Dynamic risk maps, built using GIS and geospatial analysis, identify high-risk areas and guide resource allocation. This tool can be used for urban planning, disaster risk reduction, or managing natural resources like water or land.

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.

Drone tools have been instrumental as a first step in the assessment of cliff floras. We can now map the distribution and abundance of critically endangered endemic cliff species and expedite their conservation. Field surveys have been conducted in Hawaii, the Republic of Palau, and Madeira (Portugal) with extremely positive results.

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. 

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.

To meet the goal of the GAIA Initiative to develop and put into practice a high-tech early-warning system for environmental changes, a new generation of animal tags is a key component. GAIA teams are working on the hardware and software development of miniaturized animal tags with lowest-power sensor technology with camera and image processing. The tags will be energy-autonomous, optimally adapted to the anatomy of vultures and are the basis for further technological features under development such as on-board artificial intelligences for behaviour detection and image recognition as well as a satellite-based IoT communication system.

Additionally, GAIA is developing concepts of distributed artificial intelligence and networks of micro-processors – animal tags that act just like a swarm. Analogous to natural swarm intelligence, the GAIA initiative is mapping digital swarm intelligence in an ad hoc network of microprocessors. These spontaneously forming networks are the foundation for distributed and sensor-based analysis of large amounts of data. Following this path will make it possible for vulture tags, for example, that are present at the same location during feeding events, to link and share tasks such as artificial intelligence analyses and data transmission.