Tuesday, April 16, 2024
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The Tech4Nature alliance leverages artificial intelligence to conserve over 300 protected areas around the world.
Source: Colpisa
“As an artificial intelligence, I lack the physical capacity to directly intervene in environmental matters, but I can provide information, suggestions, and resources to help people make more eco-friendly decisions,” responds OpenAI’s AI when asked what it can do for the environment. This same question was posed coinciding with a conference at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, highlighting the benefits of green technology. “While technology contributes significantly to nature conservation, we need to do more,” emphasized Susanne Pedersen, Director of Science and Data at the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), microphone in hand.
Just over 40 kilometers northwest of Barcelona, in the heart of the Sant Llorenç del Munt i l'Obac Natural Park, digital tools have become invaluable for conservation efforts. “They help us gather more information to manage or regulate public use. They also enable us to engage the general public in biodiversity conservation through videos and other educational materials,” explained Natural Park Director Ángel Miño in 2022. Since last year, the various hectares of this Catalan green haven has been equipped with dozens of cameras and GPS receivers to monitory and observe the movements of Bonelli’s eagle.
According to park biologists, the increased presence of people in the habitat of these animals, driven by leisure and tourism, has prompted a shift in the behavior patterns of this species listed in Spain's Red Book of Birds. Currently, the data collected is being processed and analyzed using an artificial intelligence-based alert detection system and cloud platform developed in collaboration with the University of Girona.
“Technology has the potential to improve environmental impacts,” noted Jeffery Zhou, President of ICT Marketing at Huawei. Indeed, according to a study published in Nature, new digital tools, particularly artificial intelligence, can help achieve 79% of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
In fact, at the recent Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Huawei’s AI received the GSMA award for “Outstanding Mobile Contribution to the UN’s SDGs.” “It is an excellent and scalable concept: utilizing highly executable self-sustaining AI and mobile technology to accurately address a problem, resulting in impressive outcomes,” remarked the competition panel.
The award-winning solution focuses on conserving the Atlantic salmon, which is threatened by invasive species. Using an underwater camera and a smart gate operated by algorithms, the system identifies different types of fish that threaten the existence of this species, recognizing, for instance, the distinctive hump of male humpback salmon and the tail pattern of females. With an identification accuracy exceeding 99%, the system directs the gate to remain closed, filtering out invasive species into a retention tank, while opening to allow other fish to swim upstream.
Between June and September 2023, during the last spawning season of the biennial cycle, pilot projects in the Storleva and Kongsfjord rivers successfully filtered over 6000 humpback salmon. The solution’s success and its potential expansion throughout Norway offer hope for addressing the threat of extinction faced by wild Atlantic salmon.
AI with ‘ears’
AI is capable of solving complex calculations, translating texts, responding to inquiries, and even detecting the sound of chainsaws from thousands of kilometers away to prevent illegal logging or wildlife poaching.
The Italian trees in the Astroni crater, near Naples, have grown ‘ears’, serving as aids for park rangers. “When sounds of gunshots or fireworks are detected, the park administration is immediately alerted,” say those responsible for this technology. “So far, the results have been promising,” reveal the project’s proponents, which include the NGO WWF, Rainforest Connection, and Huawei. Similar devices are also deployed in the Carpathian Mountains, in Romania, to monitor illegal logging.
Of the world’s known tree species, 30% are currently in danger of extinction, with at least 142 described species officially considered extinct in the wild, as reported in the State of the World’s Trees.
In Italy, the sound detection system generated 2,000 real-time alerts about potentially illegal activities, helping to prevent illicit actions against nature. “This is a great example of how technology can protect the environment,” Pedersen argued. “Our aim with Tech4Nature, in partnership with Huawei and the IUCN, is to successfully restore 300 protected areas,” added the director of science and data for the organization.
Though the alliance is just three years old, “sustainability is increasingly present on everyone’s agenda,” noted Zhou. At the moment, Tech4Nature has five flagship countries, including Spain, while their projects have been deployed in nearly thirty territories. “We work with mountains, forests, and seas,” they state on their website.
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