Whale-watching tour operators

SMART Conservation Tool software

Once plants have been collected, they are transferred to our nursery for propagation. We are seeing increased effectiveness of these methods with freshly collected seeds and cuttings.

The Mamba tool allows us to collect from species we have identified in the previous step.

Conserving ecosystems is key to curbing climate change, and maintaining ecosystem services, which are closely linked to over 50% of the world’s GDP. Over 1 million species face the threat of extinction this century: however, selecting which areas to conserve is challenging with the existing data gap, which is biased towards observations in the global north. Increasing the amount of biodiversity data in the Global South is critical in the conservation of endangered species, found at high density in biodiversity hotspots in the Global South. Amphibians are ideal for acoustic identification due to their diverse vocalizations and are crucial ecosystem indicators (Estes-Zumpf et al., 2022), with over 40% of species at risk of extinction (Cañas et al., 2023). Increasing labeled data for the more than 7,000 amphibian species worldwide would enhance conservation efforts and reduce knowledge gaps in vulnerable ecosystems. By using a citizen science platform to aide in the mitigation of biodiversity loss, we help establish local environmental stewardship of these critical habitats.

Other citizen apps have shown the potential that citizen science has on mitigating biodiversity loss. eBird, the largest citizen science project related to biodiversity, has 100 million bird observations from users around the world. These observations help to "document the distribution, abundance, habitat use and bird trends through collected species list, within a simple scientific framework." (Sánchez-Clavijo et. al., 2024).  

iNaturalist, another citizen science app, that uses computer vision algorithms for species identification, has also proven successful in mitigating biodiversity loss. To date, the app has over 200,000,000 observations, with 6 million observations per month, globally. On iNaturalist, research-grade observations are shared with GBIF, which in turn uses that knowledge for policy decisions, research, and community building (GBIF, 2023). 

Currently, our app identifies 71 species of frogs and toads, worldwide. Though many of them are identified as least concern (LC) under the IUCN, we do have one IUCN endangered species, the Southern Bell Frog (Ranoidea raniformis). This lack of threatened species included, underscores the need for diverse practitioners to participate in bioacoustic ecological monitoring. Increasing data points on vulnerable species can serve to inform policy decisions using data-driven insights. 

Process of drawing up a gradient of biodiversity and speleological heritage to mining, which reflects increasing levels of vulnerability of conservation targets. We used Systematic Conservation Planning tools and concepts such as complementarity, representativeness, efficiency, irreplaceability, and vulnerability to generate the information behind the sensitivity of biodiversity. The biodiversity sensitivity map summarizes information on the components of biodiversity and geodiversity that are sensitive to the impacts of mineral exploration activities, such as their biological and ecological characteristics and the landscape factors that influence their distribution. In addition, a list of conservation targets is generated with the components of biodiversity and geodiversity that are eligible as conservation targets because they are sensitive to the chronic and acute impacts of mining. The targets could become even more vulnerable if preventive and impact mitigation measures were not adopted. Its realization depends on the systematization and construction of a wide variety of information on species, environmental variables and land use. It is a collaborative process that requires the participation of specialists and researchers to gather and validate the results.It is also the stage in which more information generated from the assessment of the risk of extinction of fauna species produced by ICMBio and Flora, under the responsibility of the Centro Nacional de Conservação da Flora (CNCFlora)  are incorporated into the tool. From this perspective, the process is a clear example of the application of scientific and participatory knowledge together with government management information around a common objective of environmental conservation and impact mitigation.

This building block emphasizes the transformative role of technology in the monitoring of wildlife populations and their habitats, with a particular focus on jaguars. Given that jaguars are apex predators and integral to the health of their ecosystems, understanding their movement patterns and habitat use is critical for effective conservation strategies. Utilizing advanced tools such as camera traps, drones and remote sensing technologies, conservationists can gather high-resolution data on jaguar behaviors and interactions within their habitats. Camera traps strategically positioned in key territories provide valuable insights into jaguar populations, allowing for real-time tracking of individual movements, breeding patterns, and territorial dynamics. This information is particularly valuable as it aids in assessing the impacts of environmental changes, human encroachment, and poaching on these elusive big cats.

In addition to camera trapping, remote sensing technology contributes to a holistic view of habitat conditions by measuring changes in land use, vegetation cover, and landscape connectivity over time. When combined, these data sources form a comprehensive picture that assists in understanding the effects of climate change and anthropogenic influences on jaguar habitats. Furthermore, the monitoring program actively incorporates citizen science by training local community members to use mobile applications for reporting jaguar sightings and contributing to data collection. This participatory approach not only enriches the data pool but also fosters a sense of ownership among locals, making them key stakeholders in conservation efforts. The aggregated data serves as a foundation for adaptive management strategies aimed at enhancing habitat connectivity, mitigating human-wildlife conflict, and targeting specific conservation actions to protect jaguar populations and their ecosystems.

Process in which the actual chronic impacts of mining activity on the landscape, such as habitat loss, fragmentation and degradation, are estimated. This generates a gradient of exposure of biodiversity and speleological heritage and denotes increasing levels of severity of environmental damage. It involves liaising with sectoral bodies, systematizing environmental data and validating the results of the estimates generated with specialists. The methods used are those corroborated by the scientific community that can be replicated in any location and at different scales of the landscape.

Vultures are a highly intelligent group of birds that provide important ecosystem services. Yet, populations of old-world vultures decreased dramatically in the last decades owing to anthropogenic factors. Efficient conservation strategies that address critical threats such as indiscriminate poisoning or depleted food sources need to be developed. At the same time, their behaviour including social interactions is still poorly understood. Building on high-tech tracking equipment and AI-based analytical tools, GAIA aims at better understanding how vultures communicate, interact and cooperate, forage, breed and rear their young. Additionally, the GAIA scientists research the social foraging strategies of white-backed vultures and the information transfer within carnivore-scavenger-communities. In the animal kingdom it is common across taxa that the search for food is undertaken not only as individuals but in a group. Animals forage together or rely on knowledge from other individuals to find food. This so-called social foraging presumably yields benefits, for example concerning the amount of food that is found, the size of prey that can be hunted or the time required to access food. GAIA investigates species-specific mechanisms in behaviour and communication as well as the incentives, benefits and possible disadvantages for individuals.

The forestry sector is suffering from corruption and is limiting benefits for local and Indigenous communities. Our solution allows local communities to tackle forest illegalities and land rights violations and at the same time to secure their land rights and economic rights over forest resources by monitoring and protecting their territory, reinforcing sustainable development and autonomy.  Data collected through the tool also supports judicial or non-judicial cases when local and indigenous communities suffer human rights abuses.