We purchased a semi-automatic pad assembly machine and later modified it to suit our specific process. Standard machines are typically designed for industrial-scale use with plastic-based materials and continuous roll inputs. Since we work with natural banana fiber absorbent cores, which are not in roll form, we had to adjust the machine to make it work with our setup.

The top and bottom layers (non-woven cotton and PLA-" bioplastic made with Poly Lactic acid material which is compostable layers" )come in rolls. These rolls are installed on the machine. In the middle, we manually place our pre-cut fluffy absorbent cores onto a moving conveyor belt. The machine is equipped with sensors and a timing system that aligns everything.

As the materials move through the machine:

• The three layers are pulled together
• A roller system compresses and seals the pad using ultrasonic sealing
• The pad is then shaped and cut
• After this, each pad passes through a UV-C light tunnel for sterilization

Finally, we manually apply the adhesive and pack the pads for distribution.

These modifications allow us to work with eco-friendly, compostable materials while still maintaining a semi-automated workflow. It’s not perfect, but it works—and it’s much more suitable for small-scale, low-resource settings than fully automated systems designed for plastic pads.

For a detailed understanding of the technical specification

• PDF titled “Detailed Explanation of layers assembly system” 
• PDF titled “Technical Parameter Layers Assembly Machine”

This section outlines comprehensive technical details regarding the raw materials used in the manufacturing of Sparsa sanitary pads. It also includes specifications for each material layer, associated machine requirements, maintenance considerations, safety protocols, and final packaging standards. This information is critical for ensuring production quality, material traceability, and process control.

The three functional layers—top, absorbent core, and barrier—are assembled using a pad assembly machine (refer to Building Block 3 for detailed information). After assembly:

• Adhesive is applied manually
• Pads are tri-folded
• Each pad is packed individually using a compostable pouch

Additional Resources for Replication:

• PDF: Details of information about the Raw materials used for compostable pad production
• PDF: Details of information about machine maintenance and safety protocol

Apart from common comprehension of wildlife, citizens can also get involved in the following advanced activities and become “citizen scientists”.

1. Verify the existence of wild animals through the AI recognition tool “Species Eye”;

2. Estimate the number of wild animals manually;

3. Select the species of wild animal;

4. Figure out the name of the wild animal through the AI recognition tool “Species Eye”;

5. Ensure the accuracy and consistency of data by marking the geographic location.

This mini program, through scanning or searching, provides the access for every citizen to infrared images of wildlife in his/her geographic location, which allows them to participate in the sharing of nature with wildlife in a simpler and more intuitive manner through this application.

The Mini Program, with AI intelligent recognition as the underlying technology and endangered species as the core targets for recognition, trains a large biodiversity recognition model capable of monitoring such systems as mountains, rivers, forests, fields, lakes, grasslands and sandy lands. This recognition model features a powerful “engine” – Species Eye. As the fundamental and general model of “Wildlife Friends”, it is primarily characterized by strong learning capability, that is, multimodal recognition based on no or a few samples. It indicates that it can rapidly recognize the location and species information of multiple wild animals based on a few samples. For instance, it may take thousands of photos to be captured and days’ training for a traditional model to recognize a new species, but Species Eye can complete such mission quickly through a small number of photos, as well as trainings and iterations. In addition, it boasts a high extent of tolerance. It is no longer limited to the training and prediction for specific species with a powerful capability of open vocabulary identification and zero-sample recognition, and is able to accurately recognize and locate species without trained data. For instance, traditional models can merely recognize species based on trained data, such as tiger and antelope; while this new model can discriminate snow leopard and fox at the same time even without trained data of those two wild animals before. Another advantage of “Species Eye” is lower costs. Common AI models rely heavily on high-performance accelerator cards, which cause a high cost in hardware environment and its maintenance.

WeChat Mini Program is an application accessible without download, near at your fingertips just by scanning or searching. It is very simple to design a mini program, as a mini program development environment and developer ecosystem has been established in nearly two years. WeChat Mini Program is also an innovative achievement which genuinely influences general programmers in China’s IT industry for it involves over 1.5 million developers in its development together with WeChat. Its number has exceeded 1 million, encompassing more than 200 subdivided sectors and accommodating 200 million daily-active users.

1. Use without download: Users can open the mini program by scanning the QR code or searching in no need of download, which saves the storage space for mobile devices and lowers the usage threshold; they can quickly visit the mini program directly through WeChat to meet their temporary usage demands.

2. Low development costs and short cycle: The mini program sets a low technical standard and causes a small learning cost to developers based on front-end technology stacks (HTML/CSS/JS); and is compatible among various platforms and supports iOS and Android after development, which saves human labor and time costs.

3. Powerful traffic inlet and social fission: WeChat boasts 1.3 billion monthly-active users so it is easy to cultivate a sound user base. It supports the sharing channels to chat boxes, Moments, official accounts, and Search. Social dissemination, through sharing, group buying, and bargaining, can rapidly multiply and is suitable for marketing activities.

Systematic Fire Management and Technology Use in Ngao Model Forest as involving several key strategies. The community has built small check dams to save water, prevent wildfires, and reduce post-fire erosion. These dams also aid in vegetation growth and create fire breaks, contributing to a more resilient environment. The fire watch team uses walkie-talkies for real-time communication, enabling efficient reporting and response to fire conditions. Additionally, the district authority supports the initiative by broadcasting updates and progress on YouTube live daily, increasing transparency and community awareness. This combination of local knowledge and modern technology has significantly improved the efficiency of the community's fire management efforts, demonstrating the effectiveness of integrating traditional practices with contemporary tools.

Community Engagement and Leadership in Ngao Model Forest as driven by a passionate village leader who shares a vision for a thriving forest. The community formed a team of women who regularly patrol the forest and clear fire prevention paths. Equipped with walkie-talkies for real-time communication, they efficiently report fire conditions. The district authority supports them by broadcasting updates and progress on YouTube live daily, increasing transparency and community awareness. Regular awareness-raising campaigns educate the community about fire prevention, fostering a sense of responsibility and involvement. This approach has led to stronger community relationships, teamwork, and a significant reduction in wildfires, demonstrating the power of community engagement and women's leadership in environmental conservation.

Community Engagement and Leadership in Ngao Model Forest as driven by a passionate leader who shares a vision for a thriving forest. Strong community relationships and teamwork are emphasized, with regular awareness-raising sessions to educate the community about fire prevention. The older generation, particularly retirees, are highly motivated and actively involved in the fire watch team, while younger generations show interest and support. Awareness campaigns help the community understand the importance of fire prevention and encourage discussions about alternative livelihood opportunities. This approach has fostered a sense of responsibility and involvement in wildfire prevention among the community members.

Learning about the importance of Conservation has no age limit, and schools are a powerful entry point for long-term impact. In Fierenana, the BIOPAMA Project worked with 27 public and private primary and secondary schools to integrate lemur conservation into teaching practices. Through a series of workshops, 144 teachers were trained to incorporate environmental protection and sustainable resource management into their curricula, with a special focus on lemurs. CI also collaborated with the Ministry of National Education to embed lemur conservation into the national environmental education framework.

A highlight of this initiative was also the use of public events to raise awareness about lemur conservation. This took place through the annual Lemur Festival, organized as part of the CAZ4Lemur project. The first two editions attracted 1,200 and 1,500 participants respectively. Led by the mayor and supported by local authorities, COBAs, school representatives, and community members, the festival featured a carnival, official ceremonies, and creative activities such as poetry, theatre, and dance. Children wore lemur masks, colored themed sheets, and participated in workshops. The slogan, “Varika: tsy fiompy, tsy fihinana, fa haingo ary mampaharitra ny ala” (“The lemur is not a pet, nor food, but a beauty that preserves the forest”), captured the spirit of the event. The festival concluded with a documentary screening on lemurs and environmental protection.

Complementary activities included law enforcement training for patrollers and pre/post-festival workshops for teachers.