Technology Outwit Poachers

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Can conservation technology outwit poachers? An innovative program pits technology against poachers in a deadly game of hide and seek. Since the rise of the digital age connecting people to other people via mobile technology, a globalized networked world has emerged. Along with it comes a bewildering set of circumstances. Among them is the ability of wildlife traffickers, in far-flung cities around the globe, to decimate wildlife by placing a phone call. Rather than match poachers bullet for bullet, which leads to a drain on resources and human capital, an international consortium of conservation organizations has embarked on a new strategy. With a plan devised to bridge the divide between the information rich the digital have-nots …show more content…

Many species face being eaten out of existence, while charismatic high value species in Africa run the risk of extinction, due to wildlife trafficking. In Central Africa, studies estimate systemic poaching resulted in the loss of 100,000 forest elephants, a 64 percent decline over the past 10 years. To combat such losses, conservation groups have implemented SMART in 130 protected areas across 29 countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America with more to follow. Columbia, for example, plans to implement SMART throughout the country’s vast network of 58 parks, according to Montefiore. Although not a panacea for illegal activity, an observant ranger equipped with a handheld device capitalizes on two technological trends. The first is the ability to upload and share information over networks. Second, mobile devices have replaced the need to invest in …show more content…

They’re already using smartphones to text and communicate. SMART is another piece of technology that they can get into,” says Antony Lynam, program manager for the WCS Asia program. The free and open source software is the byproduct of a continuous process of refinement and upgrades. First at the design stage and then through s series of workshops held at the local and the regional level. Already in use in Africa, Cambodia is the next location SMART will be implemented. “We’ve got 5 or 6 pilot sites where SMART is going to be rolled out in Cambodia,” says Lynam. Other research institutions and NGOs are testing similar approaches to conservation. For example, a crowdfunded conservation project will place smartphones into the hands of hunter- gatherers, who serve as the guardians to the Nyae Nyae Conservancy in Namibia. According to the Crowdfunder.com website the Ju|'hoansi people plan to use the smart phones to monitor the illegal encroachment of cattle on their ancestral homelands. Yet another app called Sapelli, is a mapping tool, created to help indigenous people living in the Congo Basin to monitor and to map the illegal activities of poachers operating in their

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