Delopment of the SIREN App

This building block is to explain how I developped an App that allow fishers to contribute to marine science knowledge in Africa. 

Initially we gave fishers a pre-printed form to report opportunistic sightings they encountered. However, the form was getting lost most of the time. 

We decided to move to a digital solution. The existing App by then required internet to work and was just too complicated for fishers. So we thought we shoud develop an App that will be more userfriendly for fishers. 

We wrote the  algorithm (workflow) of the App and then contracted an Indian development company to write the code. 

Later we had to bring the development of SIREN back to Cameroon to reduce the cost of developement. 

We work with volunteer around the world that will continuously support with the development of the SIREN

  • passion and determination
  • availability of seed fund to develop an initial version of the SIREN App
  • Collaboration with local App developpers
  • Extending the collaboration to international volunteers 
  • understand
  • The first developper company I contracted for the development of SIREN was a foreign company based in India. The cost of develpment was very high and there was a lot of miscomunication due to language barriers. When we started working with local developpers, the cost of development decreased importantly and it was easier to communicate.
  • Before giving a smarphone to fisher for data collection you must develop a trust relationship with him before otherwise the phone will never be used by the fisher to report sightings.
Capacity Development through Technology Training

This building block emphasizes the importance of training students and local actors in advanced technologies for conservation purposes. In Bio-Scanner, students from the Universidad Politécnica de Yucatán  are trained in using AI algorithms, camera-trap data processing, and decision-support tools, fostering a new generation of professionals equipped to address biodiversity challenges.

The purpose of this building block is to build local capacity by providing hands-on training in cutting-edge technologies. This ensures that local actors can independently use, maintain, and replicate the solution in other contexts while fostering professional development among students.

Enabling factors:

  • Access to training resources and mentoring from experts in AI and conservation.
  • Collaboration with academic institutions to recruit and support students in applying their skills to real-world projects.
  • Ongoing support and capacity-building to ensure trainees can effectively use the tools and scale their applications.
  • Practical, hands-on training is more effective than theoretical approaches in building capacity for conservation technologies.
  • Partnerships with academic institutions provide a sustainable pipeline of trained professionals for long-term conservation efforts.
  • Regular follow-up and support after training help trainees apply their skills effectively and adapt to challenges.
  • Integral overview of the project, helps trainees to gain an overall vision of the entire initiative and notice the impact of their work in the project.
Advanced Image Recognition Algorithms for Jaguar Monitoring

This building block is centered on the use of Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs), including Siamese and Autoencoder architectures, to detect and identify individual jaguars based on unique features such as rosette patterns and morphology. These algorithms process camera-trap data efficiently, reducing the time required for analysis and providing critical insights for decision-making in conservation.

The purpose of this building block is to enhance the monitoring and understanding of jaguar populations by automating the identification process. The algorithms detect jaguars in camera-trap images and classify individuals, contributing to understanding population size, distribution patterns, and behaviors. This facilitates conservation planning and policy-making by decision-makers. Additionally, the models are scalable and can be adapted to other species and ecosystems, expanding their applicability beyond the Yucatán Peninsula.

Enabling factors:

  • Availability of high-quality camera-trap data for training and validating the algorithms.
  • Technical expertise in AI and machine learning for developing and fine-tuning models.
  • Collaborative partnerships with local institutions for field data collection and algorithm design, development and testing.
  • Access to sufficient computational resources to train and deploy the algorithms effectively.
  • High-quality and diverse datasets are critical for achieving accurate and reliable results.
  • Community and academic involvement, such as the participation of the Dzilam de Bravo community and the Universidad Politécninca de Yucatán, enhances project outcomes by ensuring local capacity and ownership, and technological expertise to design the necessary algorithms.
  • Explainability in AI models (e.g., through Gradient Cam) is essential to build trust and ensure the results are accessible to decision-makers.
Geospatial Planning and Risk Mapping

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.

  • Regularly refreshed data on terrain, vegetation, and weather is crucial for accuracy.
  • Trained personnel must operate geospatial tools and interpret risk maps.
  • Risk maps should inform planning and resource allocation at local and regional levels.
  • The expertise is crucial to help you build the correct framework in order to be scalable.
Data Sources

The system combines data from drones, satellites, camera traps, and geospatial tools to create a comprehensive monitoring framework. This approach can be adapted for other environmental challenges, such as flood monitoring, by integrating relevant data sources specific to those contexts.

  • Reliable access to real-time data from sensors, satellites, drones, and cameras is critical.
  • High-quality sensors and data processing systems must be available to collect and analyze diverse data types.
  • Systems must use compatible formats to integrate data seamlessly.
  • Interconnectivity & interoperability of systems is crucial. 
  • The platform must be software and hardware agnostic.
  • Cybersecurity and intercommunication are crucial.
Integrating zoological gardens and animals under human care into a science- and technology-driven research and conservation project

Modern Zoological gardens and aquariums worldwide provide unique opportunities by contributing expertise in animal care, species conservation, and public education, forming a strong foundation for modern conservation and scientific research. By working closely with these institutions and utilizing the data and insights they generate, the GAIA Initiative aims at bridging the gap between in-situ and ex-situ conservation efforts. Animals under human care can serve as valuable models for understanding species’ biology, behaviour, and responses to environmental changes. Furthermore, the controlled conditions of zoological gardens allow for the development and testing of advanced technologies, such as animal-borne sensors and AI systems, under more predictable and accessible settings before deployment in the wild.

Key focus areas of this building block include:

  • Generating reference and training data for the development of the AI pipeline for the sensor data. By deploying the tags on vultures in captivity in a large aviary and recoding their behaviour simultaneously, we were able to create a paired dataset for the training of the AI.  With the trained AI there is no more need to observe the animals to detect relevant behaviour, e.g. feeding; the AI can very reliably predict behaviour from the sensor data giving us insights in the behaviour of the target animals throughout their life.
  • Education and public engagement: Zoo Berlin integrates GAIA’s findings into its educational programs and collaborates in media relations and public outreach, fostering public awareness and participation in biodiversity conservation and technological innovations. Visitors are introduced to cutting-edge tools and their impact on wildlife conservation.
Working with communities to ensure them sustainable economic activities and justice

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. 

  • A good understanding of the current economic activities of the communities is needed 
  • Financial means to engage legal procedures is a must 
  • Collaborate with local partners specialised in legal actions or in sustainable business activities 
  • Parallel advocacy work to secure individual and collective land rights   
  • Sensitization on sustainable economic activities is key for the project success, and it must include all groups of the local or Indigenous community and have specific sensitization for women and girls. 
  • Staff trained or specialised in the different fields (justice/law & sustainable economy) is needed Women and girls are key change agents who have to be fully integrated in projects  
Building strong advocacy networks of local, national and international civil society organisations (CSOs)

Having data collected and analysed through a digital tool is an innovation, although to foster changes and ensure local communities and Indigenous people's protection and sustainable lifestyle the data is used for law enforcement and advocacy purposes. To this end, strong local, national and international advocacy networks are needed to take action against reported abuses and to achieve policy changes. By enabling information to be shared between users and opening up data to the general public, the tool facilitates collaborative working. 

  • Collaborating with CSOs who works on similar topics and share values, visions and goals is essential 
  • Promoting collective data verification and analysis to foster joint responses to alerts and advocacy actions 
  • Maintaining good relationships with a range of institutional actors who know and consider the tool as a valid monitoring tool and support it.  
  • Even if building and strengthening CSOs networks is fundamental, it is important to respect when organisations don’t want to work together and find ways to support each CSO’s work instead of pitting organisations against each other. This requires adaptability in projects and advocacy towards donors.  
  • To ensure that the networks are sustainable, medium- and long-term funding is needed to guarantee that the coordination functions run smoothly (secretariat, coordination of working groups, etc.).  

Adaptable & Efficient Reporting and Monitoring tool

Our solution is based on a digital tool whose goal is to collect and facilitate the analyse of the data sent by community observers and our partners. This tool's efficiency relies on the fact that it is digital, easy to use and low costs for local and Indigenous communities. It enables us to work with hard-to-reach areas around the world, to have quantitative data to support national and international advocacy and to get supporting evidence for legal cases. The adaptability of our solution also lies in the fact that it can be used to monitor a variety of issues (illegal logging - artisanal or industrial, mining, carbon market projects' impact, GBV, etc.), in a variety of contexts.  

  • Sufficient financial resources for the tool to keep running and for the observers to keep apply it 
  • Having a strong technical and development staff team  
  • Building partners’ capacity in using the tool and train community monitors to use it  
  • Ensuring its adaptability to changes in partners' expectations 
  • Having coordination staff team within our organisation and within partners organisations to ensure the efficiency in using the tool 
  • In-person training is the most important thing to ensure the digital tool good use and efficiency. Partners have to be able to understand fully how the tool works and keep being trained for the overall period of the tool implementation 
  • Liase constantly with the partners to ensure the tool and hardwares are working as expected is key 
  • Be aware of all the external factors (political, social, meteorological...)  which can slow down or stop data from being collected on the tool 
  • Ensure that complementary training of environmental law and human rights are proposed to local partners and communities, so that they can take efficient law enforcement actions and access to justice and reparations. 

Working hand in hand with grassroots organisations/Indigenous and local communities

The evidence is building that granting Indigenous peoples and other local communities' control over their territories improves forest protection. This is because they are directly invested in the survival of forests and want to ensure that future generations can continue to live and thrive in them. Yet a lot of development and environmental and climate-related programs are not created in collaboration with the people who will be impacted by them. Therefore, our solution arose from the challenges that grassroots organisations and Indigenous and local communities brought to our attention. Those communities are the ones living all the forests illegalities and land tenure violations therefore by directly tackling their challenge it ensures the solution to be genuine and efficient. Working with them directly helps us to better understand the contexts they are facing and adapt the tool in consequence. 

  • Build strong and lasting relationships with partners and people using the tool 
  • Having an adaptable tool which allows to be reactive to changes  
  • Adequate financial resources  
  • Collaborating with Indigenous and local, grassroots organisations  
  • Building strong relationships requires cultural sensitivity, time and efforts. It is important to listen closely  to stories and challenges people share to be sure that the tools respond to their needs and contexts.  
  • Having beforehand researched on the cultural, traditional and socio-economic context strengthens the collaboration and to make the tool more relevant and impactful. Working with Indigenous-led or locally-led organisations to truly address their challenges