthening protection within UNESCO World Heritage Sites in lower and middle-income countries, utilizing cost-effective technologies for law enforcement against poaching, illegal logging, and more.
- Global Conservation currently operates across 22 national parks and 10 marine parks in 14 countries and aims to expand its work to 100 sites by 2033. Morgan believes that this focus on existing national parks and habitats is the most efficient and cost-effective way to achieve climate goals.
- Morgan recently spoke with Mongabay founder Rhett A. Butler about Global Conservation’s approach.
Global Ocean Census aims to find 100,000 marine species in 10 years
- A new initiative called the Ocean Census aims to expand marine biodiversity knowledge by finding 100,000 new marine species within a decade.
- It will send scientists on dozens of expeditions at marine biodiversity hotspots and use advanced technology like high-resolution imagery, DNA sequencing and machine learning, to identify new species.
- Scientists estimate that only about 10% of marine species have been formally described, and about 2 million species have yet to be identified.
The more degraded a forest, the quieter its wildlife, new study shows
- Tropical forest researchers are increasingly using bioacoustics to record and analyze ecosystem soundscapes, the sounds that animals make, which in turn can be used as a proxy for forest health.
- Researchers studying soundscapes in logged rainforests in Indonesian Borneo have tested a novel approach that could provide a reliable and low-cost way for conservation agencies and communities to monitor tropical forest health.
- Their new method, which partitions animal groups into broad acoustic frequency classes, offers a stop-gap method for measuring acoustic activity that could be used in the short-term until more detailed artificial intelligence and machine-learning technology is developed.
- During their study, they found that animal sounds diminished and became asynchronous in forests disturbed by selective logging, factors that could be used as proxies for disturbed habitats.
Feathered forecast: Tech tools comb weather data for bird migrations
- Since its launch in 1999, the BirdCast project has used weather radar data to track and forecast bird migrations across the U.S.
- In recent years, technology such as cloud computing and machine learning have helped make the work of researchers in the project easier and more automated.
- Studying bird migrations is essential not only to help protect them, but to also analyze and understand environmental health.
- The BirdCast project is now working on integrating radar data with human observations and bioacoustics to help identify the bird species traversing the skies.
Return of the GEDI: Space-based, forest carbon-mapping laser array saved
- Since 2018, the GEDI mission has been firing lasers from the International Space Station to measure aboveground biomass on Earth.
- The information gleaned from it has been crucial for scientists to understand how deforestation contributes to worsening climate change.
- The mission was supposed to be decommissioned earlier this year, with the lasers fated to be jettisoned from the ISS and burned up in the atmosphere.
- However, NASA made a last-minute decision to extend the mission after a push from the scientists involved in it: the GEDI equipment will be put into storage for 18 months, then reinstated to resume operations for as long as the ISS continues to run.
Roads, human activity take a toll on red pandas: Q&A with researcher Damber Bista
- Damber Bista is a Nepali conservation scientist studying the country’s population of red pandas, an endangered species.
- He says there needs to be much more work done to protect the species, given that 70% of their habitat falls outside of protected areas.
- In an interview with Mongabay, Bista talks about the added stress that habitat fragmentation is putting on juvenile red pandas, the need for landscape-level conservation measures, and the importance of long-term studies.
Uterine implants and underwater ultrasounds aim to demystify shark births
- For years, studying the reproductive biology of sharks has depended on capturing the animals and dissecting them.
- Scientists recently developed the Birth Alert Tag, an egg-shaped satellite transmitter that can be implanted in the uterus of pregnant sharks to document the location and timing of births.
- In another development, scientists took ultrasound readings of whale sharks and sampled their blood to detect if they were pregnant.
- The new methods aim to help researchers determine sharks’ pregnancy status and the location of shark births; one goal is to inform the establishment of corridors to protect the animals, which are among the most vulnerable vertebrates on Earth.
As conservation technology grows, so does Mongabay’s coverage
- Mongabay’s new staff writer covering conservation technology joins the podcast to discuss this fast-growing field.
- Abhishyant “Abhi” Kidangoor has joined the newsroom after working as a reporter for Time in Hong Kong and New York, covering subjects from COVID-19 to the Hong Kong protests of 2019.
- From AI to eDNA, remote sensing and bioacoustics, Abhi discusses the range of conservation technology topics he’s tackling and what stories have surprised him the most.
Bioacoustics in your backyard: Q&A with conservation technologist Topher White
- Delta, a new eco-device, allows people to record the sounds of wildlife that live in and visit their backyards.
- Developed by conservation technologist Topher White, Delta combines the tools of bioacoustics and artificial intelligence.
- Delta is part of White’s larger mission to document the drastically changing state of global biodiversity.
To save Hainan gibbons, Earth’s rarest primate, experts roll out the big tech
- As scientists and the Chinese government ramp up efforts to protect the critically endangered Hainan gibbon, technology is playing an important part in helping track and monitor the species better.
- In recent years, bioacoustics, infrared technology and machine learning are among the tools that have been used to make data collection and analysis easier in the study of Hainan gibbons.
- According to estimates, there are only 35 or 36 individuals of the species left, limited to Bawangling National Nature Reserve in China’s Hainan province.
Scientists map nearly 10 billion trees, stored carbon, in Africa’s drylands
- A recent study has mapped the locations of 9.9 billion trees across Africa’s drylands, a region below the Sahara Desert and north of the equator.
- The research, which combined satellite mapping, machine learning and field measurements, led to an estimate of 840 million metric tons of carbon contained in the trees.
- This figure is much lower than the amount of carbon held in Africa’s tropical rainforests.
- However, these trees provide critical biodiversity habitat and help boost agricultural productivity, and this method provides a tool to track both degradation and tree-planting efforts in the region.
Carbon market intermediaries act with little transparency, according to report
- A new report reveals that few of the brokers, resellers and cryptocurrency vendors that act as intermediaries in the voluntary carbon market reveal the commissions and markups on the credits they buy and sell.
- This lack of transparency makes it difficult, if not impossible, to accurately assess how much money from these purchases is finding its way to climate mitigation efforts.
- The report calls on intermediaries to disclose their fees and on supporting organizations to share more information about these transactions, with the goal of illuminating the true potential impact of the voluntary carbon market on climate change.
Machine learning makes long-term, expansive reef monitoring possible
- Conservationists can now monitor climate impacts to expansive marine ecosystems over extended periods of time, a task that used to be impossible, using a tool developed by scientists in the U.S.
- The machine learning tool, called Delta Maps, provides a new way to assess which reefs might be best suited for survival, and which play a key role in delivering larvae to others, and therefore should be targeted for preservation efforts, according to the scientists.
- The scientists used the tool to examine the impacts of climate change on connectivity and biodiversity in the Pacific Ocean’s Coral Triangle, the planet’s most diverse and biologically complex marine ecosystem.
- The authors also noted that the Coral Triangle had more opportunities for rebuilding biodiversity, thanks to the region’s dynamic climate component, than anywhere else on the planet.
Carbon markets entice, but confuse, corporations: Report
- A new report from the environmental nonprofit Conservation International and the We Mean Business Coalition, a partnership of climate NGOs, found that many corporations are interested in using carbon markets to address their emissions.
- The report, released Jan. 12, drew from the responses of 502 managers in charge of sustainability at companies in the U.S., U.K. and Europe.
- Carbon markets, which allow businesses and individuals to offset their emissions by supporting projects aimed at, say, reducing tropical deforestation, are seen by some as a necessary step to reducing carbon emissions globally.
- However, others see carbon markets and the credits they sell as a tool that allows companies to continue releasing carbon with little benefit to the overall climate.
Murdered Belize environmentalist helped boost marine conservation through technology
- Jon Ramnarace, who worked on protected area patrol and marine conservation technology, was shot and killed alongside his brother David in Belmopan on December 31.
- The main suspect, police corporal Elmer Nah, was taken into custody in January and charged with two counts of murder and attempted murder, deadly means of harm and dangerous harm.
- Ramnarace dedicated his life to protecting land and marine habitats in Central America, most recently in the Turneffe Atoll off the Belizean coast.
Accelerating biodiversity-positive impact: A conversation with Silverstrand Capital’s Kelvin Chiu
- Last month, delegates meeting at the United Nations Biodiversity Conference reached agreement on a plan to protect and restore 30 percent of the world’s land and ocean by 2030. The accord was widely seen as a positive development for efforts to address the global extinction crisis, which often struggles to attract the public’s attention and investment relative to climate change.
- Recognizing the importance of accelerating investment and innovation in biodiversity conservation, Silverstrand Capital–a Singapore-based family office–last year launched a program that provides capital, in-kind services and coaching, and other forms of support to companies and organizations that are developing “biodiversity-positive” solutions.
- “Climate action is important, but climate is just one aspect of planetary health,” said Silverstrand Capital’s Founder Kelvin Chiu. “Collectively we should widen our perspectives beyond carbon. Nature is inherently complex, and biodiversity as a metric captures such complexity more holistically than carbon.”
- Chiu recently spoke with Mongabay about the importance of biodiversity, obstacles in bringing biodiversity solutions to scale, and creating biodiversity-positive impact.
New app tells donors what communities need to stop deforestation: Q&A with Health In Harmony
- Nonprofit organization Health In Harmony has been working with rainforest communities to improve access to health care, education and alternative sources of income, and now has a new app to directly connect donors to communities.
- The organization aims to work on intersectional solutions to help communities improve their lives while also weaning them off practices that drive deforestation.
- Health In Harmony’s new app, which includes images and video, enables people from around the world to make donations to implement community-driven solutions.
Democratizing the deep sea: Q&A with Ocean Discovery League’s Katy Croff Bell
- The current expense of studying the deep seas stymies many research initiatives, so scientists have developed a low-cost imaging and sensor device to make access to the deep sea more equal.
- Developed using off-the-shelf hardware, “Maka Niu” can capture images and collect data on temperature and salinity down to a depth of 1,500 meters, or nearly a mile.
- Scientists in countries like the Maldives, Seychelles and South Africa are now deploying prototypes to provide feedback for the final product.
The least social of the African antelopes: the bushbuck | Candid Animal Cam
- Every two weeks, Mongabay brings you a new episode of Candid Animal Cam, our show featuring animals caught on camera traps around the world and hosted by Romi Castagnino, our writer and conservation scientist.
A bittersweet bioacoustics bonanza
- After six years and 150+ episodes, podcast host Mike Gaworecki is putting his microphone down. The show will go on, but will miss his expertise and command of conservation science's myriad facets.
- One of his favorite topics to cover on the show over the years has been bioacoustics, the use of acoustic recording technology to study the behavior, distribution, and abundance of wildlife.
- For his final episode hosting the Mongabay Newscast, Mike shares an array of his favorite bioacoustics interviews that illustrate the breadth and potential of this powerful conservation technology.
- Over half a million downloads later, listen to his bittersweet farewell thoughts, and the range of recordings--from forest elephants to the Big Apple's resident dolphins--he shares, here on this page, or find the Mongabay Newscast via your favorite podcast provider.
Airbus Foundation looks to put satellites to new biodiversity conservation uses
- The Connected Conservation Foundation and the Airbus Foundation are currently accepting proposals for an award to support the use of satellite imagery for biodiversity conservation.
- The competition winners will receive access to Airbus’s Pléiades and Pléiades Neo satellite constellations and $5,000 in financing.
- The satellites deliver images with resolutions down to 30 centimeters (12 inches) and could be used in applications such as anti-poaching, forest monitoring, and species population assessments.
Lianas affect forest carbon uptake differently by region, study shows
- A new study has revealed that vine-like lianas typically infest smaller trees in Southeast Asia, in sharp contrast to prior findings in the Neotropics.
- Scientists have long known that lianas can impede tree growth, alter forest composition and structure, and reduce the amount of carbon stored in aboveground tree biomass.
- The study suggests that lianas play different ecological roles in forests in different parts of the world, and therefore affect forest carbon sequestration in variable ways.
- The study authors say that despite their negative effects on forest carbon, lianas are still essential components of natural ecosystems, and managers should apply a targeted, precautionary approach to cutting.
Tech companies work to make fishing, aquaculture more sustainable
- Several companies around the world are developing technology to make fishing and aquaculture more sustainable.
- These include the use of artificial intelligence to identify non-native species that disrupt marine food webs and the fisheries they support, and lights that attempt to attract only target species to fishing nets in a bid to reduce the capture of non-targeted species.
- With the rapidly increasing global population underscoring the need to source protein more sustainably, experts say it’s urgent to find ways to make fishing less damaging and more productive.
Forest management tool could help rein in rampant wildlife trade in Bangladesh
- The Bangladesh Forest Department has introduced a Spatial Monitoring and Reporting Tool (SMART) to help stop wildlife trafficking in several of the country’s protected forest areas.
- The pilot program follows the success of SMART technology used in the world’s largest mangrove forest, the Sundarbans, where a University of Calcutta study shows illegal logging and poaching have dropped significantly since the introduction of the tool.
- According to the Wildlife Conservation Society, major gaps in information about wildlife trade chains hamper the government’s ability to stop wildlife crimes.
- Experts say SMART patrolling should be introduced in protected forest areas across the country.
New app transforms data gathering for wildlife in Papua New Guinea
- A new app, developed in-house, has made documenting biodiversity easier and more efficient for the staff of the Tenkile Conservation Alliance in Papua New Guinea.
- The Protected Areas Management (PAM) app allows staff to record observations while in the field, facilitating the use of photos and videos, and automatically logging other information such as location and elevation.
- Since its launch, the app has encouraged staff to record more species and has made it easier for female staff in a generally patriarchal society to document and share their findings.
- The TCA says its working to make the app available to other conservation organizations within the next year.
Will shipping noise nudge Africa’s only penguin toward extinction?
- The African penguin (Spheniscus demersus) is expected to go extinct in the wild in just over a decade, largely due to a lack of sardines, their main food.
- A colony in South Africa’s busy Algoa Bay is suffering a population crash that researchers say coincides with the introduction of ship-to-ship refueling services that have made the bay one of the noisiest in the world.
- They say theirs is the first study showing a correlation between underwater noise pollution and a seabird collapse.
- Current studies are investigating whether the ship noise is interfering with the penguins’ foraging behavior and their ability to find fish.
Escape into nature’s soundscapes
- Mongabay's podcast explores the growing field of bioacoustics often, and an important subset of this discipline is soundscape recording.
- Healthy ecosystems are often noisy places: from reefs to grasslands and forests, these are sonically rich ecosystems, thanks to all the species present.
- Sound recordist George Vlad travels widely and on this special episode he plays soundscape recordings from Brazil's Javari Valley and a rainforest clearing in the Congo Basin, and describes how they were captured.
- Recording soundscapes of such places is one way to ensure we don’t forget what a full array of birds, bats, bugs, and more sounds like, despite the biodiversity crisis.
Breeding success raises hopes for future of endangered African penguin
- Two African penguin chicks have hatched at a nature reserve in South Africa where conservationists have been working for years to entice the endangered birds to breed.
- The colony was abandoned more than 10 years ago after a caracal killed a number of penguins.
- The recent hatching comes at a time when survival prospects for Africa’s only resident penguin species look grim, due mainly to declining food stocks.
- But encouraging new colonies at sites close to abundant food sources could help to bring the species back from the brink.
Let’s use smart tech solutions to deal with climate change, too (commentary)
- A major solution to fix aging infrastructure to adapt to climate change realities is building smarter – not bigger.
- When it comes to choosing the right technology to implement, we should look for solutions that offer monitoring, alerting, and reporting capabilities in a secure manner.
- “Smart solutions promise a brand new world in which climate change can be mitigated by the collective [by] capturing real-time data from energy, water and waste utilities, municipalities and organizations [to] find and implement solutions that alleviate climate change-related problems,” a new op-ed argues.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.
A flying robot swoops in via Quebec to save endangered plants in Hawai‘i
- Surveying and collecting rare plant species that grow on steep cliffs has been a risky affair for scientists and conservationists for hundreds of years.
- The world’s first aerial sampling system that comprises a robotic arm suspended from a drone is trying to solve the problem in Hawai‘i.
- Conservationists control the Mamba robotic arm via remote control to identify and cut samples from rare plant species.
- The tool has enabled scientists to collect endangered species from vertical terrain and grow them in nurseries.
LED lights could contribute to massive carbon reductions
- The world has been shifting away from wasteful incandescent and harmful fluorescent lights and increasingly adopting light-emitting diode (LED) technology, which promises to reduce carbon emissions.
- Yet despite widespread adoption of the technology, virtually no LEDs are currently recycled or reused for their parts.
- To counter this problem, researchers are exploring ways in which LEDs can be designed for reuse and repair, as well as improving the efficiency of recycling.
Technology makes studying wildlife easier, but access isn’t equal
- Studying primates and other wildlife in nature has long been a challenge owing to their diverse habitats and limitations on established research patterns.
- But a pair of recent studies highlights how the emergence of new technology, ranging from camera traps to drones, has made the work easier in recent years.
- Still, exorbitant costs and lack of technical know-how mean the technology isn’t easily accessible to researchers across the world.
On the roof of the world, water is life. Or a sign of it, thanks to eDNA
- A first-of-its-kind expedition in 2019 attempted to map the biodiversity on Mount Everest by using environmental DNA, or eDNA.
- With eDNA, the team was able to detect species that would have been hard to observe visually.
- The findings aim to serve as baseline data for future expeditions that study how climate change is reshaping life on the world’s highest peak.
Wild cats threatened by ‘underrecognized’ risk of spillover disease
- Researchers warn that disease spillover from livestock and domestic animals represents a serious conservation threat to wildlife, including felids in tropical areas around the world. Spillover is most likely to occur on rapidly advancing forest-agricultural frontiers or within fragmented habitats.
- Tracking the spillover and spread of diseases from humans and domestic animals to wildlife is extremely challenging, particularly among wild felid species, which tend to be secretive and solitary, making ongoing observation difficult.
- Possible cases of disease spillover have been documented in wild cats in India, Malaysian Borneo, Thailand, Brazil, Ecuador, Costa Rica, Russia and Nepal. These are likely the tip of the iceberg, say scientists, who believe much disease among wild species is going undetected, with case numbers and outbreaks unknown.
- Scientists stress the need for greater health monitoring of wildlife to reduce this “invisible threat.” But funding for health testing is often scant, and treatment difficult. One researcher sees disease transmission from domestic animals to wildlife as perhaps the most “underrecognized conservation threat today.”
The force is strong with space lasers helping researchers map the Amazon in 3D
- Since 2018, the GEDI mission has employed lasers on the International Space Station to measure the biomass density of forests on Earth.
- The information helps us understand how deforestation contributes to worsening climate change via increases in atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide.
- In the Amazon rainforest, data from the mission have highlighted specific areas that could benefit from carbon-based conservation.
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