To Reduce Wildlife Deaths Caused by Fences, Scientists Are Turning to AI
August 24th, 2024
Via Science.org, a look at how software trained to identify fences from aerial images could help wildlife managers prevent pronghorn from getting stuck and starving: As many as 1 million kilometers of fence may crisscross the western United States, enough to stretch to the Moon and back. Erected over the past century, largely to contain […]
Read More »Artificial Intelligence Could Soon Turn Anyone into an Expert Tracker
August 13th, 2024
Via Hakai Magazine, a look at how scientists are working on a machine learning tool that could, one day, identify individual animals from photographs of their footprints: Some wild animals are relatively easy to study. Certain penguin populations, for instance, are so unaccustomed to large predators that they barely fear humans and will often wander right up […]
Read More »In Brazil, Tech Is A New Frontier In Battles Over Indigenous Lands
July 25th, 2024
Via Dialogue Earth, a look at how – as illegal miners seek to profit from the Amazon, and NGOs to protect it – high-speed internet, AI and even Flight Simulator are emerging as tools for good and bad: A dirt runway near an illegal mining site in the Yanomami Indigenous territory, Roraima state, Brazil. In […]
Read More »AI, Data Analytics Help Create ‘Smart Rainforest’ in Australia
February 15th, 2024
Via Environment & Energy Leader, an article on the world’s first “smart rainforest,” where artificial intelligence and data is used to advance sustainable and cost-effective environmental restoration models across the globe:
In an era where technological innovation meets environmental stewardship, NTT Group has joined forces with ClimateForce, embarking on an ambitious journey to breathe new life into the Daintree Rainforest.
This partnership is set to unveil what it calls the world’s first “smart rainforest,” using artificial intelligence and data to advance sustainable and cost-effective environmental restoration models across the globe.
Advancing Forest Restoration with Technology
At the heart of this initiative lies the Smart Management Platform (SMP) technology, developed by NTT. This innovative platform is designed to rejuvenate a section of Australia’s Daintree Rainforest, previously compromised by agricultural activities and invasive plant species. The technology’s integration promises not only to regenerate the land but also to safeguard it against future ecological threats.ClimateForce, a point of light in environmental regeneration, has taken up the mantle to restore this section of the rainforest, located adjacent to the Great Barrier Reef. With NTT’s support, the project will utilize advanced AI, data analytics, and predictive analytics to evaluate and implement organic reforestation techniques.
This strategic approach aims to protect biodiversity, mitigate climate change effects, and bolster resilient local economies.
A Shared Vision for a Sustainable Future
The collaboration between NTT is a shared vision for sustainable advances and improving biodiversity.
Barney Swan, the CEO and co-founder of ClimateForce, expressed gratitude for the support from NTT and NTT DATA, emphasizing the project’s potential to accelerate their goals and develop replicable models for ecosystem regeneration worldwide.
NTT DATA’s involvement extends beyond technological support, contributing to operational and fundraising efforts. This collaboration was sparked by a previous sponsorship of an expedition advocating for sustainable practices in Antarctica, highlighting the long-standing commitment of both organizations to environmental sustainability.
By using advanced technology and fostering international cooperation with the creation of the smart rainforest in the Daintree, NTT and ClimateForce said they hope to set a precedent for global environmental restoration efforts. This project not only aims to restore an important ecosystem but also to inspire similar initiatives in other areas across the world, according to the organizers.
“NTT DATA met Barney through our sponsorship of his father’s Undaunted: South Pole 2023 expedition, which advocated for sustainable practices and long-term protections for Antarctica,” said Bob Pryor, CEO, NTT DATA Services. “We’re excited to extend this relationship and help ClimateForce with its mission in the tropics, which perfectly aligns with our own vision for realizing a sustainable future.”
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Read More »Decoding Animal Communication with A.I.
January 27th, 2024
Via Aspen Ideas, an interesting podcast on efforts to decode animal communication using A.I.:
Scientists could actually be close to being able to decode animal communication and figure out what animals are saying to each other. And more astonishingly, we might even find ways to talk back. The study of sonic communication in animals is relatively new, and researchers have made a lot of headway over the past few decades with recordings and human analysis. But recent advancements in artificial intelligence are opening doors to parsing animal communication in ways that haven’t been close to possible until now. In this talk from the 2023 Aspen Ideas Festival in partnership with Vox’s “Unexplainable” podcast, two experts on animal communication and the digital world come together to explain what may come next.
Tragically, a few months after this conversation was recorded in June, one of the panelists, Karen Bakker, passed away unexpectedly. Bakker was a professor at the University of British Columbia who looked at ways digital tools can address our most pressing problems. She also wrote the book “The Sounds of Life: How Digital Technology is Bringing Us Closer to the World of Animals and Plants.” The UBC Geography department wrote of Bakker: “We will remember Karen as multi-faceted and superbly talented in all realms.”
Aza Raskin, the co-founder of the Earth Species Project, a nonprofit trying to decode animal communication using A.I., joined Bakker for this discussion. The host of “Unexplainable,” Noam Hassenfeld, interviewed Bakker and Raskin.
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Read More »Five Ways AI Is Saving Wildlife
September 11th, 2023
Via The Guardian, a look at why artificial intelligence has been identified as one of the top three emerging technologies in conservation, helping protect species around the world:
There’s a strand of thinking, from sci-fi films to Stephen Hawking, that suggests artificial intelligence (AI) could spell doom for humans. But conservationists are increasingly turning to AI as an innovative tech solution to tackle the biodiversity crisis and mitigate climate change.
A recent report by Wildlabs.net found that AI was one of the top three emerging technologies in conservation. From camera trap and satellite images to audio recordings, the report notes: “AI can learn how to identify which photos out of thousands contain rare species; or pinpoint an animal call out of hours of field recordings – hugely reducing the manual labour required to collect vital conservation data.”
AI is helping to protect species as diverse as humpback whales, koalas and snow leopards, supporting the work of scientists, researchers and rangers in vital tasks, from anti-poaching patrols to monitoring species. With machine learning (ML) computer systems that use algorithms and models to learn, understand and adapt, AI is often able to do the job of hundreds of people, getting faster, cheaper and more effective results.
Here are five AI projects contributing to our understanding of biodiversity and species:
1. Stopping poachers
Zambia’s Kafue national park is home to more than 6,600 African savanna elephants and covers 22,400 sq km, so stopping poaching is a big logistical challenge. Illegal fishing in Lake Itezhi-Tezhi on the park’s border is also a problem, and poachers masquerade as fishers to enter and exit the park undetected, often under the cover of darkness.Automated alerts mean that just a handful of rangers are needed to provide around-the-clock surveillance. Photograph: Game Rangers International
The Connected Conservation Initiative, from Game Rangers International (GRI), Zambia’s Department of National Parks and Wildlife and other partners, is using AI to enhance conventional anti-poaching efforts, creating a 19km-long virtual fence across Lake Itezhi-Tezhi. Forward-looking infrared (FLIR) thermal cameras record every boat crossing in and out of the park, day and night.Installed in 2019, the cameras were monitored manually by rangers, who could then respond to signs of illegal activity. FLIR AI has now been trained to automatically detect boats entering the park, increasing effectiveness and reducing the need for constant manual surveillance. Waves and flying birds can also trigger alerts, so the AI is being taught to eliminate these false readings.
“There have long been insufficient resources to secure protected areas, and having people watch multiple cameras 24/7 doesn’t scale,” says Ian Hoad, special technical adviser at GRI. “AI can be a gamechanger, as it can monitor for illegal boat crossings and alert ranger teams immediately. The technology has enabled a handful of rangers to provide around-the-clock surveillance of a massive illegal entry point across Lake Itezhi-Tezhi.”
2. Tracking water loss
Brazil has lost more than 15% of its surface water in the past 30 years, a crisis that has only come to light with the help of AI. The country’s rivers, lakes and wetlands have been facing increasing pressure from a growing population, economic development, deforestation, and the worsening effects of the climate crisis. But no one knew the scale of the problem until last August, when, using ML, the MapBiomas water project released its results after processing more than 150,000 images generated by Nasa’s Landsat 5, 7 and 8 satellites from 1985 to 2020 across the 8.5m sq km of Brazilian territory. Without AI, researchers could not have analysed water changes across the country at the scale and level of detail needed. AI can also distinguish between natural and human-created water bodies.The Negro River, a major tributary of the Amazon and one of the world’s 10 largest rivers by volume, has lost 22% of its surface water. The Brazilian portion of the Pantanal, the world’s largest tropical wetland, has lost 74% of its surface water. Such losses are devastating for wildlife (4,000 species of plants and animals live in the Pantanal, including jaguars, tapirs and anacondas), people and nature.
“AI technology provided us with a shockingly clear picture,” says Cássio Bernardino, WWF-Brasil’s MapBiomas water project lead. “Without AI and ML technology, we would never have known how serious the situation was, let alone had the data to convince people. Now we can take steps to tackle the challenges this loss of surface water poses to Brazil’s incredible biodiversity and communities.”
3. Finding whales
Knowing where whales are is the first step in putting measures such as marine protected areas in place to protect them. Locating humpbacks visually across vast oceans is difficult, but their distinctive singing can travel hundreds of miles underwater. At National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (Noaa) fisheries in the Pacific islands, acoustic recorders are used to monitor marine mammal populations at remote and hard-to-access islands, says Ann Allen, Noaa research oceanographer. “In 14 years, we’ve accumulated around 190,000 hours of acoustic recordings. It would take an exorbitant amount of time for an individual to manually identify whale vocalisations.”In 2018, Noaa partnered with Google AI for Social Good’s bioacoustics team to create an ML model that could recognise humpback whale song. “We were very successful in identifying humpback song through our entire dataset, establishing patterns of their presence in the Hawaiian islands and Mariana islands,” says Allen. “We also found a new occurrence of humpback song at Kingman reef, a site that’s never before had documented humpback presence. This comprehensive analysis of our data wouldn’t have been possible without AI.”
4. Protecting koalas
Australia’s koala populations are in serious decline due to habitat destruction, domestic dog attacks, road accidents and bushfires. Without knowledge of their numbers and whereabouts, saving them is challenging. Grant Hamilton, associate professor of ecology at Queensland University of Technology (QUT), has created a conservation AI hub with federal and Landcare Australia funding to count koalas and other endangered animals. Using drones and infrared imaging, an AI algorithm rapidly analyses infrared footage and determines whether a heat signature is a koala or another animal. Hamilton used the system after Australia’s devastating bushfires in 2019 and 2020 to identify surviving koala populations, particularly on Kangaroo Island.“This is a gamechanger project to protect koalas,” says Hamilton. “Powerful AI algorithms are able to analyse countless hours of video footage and identify koalas from many other animals in the thick bushland. This system will allow Landcare groups, conservation groups and organisations working on protecting and monitoring species to survey large areas anywhere in Australia and send the data back to us at QUT to process it.
“We will increasingly see AI used in conservation,” he adds. “In this current project, we simply couldn’t do this as rapidly or as accurately without AI.”
5. Counting species
Saving species on the brink of extinction in the Congo basin, the world’s second-largest rainforest, is a huge task. In 2020, data science company Appsilon teamed up with the University of Stirling in Scotland and Gabon’s national parks agency (ANPN) to develop the Mbaza AI image classification algorithm for large-scale biodiversity monitoring in Gabon’s Lopé and Waka national parks.Conservationists had been using automated cameras to capture species, including African forest elephants, gorillas, chimpanzees and pangolins, which then had to be manually identified. Millions of pictures could take months or years to classify, and in a country that is losing about 150 elephants each month to poachers, time matters.
The Mbaza AI algorithm was used in 2020 to analyse more than 50,000 images collected from 200 camera traps spread across 7,000 sq km of forest. Mbaza AI classifies up to 3,000 images an hour and is up to 96% accurate. Conservationists can monitor and track animals and quickly spot anomalies or warning signs, enabling them to act swiftly when needed. The algorithm also works offline on an ordinary laptop, which is helpful in locations with no or poor internet connectivity.
“Many central African forest mammals are threatened by unsustainable trade, land-use changes and the global climate crisis,” says Dr Robin Whytock, post-doctoral research fellow at the University of Stirling. “Appsilon’s work on the Mbaza AI app enables conservationists to rapidly identify and respond to threats to biodiversity. The project started with 200 camera traps in Lopé and Waka national parks in Gabon but, since then, hundreds more have been deployed by different organisations across west and central Africa. In Gabon, the government and national parks agency are aiming to deploy cameras across the entire country. Mbaza AI can help all these projects speed up data analysis.”
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