Lack of awareness due to poor sensitization is often the main reason for little understanding of environmental issues. Sharing proper information supported by valid scientific/practical proof will convince communities that are unfortunately less educated, economically deprived and directly forest dependent. Equip them not only with true information but also with tools such as camera trapping, and support for species identification and naming. Such an approach will develop a sense of belonging and inculcate ownership of the cause/purpose.

Each village is known to have a distinct set of rules and functions for social coexistence. The village community is composed of various groups that function independently to manage certain areas for their welfare in the community. However, for a common cause such as Biodiversity Conservation initiatives, these various institutions can be converged and function as a single entity.

One of the keys to identifying habitat loss is through traditional means. During the olden days, the naming of any species happened due to its presence/sightings. But presently, most of the species that have local names are not found in the wild. One of the reasons could be that their numbers are declining or may even have become extinct. Therefore, through the approach of traditional knowledge, species availability and vulnerability assessments can be made.

Scientists are often criticised for their inability to communicate research expeditions and outcomes to public audiences, both in the nations where they operate and also internationally. Nekton was founded on the principle of bringing science and story-telling together to amplify host nation scientists as leading voices and ambassadors. During the expedition, the first descents were undertaken by Seychellois scientists. Through partnership with Seychellois media, content was produced, published and broadcast within Seychelles. In partnership with Associated Press and Sky, content from the expedition was published and broadcast in 140 countries globally including 18,000 articles (in print and digital) and over 4000 video broadcast packages. These included the first live subsea documentary series, newscasts and Presidential Address by the President of Seychelles, Danny Faure.

Historically, expeditions and science research have had a reputation of taking a top-down approach including through the practice of ‘parachute science’. This includes the desire to collect numerous and diverse samples and data that is then stored outside the reach of host-nation countries. This is often especially true for research in countries that are under-resourced and can be influenced by, and / or directed by, scientists from other nations that can have more resources. As part of the co-production philosophy, we wanted to ensure that the host-nation, Seychelles, had complete authority over the data and samples collected. Together with the Government of Seychelles, we co-drafted an array of agreements that ensured that both the samples and the data was fully owned by Seychelles.

Open dialogues with our main partner, the Government of Seychelles during every stage of the project ensured that changes and amendments could be easily made with their input. For example, field locations where easily amended as a result of bad weather, ensuring no time was wasted while at sea. Furthermore, a clear expectation of sample collection and updates during the expedition meant that Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) inspections could be made on arrival back into port, expediting the export permits, and thereby helping to facilitate the Government to fulfil their regulatory requirements.

It is not straight-forward to build trust. It can take time, skill, and resources, particularly finance and personnel. Nekton ensured that early engagement with the Government of Seychelles and Seychellois stakeholders began a year prior to the actual start of the Seychelles-Nekton field expedition. This allowed ample time to start building connections and relationships with the stakeholders and partners based in Seychelles. The Government of Seychelles gathered other locally based partners and stakeholders to build and frame a joint agenda of needs that would inform the research during the Seychelles-Nekton Expedition which took place in 2019. Co-production of the expedition included organising workshops to identify research locations, defining the pertinent research questions along with determining the stakeholders’ interest in leading specific projects.

Years of research and conservation practices have not only stressed the importance of biodiversity data but also revealed the flaws of current workflow, ranging from inefficient data management, lack of data integration, to limited public-accessible data applications. Moreover, such workflow is mainly man-powered and often involves a lot of repetitive work, taking up huge amount of conservationists’ time.

Following the rapid development of technology, we have gradually realized the potential of technology to bring solutions to our “pain points” for long. In order to utilize technology tools in places in most needs, a systematic review and analysis of the current workflow was conducted to identify bottlenecks with high priorities and the possible solutions. The contemplation began in May 2018 and was materialized starting from Jun 2019 after potential technical partners emerged. Based on the systematic workflow analysis and close partnership, we made a step-by-step plan, aiming at developing modules one by one, considering our limited resource and manpower (e.g., from community-based camera trap monitoring assistant app, to BiA tool, to citizen science data visualization platform, to camera trap data management system).    

To enable automatic and instant biodiversity impact assessment enquiry, the BiA tool has been developed to facilitate enquiry services for land planners and other interested parties via Azure platform. The BiA tool works by overlaying the enquiry site or region (or existing construction projects) with multiple geographic layers including species distribution and protected area range to investigate if the site or region is within certain distance (e.g., 3 km, 5 km) from and may cause impact on endangered species habitat and/or protected areas. The assessment reports illustrate ecological and environmental risks of construction projects for decision-makers and could hopefully promotes them to take biodiversity into consideration.

A brief timeline of the BiA tool:

• Apr-Jun 2020: team formation, requirement communication, system development plan
• Jul-Sept 2020: tool development
• Oct 2020: trial test, application and dissemination
• (in preparation) Apr-Sept 2022: system upgrade

ArcGIS Online provides a secure and flexible framework for both deploying useful applications and integrating other conservation technology to holistically support workflows related to each initiative that is being implemented by a protected area. The foundation of all workflows includes tools for data collection such as mobile survey forms (Survey123), data visualisation (dashboards or web applications), analyses, and reporting. Additionally, the ArcGIS Living Atlas of the World gives you access to the foremost collection of geographic information from around the world to support your workflows, this includes the latest satellite imagery and products such as forest loss.

There are several pre-configured workflows for initiatives that can be unpacked and implemented immediately. These initiatives include:

• Track Illegal Activity.
• Monitor Wildlife.
• Mitigate Wildlife Conflict.
• Maintain Park Infrastructure.

The workflows are configurable and allows users to customise them based on their needs. Alternatively, organisations have access to all the necessary building blocks to develop entirely new workflows for their own initiatives e.g., a community outreach or public participation initiatives.