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		<title>Wildtech</title>
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		<link>https://wildtech.mongabay.com/</link>
		<description>Technology for Conservation</description>
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					<title>Experts hack away at portable DNA barcode scanner to fight timber and wildlife trafficking</title>
					<link>https://wildtech.mongabay.com/2016/09/experts-hack-away-portable-dna-barcode-scanner-fight-timber-wildlife-trafficking/</link>
					<comments>https://wildtech.mongabay.com/2016/09/experts-hack-away-portable-dna-barcode-scanner-fight-timber-wildlife-trafficking/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>08 Sep 2016 22:28:07 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Julia John]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Julia John]]>
					</author>
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							<![CDATA[Survey responses to the Wildtech needs assessment—especially from field researchers—put portable DNA analysis near the top of the research and conservation technology wish-list. How could we harness DNA barcode technology in an adaptable, handheld device that frontline officials in developing countries could use to combat timber and wildlife trafficking? The DNA Barcode Scanner Hack that [&#8230;]]]>
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							<![CDATA[Survey responses to the Wildtech needs assessment—especially from field researchers—put portable DNA analysis near the top of the research and conservation technology wish-list. How could we harness DNA barcode technology in an adaptable, handheld device that frontline officials in developing countries could use to combat timber and wildlife trafficking? The DNA Barcode Scanner Hack that took place in Washington, DC on Friday, August 29, dug into this question. The meeting brought together over 40 experts in evolution and molecular biology, conservation, design, engineering and enforcement to brainstorm an open-source technology that could identify timber samples in the field, help flag wildlife trafficking, detect novel pathogens and enhance fisheries traceability, bypassing the need for an expensive, distant laboratory. Conservation X Labs, Smithsonian Institution and the Consortium for the Barcode of Life (CBOL) hosted the event at the National Museum of American History. Paul Bunje facilitates his group&#8217;s thought process exercises for developing blue-sky breakthroughs for challenges associated with choosing and integrating DNA analysis technologies. Photo credit: Sarah Snyder. “The event was extraordinary,” said David Baisch, Molecular Innovations Fellow at Conservation X Labs. “We hoped that this event would identify clear development pathways for approaching a prototype which combined synergistic DNA isolation and analysis methods for timber, while keeping our design criteria of being cheap (a device cost of less than $1000, which could analyze a sample for $5 or less), portable, manufacturable, scalable, usable by an individual with no scientific training, in conditions without regular access to power, challenging environmental conditions,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://wildtech.mongabay.com/2016/09/experts-hack-away-portable-dna-barcode-scanner-fight-timber-wildlife-trafficking/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<title>Hot stuff: improving chili fence effectiveness (in protecting crops from elephants)</title>
					<link>https://wildtech.mongabay.com/2016/09/hot-stuff-improving-chili-fence-effectiveness-protecting-crops-elephants/</link>
					<comments>https://wildtech.mongabay.com/2016/09/hot-stuff-improving-chili-fence-effectiveness-protecting-crops-elephants/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>07 Sep 2016 00:05:43 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sue Palminteri]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sue Palminteri]]>
					</author>
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							<![CDATA[Some tips from a chili fence expert on how to make the most of a low-tech approach to reducing crop raiding and retaliatory killing of elephants]]>
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							<![CDATA[The raiding of crops and grain stores by elephants can devastate subsistence farmers, who may retaliate by spearing, snaring, or poisoning elephants. Such conflict between elephants and people is widespread across the range of both African (Parker et al. 2007) and Asian elephants (e.g. Fernando et al 2008). Reducing elephant crop raiding is a high priority for farmers and wildlife managers, especially as more and more of the land surrounding protected areas and in wildlife corridors is settled and farmed. Numerous technologies have been proposed to keep elephants and other animals out of crops, yet none has found 100% success. Elephants damage crops by eating and trampling. Photo credit: Loki Osborn, HEC As part of our research on technologies to reduce human-wildlife conflict (HWC), Wildtech is speaking with several experts in the use of chili powder, especially when applied as fencing, to dissuade elephants from entering food crop areas. Elephants have sensitive noses and are repelled by the smell of chili. Fences surrounding crops that are saturated with chili powder, generally mixed with waste engine oil, can be a strong deterrent to marauding elephants, particularly when constructed and managed strategically.  We asked these leaders in chili fence “technology”, to list 5-10 top ways to make chili fences more effective. Here in the first of a series of reports, we report on the top suggestions of Loki Osborn, one of the pioneers in designing and deploying chili fences. Plan for deployment before crops are ripening. The problem, says Osborn, is that elephants&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://wildtech.mongabay.com/2016/09/hot-stuff-improving-chili-fence-effectiveness-protecting-crops-elephants/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<title>Solving Global Grand Challenges, One MOOC at a Time</title>
					<link>https://wildtech.mongabay.com/2016/08/solving-global-grand-challenges-one-mooc-time/</link>
					<comments>https://wildtech.mongabay.com/2016/08/solving-global-grand-challenges-one-mooc-time/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>12 Aug 2016 07:32:32 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Taylor Robb-McCord]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sue Palminteri]]>
					</author>
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							<![CDATA[A new online course aims to address the complex challenges facing conservation and development. ]]>
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							<![CDATA[When looking at global environmental issues, it can be argued that development and conservation can no longer be approached as separate issues operating in individual silos.  To facilitate and solve our world’s “wicked problems,” action needs to be taken that integrates often-distinct areas of expertise. To solve these grand challenges, practitioners must have both the skills and knowledge necessary to understand the complexity of the issues at hand and the capacity to implement and effect change. In an ambitious effort to create a new group of thought leaders and problem solvers with cross-sector skills and knowledge, the newly launched Innovation and Design for Global Grand Challenges MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) introduces students to current challenges in conservation and development globally and aims to provide tools for solving these challenges. As expressed by the course founder, “This is what, fundamentally, the course is about. How do we look at the world&#8217;s biggest challenges in conservation and development? How do you go through the process of rethinking how you solve them? What are the tools, technology, financial and behavioral, that you have available to address these challenges?” Module on water quantity and quality, and on human development. Course director Alex Deghan talks to his class at Duke University. Image credit: Duke Univesity The course is the brainchild of Alex Dehgan, who has over the years played various roles in the worlds of both conservation and development. He served as the Chief Scientist to the United States Agency of International Development (USAID),&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://wildtech.mongabay.com/2016/08/solving-global-grand-challenges-one-mooc-time/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<title>Understanding the ghost of the mountain</title>
					<link>https://wildtech.mongabay.com/2016/08/understanding-ghost-mountain/</link>
					<comments>https://wildtech.mongabay.com/2016/08/understanding-ghost-mountain/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>10 Aug 2016 20:13:34 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Julia John]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Julia John]]>
					</author>
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							<![CDATA[The grayish-white form of the ghost of the mountain slinks through the snowcapped slopes of Central Asia. Its remote, harsh habitat, cryptic coat and elusive nature have impeded investigation and made monitoring the snow leopard (Panthera uncia) arduous, if not impossible. Technological advances, however, are changing that. New population estimates for the big cat, based [&#8230;]]]>
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							<![CDATA[The grayish-white form of the ghost of the mountain slinks through the snowcapped slopes of Central Asia. Its remote, harsh habitat, cryptic coat and elusive nature have impeded investigation and made monitoring the snow leopard (Panthera uncia) arduous, if not impossible. Technological advances, however, are changing that. New population estimates for the big cat, based on a knowledge review process begun in 2008 incorporating increasingly sophisticated technology, are higher than prior ones. A study of Snow Leopard Conservation Units comprising 44 percent of the species’ three million-square-kilometer range suggests there could be 4,678 to 8,745 individuals just within surveyed areas. Till now, scientists believed the global snow leopard population numbered between 3,920 and 7,500.  They stress that they can’t say the population has increased but their ability to estimate it has improved. “New technologies in the hands of respected experts across snow leopard range, yielded, for the most part, the raw data for a more robust population estimate,” said Tom McCarthy, Director of Panthera’s Snow Leopard Program. Snow leopard approaches camera trap, Kyrgyzstan. Photo credit: Panthera-SAEF-NAS-UW. Collars, Cameras, Poop and GIS McCarthy has used telemetry and camera traps, two such technologies, for decades. In the early 1990s, he conducted a large study in Mongolia using standard VHF tags attached to collars. Following the signals of these tags was difficult, requiring researchers to hike on the ground with handheld antennas—a time-consuming and frustrating process—or track from a small aircraft—a costly and risky option. But now GPS satellite tags track the cats as&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://wildtech.mongabay.com/2016/08/understanding-ghost-mountain/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<title>How to use the Bloomberg Terminal for advocacy work: advanced tools</title>
					<link>https://wildtech.mongabay.com/2016/08/use-bloomberg-terminal-advocacy-work-advanced-tools/</link>
					<comments>https://wildtech.mongabay.com/2016/08/use-bloomberg-terminal-advocacy-work-advanced-tools/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>08 Aug 2016 19:53:51 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Dan Williams]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rebecca Kessler]]>
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							<![CDATA[Other stories in Mongabay’s series on using the Bloomberg Terminal in advocacy work: Part 1: How to use the Bloomberg Terminal for advocacy work: the basics Part 2: Tracking assets for environmental advocacy work with Bloomberg  The previous two articles in this three-part series detailed some of the basic functions of the Bloomberg Terminal — [&#8230;]]]>
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							<![CDATA[Other stories in Mongabay’s series on using the Bloomberg Terminal in advocacy work: Part 1: How to use the Bloomberg Terminal for advocacy work: the basics Part 2: Tracking assets for environmental advocacy work with Bloomberg  The previous two articles in this three-part series detailed some of the basic functions of the Bloomberg Terminal — Windows-based proprietary software that many financial organizations rely on for news, financial data, and analytics tools — and described how they might be of interest to the advocacy community. This third and final article will introduce some of the Bloomberg Terminal’s more advanced offerings. These include data on global weather trends, country risk assessments, and Excel templates that can be used to analyze anything from a country’s so-called Environmental, Social, and Governance risk score to commodity pricing strategies. Determining whether a particular asset — for instance, a commodity like palm oil — is correctly priced or over- or undervalued by the market can give a buyer or seller an advantage in negotiating to trade the asset. It can also give an advocate leverage to influence producers and traders. But determining the appropriate price of an asset can be difficult, since so many factors influence price, from weather to trade agreements between countries. The Bloomberg Terminal offers pertinent information and tools to assist in these assessments. One of the terminal’s more useful tools is its weather-forecasting function. Global temperature and weather patterns strongly influence companies’ agricultural strategies and output. When it comes to palm oil, for example, the Bloomberg Terminal offers&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://wildtech.mongabay.com/2016/08/use-bloomberg-terminal-advocacy-work-advanced-tools/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<title>Identifying the drivers of Amazon deforestation through high-tech maps and stories</title>
					<link>https://wildtech.mongabay.com/2016/08/identifying-drivers-amazon-deforestation-high-tech-maps-stories/</link>
					<comments>https://wildtech.mongabay.com/2016/08/identifying-drivers-amazon-deforestation-high-tech-maps-stories/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>05 Aug 2016 05:00:10 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Suzanne Palminteri]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sue Palminteri]]>
					</author>
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							<![CDATA[The MAAP project integrates a range of satellite imagery and analysis tools to detect and disclose deforestation across the Peruvian Amazon.]]>
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							<![CDATA[The Monitoring of the Andean Amazon Project (MAAP), launched in 2015 by the Amazon Conservation Association (ACA) and its Peruvian counterpart, Asociación para la Conservación Amazónica (ACCA), creates and presents maps from a near-real-time, high-resolution deforestation monitoring system.  Matt Finer, who leads the project, initially came to ACA to help quantify threats to the Amazon—“instead of just saying oil drilling or dams are bad, quantifying impacts to see if and how they are bad”. As Finer puts it, the MAAP team scours remote sensing data, primarily satellite images of varying resolutions, for new areas of deforestation and revisits known deforestation hotspots. Having seen the power of the timeliness of both monitoring and showing deforestation, the project focuses on high-resolution, high-frequency forest monitoring. We spoke with Finer about the MAAP project and his team’s capacity to combine several new remote sensing technologies to monitor forest change in Peru. In a second part of this interview, we’ll highlight Finer’s thoughts on the rapid advance of technology in the remote sensing sector and its application to monitoring Amazon forests. Wildtech: How and why did ACA start the MAAP project? I&#8217;d just come from two years at the Center for International Environmental Law, focused on Loreto, Peru. While we were putting together a database on all planned and existing projects across all sectors, we got a tip that an oil palm company was starting to clear forest.  We were able to look at the satellite imagery, and we could see a little bit of clearing&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://wildtech.mongabay.com/2016/08/identifying-drivers-amazon-deforestation-high-tech-maps-stories/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<title>DART-TOFMS: Finding the chemistry in wood</title>
					<link>https://wildtech.mongabay.com/2016/08/dart-tofms-finding-chemistry-wood/</link>
					<comments>https://wildtech.mongabay.com/2016/08/dart-tofms-finding-chemistry-wood/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Aug 2016 18:42:14 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Taylor Robb-McCord]]>
						</dc:creator>
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						<![CDATA[]]>
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							<![CDATA[Earlier this summer, members of the Forest Legality Alliance (FLA) gathered in Washington, DC for their Semi-Annual Membership Meeting. As a precursor to the upcoming CITES COP17 meeting in September, the FLA member meeting focused on issues pertaining to illegally traded CITES-listed timber species, proposals to add new timber species to the CITES list and [&#8230;]]]>
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							<![CDATA[Earlier this summer, members of the Forest Legality Alliance (FLA) gathered in Washington, DC for their Semi-Annual Membership Meeting. As a precursor to the upcoming CITES COP17 meeting in September, the FLA member meeting focused on issues pertaining to illegally traded CITES-listed timber species, proposals to add new timber species to the CITES list and wood identification technologies to aid CITES implementation. Representing the Forensics Laboratory at the US Fish and Wildlife Service was Kristen Finch, who presented her work with the Direct Analysis in Real Time Mass Spectrometry (DART-TOFMS) machine. DART-TOFMS can determine the full chemical profile of a piece of wood, rather than identifying a timber species through the genetics or structure of a sample. WildTech spoke to Kristen about her work and how being able to determine the full chemical profile of a piece of wood can help combat illegal logging.   WildTech: Tell us about your work. Kristen gathering samples. Photo credit: Kristen Finch Kristen Finch: I work at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) Forensic Lab as a volunteer and lab technician for the Direct Analysis in Real Time (Time of Flight) Mass Spectrometry (DART-TOFMS), a machine that is used to obtain a full chemical profile of a [biological] sample, which, in my case is a sample of wood. My work at the USFWS Forensic Lab was built on previous research in wood identification conducted by Laboratory Deputy Director, Dr. Ed Espinoza, and his colleagues. Recent publications in association with the USFWS Forensic Lab suggest&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://wildtech.mongabay.com/2016/08/dart-tofms-finding-chemistry-wood/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<title>Chew on this new way to detect disease in primates</title>
					<link>https://wildtech.mongabay.com/2016/07/chew-new-way-detect-disease-primates/</link>
					<comments>https://wildtech.mongabay.com/2016/07/chew-new-way-detect-disease-primates/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>28 Jul 2016 22:44:54 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Julia John]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Julia John]]>
					</author>
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							<![CDATA[Preoccupied with snipping a saliva-soaked plant part with a scalpel and placing it in a little tube of viral transport media, veterinary epidemiologist Tierra Smiley Evans thought she was alone, backed up against a big bush. But someone was watching close by with beady eyes. Suddenly, a shaggy black arm darted under her armpit and [&#8230;]]]>
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							<![CDATA[Preoccupied with snipping a saliva-soaked plant part with a scalpel and placing it in a little tube of viral transport media, veterinary epidemiologist Tierra Smiley Evans thought she was alone, backed up against a big bush. But someone was watching close by with beady eyes. Suddenly, a shaggy black arm darted under her armpit and snatched her sample bag. The thief? A young mountain gorilla determined to check out that enticing goody bag containing spit-moistened bark, leaves and fruit rejected by one of her group members – material Evans would genetically analyze to help prevent viral outbreaks that could decimate fragile gorilla populations. Young gorilla peering through vegetation in Bwindi National Park, Uganda. Photo credit: MonikaP. Evans, a graduate student at the University of California Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, published a paper detailing this novel disease detection method in the American Journal of Primatology last month. According to its authors, the simple technique can help scientists conduct viral research, monitor threatened wildlife’s health and stop viruses from becoming pandemics without disrupting animals’ natural behaviors. “I’m hoping it will provide an easier method to noninvasively monitor viruses in primate populations because with species such as mountain gorillas, it’s easier to collect chewed plants than fecal samples,” said Evans. Finding human diseases in gorilla food scraps About 880 critically endangered mountain gorillas inhabit the Virunga range across Rwanda, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest in Uganda. Over sixty percent have been habituated to humans for ecotourism,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://wildtech.mongabay.com/2016/07/chew-new-way-detect-disease-primates/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<title>Piloting PALM Risk to detect palm oil-driven deforestation</title>
					<link>https://wildtech.mongabay.com/2016/07/piloting-palm-risk-detect-palm-oil-driven-deforestation/</link>
					<comments>https://wildtech.mongabay.com/2016/07/piloting-palm-risk-detect-palm-oil-driven-deforestation/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>20 Jul 2016 17:16:49 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Julia John]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Julia John]]>
					</author>
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							<![CDATA[What do lipstick, detergent and instant noodles have in common? They all contain palm oil. Half of every packaged product stocking supermarket shelves can be traced back to a ruthless army of oil palm trees rapidly occupying land that naturally supported rich tropical forests. Palm oil production razes and replaces biologically diverse ecosystems with monospecific [&#8230;]]]>
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							<![CDATA[What do lipstick, detergent and instant noodles have in common? They all contain palm oil. Half of every packaged product stocking supermarket shelves can be traced back to a ruthless army of oil palm trees rapidly occupying land that naturally supported rich tropical forests. Palm oil production razes and replaces biologically diverse ecosystems with monospecific palm “deserts,” endangering wildlife originally inhabiting these areas – including orangutans, tigers, elephants and rhinos. In Indonesia and Malaysia, which generate over four-fifths of the world’s palm oil, oil palms uniformly dot many vast formerly forested regions. Mature palm oil plantation at Cargill&#8217;s PT Harapan Sawit Lestari, Borneo, Indonesia. Photo credit: David Gilbert/RAN. To help identify and mitigate the deforestation risks of specific palm oil mills, consumer goods giant Unilever recently piloted the World Resources Institute (WRI)’s new Prioritizing Areas, Landscapes and Mills (PALM) Risk Tool. “The PALM Risk Tool will facilitate increased transparency, help us identify high risk mills and support us as we work to drive the transformational change needed in the palm oil industry,” said Unilever’s Chief Procurement Officer Dhaval Buch. Testing it, Unilever found that 29 of the mills it sources from, although comprising a fraction of its supply chain, pose high deforestation risk. For instance, take the Intan Sejati Andalan mill in Riau, Indonesia, where 200,000 hectares of surrounding primary forest has disappeared since 2009; analysts predict the remaining 300,000 are likely to be cleared too. Deforestation for palm oil in Riau, Sumatra, Indonesia. Photo credit: Hayden. A Tool for&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://wildtech.mongabay.com/2016/07/piloting-palm-risk-detect-palm-oil-driven-deforestation/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<title>Wildlife Law Enforcement in Sub-Saharan African Protected Areas: A Review of Best Practices</title>
					<link>https://wildtech.mongabay.com/2016/07/wildlife-law-enforcement-sub-saharan-african-protected-areas-review-best-practices/</link>
					<comments>https://wildtech.mongabay.com/2016/07/wildlife-law-enforcement-sub-saharan-african-protected-areas-review-best-practices/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>15 Jul 2016 14:52:02 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Taylor Robb-McCord]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[]]>
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							<![CDATA[“Across Africa, illegal killing and trade in wildlife, especially of iconic species such as elephants and rhinos, has now reached crisis proportions. Illicit wildlife trafficking now comprises the fourth largest illegal trade internationally after arms and drugs trafficking, and trafficking in human beings. In recent years, tens of thousands of elephants have been killed every [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
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							<![CDATA[“Across Africa, illegal killing and trade in wildlife, especially of iconic species such as elephants and rhinos, has now reached crisis proportions. Illicit wildlife trafficking now comprises the fourth largest illegal trade internationally after arms and drugs trafficking, and trafficking in human beings. In recent years, tens of thousands of elephants have been killed every year for their tusks. Faced with this unprecedented level of poaching and organized wildlife crime, many conservationists now fear that species such as elephants and rhinos may disappear in the wild within our lifetime.” (D’udine, Henson, Malpas, 2006, p. ix) As countries across Africa attempt to curtail the poaching crisis, on-the-ground law enforcement efforts remain critical to stopping poaching before it occurs, gathering intelligence, and protecting animal habitats. At both the London Conference on the Illegal Wildlife Trade in 2014 and Kasane Conference on the Illegal Wildlife Trade in 2015 discussions determined the strengthening of wildlife law enforcement capacity to be one of the most important strategies for combatting wildlife crime and poaching. In response to the overwhelming support for and importance of wildlife law enforcement, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) partnered with GIZ to produce “Wildlife Law Enforcement in Sub-Saharan African Protected Areas,” a comprehensive review of the best practices of wildlife law enforcement in Sub-Saharan African protected areas. While the report acknowledges the importance of governmental action to combat poaching and illegal trade, the focus remains on examining successful site-level practices. The report describes mostly well-known methods that have proven&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://wildtech.mongabay.com/2016/07/wildlife-law-enforcement-sub-saharan-african-protected-areas-review-best-practices/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<title>New map of Malaysia’s limestone hills will help set conservation priorities</title>
					<link>https://wildtech.mongabay.com/2016/07/new-map-malaysias-limestone-hills-will-help-set-conservation-priorities/</link>
					<comments>https://wildtech.mongabay.com/2016/07/new-map-malaysias-limestone-hills-will-help-set-conservation-priorities/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>11 Jul 2016 21:29:46 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mike Gaworecki]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mike Gaworecki]]>
					</author>
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							<![CDATA[Malaysia’s limestone hills, or karsts, have been described as “arks of biodiversity,” but they’re facing intense pressures from mining and other human activities. Limestone is a vital resource for the construction industry, meaning it is not likely that forest degradation and quarrying in a developing country like Malaysia, where 445 limestone hills have been recorded [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
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							<![CDATA[Malaysia’s limestone hills, or karsts, have been described as “arks of biodiversity,” but they’re facing intense pressures from mining and other human activities. Limestone is a vital resource for the construction industry, meaning it is not likely that forest degradation and quarrying in a developing country like Malaysia, where 445 limestone hills have been recorded to date, will be halted any time soon. That makes it crucial to identify which hills should be prioritized for conservation. But in order to make such decisions, spatial and biological data on Malaysia’s limestone hills must be quantified, mapped, and, ideally, made publicly accessible. The authors of a new study published in Tropical Conservation Science have done just that, compiling the first map of all of peninsular Malaysia’s 445 limestone hills based on information collected from geological reports and scientific literature. According to the researchers with Malaysia-based non-profit research group Rimba who compiled the map, scientists have been frustrated by the lack of geographic information on limestone hills in Malaysia for many years. “Till now, information on localities, shapes and sizes could only be obtained from books and journals, but not anymore,” they write in a post on Rimba’s website. A screenshot of Peninsular Malaysia limestone hills GIS database that was opened in Google Earth. The outline of each limestone hill is shown, and when selected (“click”), a pop out window shows the name, an overall graph and the references. The overall graph consists of: Top row (left to right) – a Fig. of&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://wildtech.mongabay.com/2016/07/new-map-malaysias-limestone-hills-will-help-set-conservation-priorities/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<title>GDELT: Mining and mapping global wildlife crime news</title>
					<link>https://wildtech.mongabay.com/2016/07/gdelt-mining-mapping-global-wildlife-crime-news/</link>
					<comments>https://wildtech.mongabay.com/2016/07/gdelt-mining-mapping-global-wildlife-crime-news/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>07 Jul 2016 18:46:29 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Julia John]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Julia John]]>
					</author>
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							<![CDATA[In the eighth grade, at an age most boys spend their time outside school watching sports and playing videogames, Kalev Leetaru was delving into large-scale web mining and founding his first web company. With his continued interest in investigating enormous amounts of data two decades since, he now heads the GDELT Project, a massive open-data platform that analyzes news media [&#8230;]]]>
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							<![CDATA[In the eighth grade, at an age most boys spend their time outside school watching sports and playing videogames, Kalev Leetaru was delving into large-scale web mining and founding his first web company. Kalev Leetaru, the brain behind the GDELT Project. Photo credit: US Government. With his continued interest in investigating enormous amounts of data two decades since, he now heads the GDELT Project, a massive open-data platform that analyzes news media to quantify and describe broader trends in global society. Wildtech spoke with Leetaru to learn more about the technology, a Wildlife Crime Tech Challenge Prize Winner, and its application for species conservation. 1. How will GDELT counter wildlife trafficking? GDELT is about cataloging global human society, looking at what’s happening around the planet through the eyes of the world’s news media, specifically reaching very deeply to sources in local languages. By the time some poaching incident makes the front page of the New York Times, it’s a pretty big incident. There’s a phenomenal amount of coverage about wildlife crime each day, but it tends to be in local sources. Last year, for Foreign Policy, I made a map of about three months of wildlife crime reported in worldwide media. This map went viral because it showed that poaching isn’t just elephants in Africa–it affects every corner of the world. The initial prototype [of GDELT for wildlife crime] that’ll come online this fall is a live version of that map I did for Foreign Policy (which is static), updating every 15 minutes, showing in&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://wildtech.mongabay.com/2016/07/gdelt-mining-mapping-global-wildlife-crime-news/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<title>Bringing Star Trek tricorder analysis to the 21st century</title>
					<link>https://wildtech.mongabay.com/2016/07/bringing-star-trek-tricorder-analyzers-21st-century-earthlings/</link>
					<comments>https://wildtech.mongabay.com/2016/07/bringing-star-trek-tricorder-analyzers-21st-century-earthlings/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>04 Jul 2016 07:30:49 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Hina Alam]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sue Palminteri]]>
					</author>
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							<![CDATA[Handheld, palm-sized, lightweight DNA preparation and sequencing devices are coming your way soon.]]>
						</description>
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							<![CDATA[Bulky, large, unwieldy machines are so 20th century. Technology for the next generation comes in the form of palm-sized devices that can be carried in pockets, not just backpacks. Beyond GPS, phones, and music players, devices that can miniaturize DNA amplification (copying) and sequencing (analyzing) promise to accelerate biological and medical research. And the field research community is ready. In an assessment conducted by wildtech-mongabay-com.mongabay.com of the technology needs of front-line conservationists and wildlife researchers, many researchers maintained that “hand-held DNA readers with up-to-date reference libraries” would be a game-changer in their work. Some have already experimented with its use in identifying species in the field. DNA section with the four base molecules. Image credit: WikiSummarizer Amplify in the field Reading the genetic code of a plant or an animal is considered the most reliable way to identify its species. The code is a sequence of molecules, called nucleotides – adenine, cytosine, guanine and thymine – that are found in a specific order, which is unique to each organism. “DNA science can improve crops, solve crimes, protect biodiversity, and develop medical treatments,” said Dr. Sebastian Kraves, co-founder of miniPCR, in an email interview with WildTech. “Yet most of us have no access to DNA technologies because they are complex and expensive. We&#8217;ve created the DNA Discovery System to make DNA science simple and accessible for everyone, everywhere.” The miniPCR DNA Discovery System, Kraves continued, is a DNA lab that you can take to even your remote study site. To produce sufficient DNA for&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://wildtech.mongabay.com/2016/07/bringing-star-trek-tricorder-analyzers-21st-century-earthlings/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<title>Bridging the Gap between Land and Space</title>
					<link>https://wildtech.mongabay.com/2016/07/bridging-gap-land-space/</link>
					<comments>https://wildtech.mongabay.com/2016/07/bridging-gap-land-space/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>01 Jul 2016 07:50:25 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Taylor Robb-McCord]]>
						</dc:creator>
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						<![CDATA[]]>
					</author>
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							<![CDATA[The United Nations/Kenya Conference on Space Technology and Applications for Wildlife Management and Protecting Biodiversity aims to expand the use of space technology in conservation.]]>
						</description>
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							<![CDATA[This week, the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA), in partnership with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) and Kenya Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (MENR), hosted the United Nations/Kenya Conference on Space Technology and Applications for Wildlife Management and Protecting Biodiversity. Guided by Sustainable Development Goal 15 (Life on Land – to protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forest, combat desertification, halt and reverse land degradation, and halt biodiversity loss), the conference is focusing on the use of space-based technologies and their applications for the management and protection of biodiversity. This four-day conference brought together more than 250 stakeholders involved with biodiversity and wildlife management to Nairobi, Kenya to review ways that space-based technologies could support wildlife management and biodiversity protection. “Pressures resulting from climate change, ecosystems loss and wildlife crime are threatening biodiversity and wildlife around the Globe. In response to this a wide range of applications, initiatives and projects have been developed that are using space-based technologies, such as Earth Observation satellites and their geospatial data, satellite-communications and global navigation satellite systems, to monitor, assess and manage biodiversity and ecosystems in support of sustainable environmental development.” (UNOOSA) Space technology tools, such as satellite imagery, Geographic Positioning Systems (GPS), and mobile phone applications, are already being deployed on the ground in African countries to protect biodiversity, especially in the cases of elephant and rhino poaching. But as the loss of natural environments associated with human population&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://wildtech.mongabay.com/2016/07/bridging-gap-land-space/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<title>5 Tech Projects That Are Protecting Sharks</title>
					<link>https://wildtech.mongabay.com/2016/06/5-ways-technology-protecting-sharks/</link>
					<comments>https://wildtech.mongabay.com/2016/06/5-ways-technology-protecting-sharks/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>30 Jun 2016 15:20:25 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Taylor Robb-McCord]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[]]>
					</author>
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							<![CDATA[Annually, approximately 100 million sharks are killed by commercial fisheries. Coupled with climate change and a decrease of food supply from overfishing, some shark populations are teetering on the edge of extinction. Bringing sharks into mainstream media, the brainchild of the Discovery Channel and the longest running cable TV program, Shark Week has aired every [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
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							<![CDATA[Annually, approximately 100 million sharks are killed by commercial fisheries. Coupled with climate change and a decrease of food supply from overfishing, some shark populations are teetering on the edge of extinction. Bringing sharks into mainstream media, the brainchild of the Discovery Channel and the longest running cable TV program, Shark Week has aired every summer since 1988; educating millions of viewers on the intricate and elusive nature of sharks. While we know that sharks, as top predators, play an important role in maintaining ocean and global health, scientists are still hot on their heels fins to learn more about their behavior and their vital role in ecosystem balance. In celebration and support of Shark Week 2016, we are excited to highlight five different organizations and technologies that are helping to protect shark species. 1. OCEARCH: Using tracking and non-tracking data, OCEARCH has created an open source database providing information on mature oceanic apex predators. Working together, fishermen and scientists bring sharks to the surface for 15 minutes for scientists to take blood and parasite samples, muscle biopsies, and body measurements, and to outfit the sharks with trackers for data collection. &nbsp; A map shows the location of tagged sharks. Photo credit: OCEARCH. &nbsp; 2. Clever Buoy &#8211; For the safety of sharks and surfers, Clever Buoy is being deployed at the popular J-Bay Open surf competition in South Africa. Clever Buoy is marketed as a non-invasive technology that uses sonar to detect a sharks distinct swimming movement. When the buoy detects a shark it&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://wildtech.mongabay.com/2016/06/5-ways-technology-protecting-sharks/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<title>A World of Tings</title>
					<link>https://wildtech.mongabay.com/2016/06/a-world-of-tings/</link>
					<comments>https://wildtech.mongabay.com/2016/06/a-world-of-tings/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>28 Jun 2016 10:00:37 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Taylor Robb-McCord]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[]]>
					</author>
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							<![CDATA[The real-time wildlife sighting app, Latest Sightings, can help to link a global community of wildlife enthusiasts and promote conservation one “ting” at a time.]]>
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							<![CDATA[If you’re a frequent or soon-to-be visitor of Kruger National Park in South Africa, you might just consult your smartphone, instead of a guide, to help you see the Big Five. Developed in 2012, the Latest Sightings app provides real-time updates on live animal sightings within South African parks. For wildlife enthusiasts, the app invites mixed feelings. Latest Sightings gives park visitors the opportunity to easily hone in on exactly what they want to see, from photos taken by other visitors. Seeing predators, birds or beautiful scenery is as easy as filtering through the app. For some, this is a welcome aid in enhancing a safari experience. But others, like the officials at SANParks, are blaming wildlife sightings apps for an increase in speeding, roadkill, and general irresponsible behavior. We spoke with the CEO and founder of Latest Sightings, Nadav Ossendryver, to learn more about the app, the most watched YouTube channel in South Africa, and how mobile platforms can support conservation, as well as his opinion on the recent vocalization from SANParks. How and why did you develop the Latest Sightings app? What was your initial goal when developing the app? I created the app in 2012 when I was 15. I spent 3 weeks, 24/7, watching videos and reading tutorials on Google and YouTube, learning how to develop the app. I wanted to create an app that shared what everyone was seeing so we could see more wildlife. I wanted people in the park to experience more wildlife, but also&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://wildtech.mongabay.com/2016/06/a-world-of-tings/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<title>Combining high-tech and low-tech to turn satellite images into action</title>
					<link>https://wildtech.mongabay.com/2016/06/combining-high-tech-low-tech-turn-satellite-images-action/</link>
					<comments>https://wildtech.mongabay.com/2016/06/combining-high-tech-low-tech-turn-satellite-images-action/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>24 Jun 2016 17:38:12 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Nathan Hahn]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Nathan Hahn]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
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							<![CDATA[Dr. Lilian Pintea, Vice President of conservation science at the Jane Goodall Institute. Photo courtesy of JGI/Jeff Kerby.Since its founding, the Jane Goodall Institute (JGI) has been on the forefront of conservation science, and in recent years the group has been applying remote sensing, mobile phone technologies, and cloud-based mapping tools to its forest and [&#8230;]]]>
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							<![CDATA[Dr. Lilian Pintea, Vice President of conservation science at the Jane Goodall Institute. Photo courtesy of JGI/Jeff Kerby.Since its founding, the Jane Goodall Institute (JGI) has been on the forefront of conservation science, and in recent years the group has been applying remote sensing, mobile phone technologies, and cloud-based mapping tools to its forest and ape habitat conservation work. Today, JGI scientists use a suite of technologies to monitor chimpanzee habitat, from high-resolution imagery from DigitalGlobe, to Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) or drones. But the largest source comes from Landsat imagery at 30-meter resolution, which can be used for long-term analysis going back in time or for habitat monitoring covering large areas. Very recently, it has become possible to use it to monitor change in forest cover in near-real time, and in some cases even once per week. To learn more about the chimpanzee habitat conservation work JGI is tackling and the future of remote sensing, WildTech spoke with Dr. Lilian Pintea, JGI’s Vice President of Conservation Science. Answers have been edited for clarity and length. We&#8217;re starting to see cloud mapping platforms like ArcGIS online and Google Earth Engine make large-scale modeling much faster. Could you give an example of how these cloud mapping tools work with remote sensing projects? Cloud platforms are transforming the ways we access, process, and collaborate to use remote sensing imagery. It opens big data for conservation applications, making remote sensing imagery more feasible and cost-effective to use. For example, biomass monitoring and mapping is&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://wildtech.mongabay.com/2016/06/combining-high-tech-low-tech-turn-satellite-images-action/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<title>Drink beer, help the ocean?</title>
					<link>https://wildtech.mongabay.com/2016/06/drink-beer-help-ocean/</link>
					<comments>https://wildtech.mongabay.com/2016/06/drink-beer-help-ocean/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>14 Jun 2016 19:52:32 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Julia John]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Julia John]]>
					</author>
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							<![CDATA[Beer may have a bad rep among carb-fearing ab-chiseling fitness fans, but it could now be better for the environment than it was before. Well, at least the new kind packaged using edible six-pack rings from south Florida’s Saltwater Brewery. This Delray Beach microbrewery north of Miami, Florida, just launched the first ever 100% compostable [&#8230;]]]>
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							<![CDATA[Beer may have a bad rep among carb-fearing ab-chiseling fitness fans, but it could now be better for the environment than it was before. Well, at least the new kind packaged using edible six-pack rings from south Florida’s Saltwater Brewery. This Delray Beach microbrewery north of Miami, Florida, just launched the first ever 100% compostable six-pack rings. Unlike their standard plastic counterparts, these rings feed, rather than harm, marine fauna if they end up in the ocean. Made from brewing byproducts such as barley and wheat ribbons, this design circumvents plastic’s often lethal ensnaring of birds, turtles and fish and its consequent interference with their development. Plastic will outweigh fish in our oceans by 2050; it winds up in the stomachs of everything from plankton to whales. Photo credit: We Believers and Saltwater Brewery. The clever packaging also presents a solution to plastic fatally clogging their digestive tracts when they swallow it, releasing endocrine-disrupting chemicals and bacteria into their bodies–repercussions even conscientiously cut rings have. The innovative rings start disintegrating within an hour of being in the water; if unconsumed, they’ll completely dissolve in two to three months instead of accumulating, polluting the ocean and threatening sea life for centuries as plastic rings do. But the edible rings, which look and feel like cardboard, function just as a carton box does in a household or supermarket fridge; their manufacturers claim these rings are as effective as plastic versions, strong enough to support the weight and handling of six beer cans.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://wildtech.mongabay.com/2016/06/drink-beer-help-ocean/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<title>e-Eye of the tiger: Complex surveillance system extends watch over India&#8217;s wildlife sanctuaries</title>
					<link>https://wildtech.mongabay.com/2016/06/e-eye-tiger-complex-surveillance-system-extends-watch-indias-wildlife-sanctuaries/</link>
					<comments>https://wildtech.mongabay.com/2016/06/e-eye-tiger-complex-surveillance-system-extends-watch-indias-wildlife-sanctuaries/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>10 Jun 2016 08:30:01 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Julia John]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Julia John]]>
					</author>
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							<![CDATA[A new set of eyes is keeping watch over tiger reserves across India. They&#8217;re electronic, but they seem to have hawk-like observational faculties. And they may be related to how the country’s tiger population increased from 1,706 in 2010, one year before this digital monitoring system was first implemented, to 2,226 in 2014, the last [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
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							<![CDATA[A new set of eyes is keeping watch over tiger reserves across India. They&#8217;re electronic, but they seem to have hawk-like observational faculties. And they may be related to how the country’s tiger population increased from 1,706 in 2010, one year before this digital monitoring system was first implemented, to 2,226 in 2014, the last census year, according to The Economic Times. Dubbed “e-Eye,” it’s a landscape-scale intelligent technology capable of 24/7 all-weather, live-feed wildlife surveillance in vulnerable areas and sanctuary perimeters, collecting and interpreting wildlife and human presence within to alert law enforcement before violations occur. The anti-poaching apparatus secures protected areas by helping monitor hard-to-access areas, detect intruders, manage patrols and keep rangers accountable. It also helps reserve managers study wildlife. The system tracks animals’ general movements, including potentially fatal dispersals into human settlements, size, density, average speed and other attributes of groups of larger animals, and generates analysis reports to identify directions they take and patterns they make. A Bengal tiger prowling through vegetation in Jim Corbett National Park, where the e-Eye pilot drastically decreased illegal human activity. Photo credit: Ross Huggett. The early-warning technology is currently assisting India’s Forest Department survey Jim Corbett National Park in the northern state of Uttarakhand; Kaziranga National Park in the northeastern state of Assam; and Ratapani Tiger Reserve in the central state of Madhya Pradesh. The central government operationalized and funded installation through its National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA). “These parks have been using it extensively,” said Raja Brij Bhushan, e-Eye’s co-creator. “They&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://wildtech.mongabay.com/2016/06/e-eye-tiger-complex-surveillance-system-extends-watch-indias-wildlife-sanctuaries/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<title>Tracking assets for environmental advocacy work with Bloomberg</title>
					<link>https://wildtech.mongabay.com/2016/06/use-bloomberg-terminal-advocacy-work-tracking-assets/</link>
					<comments>https://wildtech.mongabay.com/2016/06/use-bloomberg-terminal-advocacy-work-tracking-assets/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>09 Jun 2016 20:49:47 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Dan Williams]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rebecca Kessler]]>
					</author>
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							<![CDATA[Other stories in Mongabay’s series on using the Bloomberg Terminal in advocacy work: Part 1: How to use the Bloomberg Terminal for advocacy work: the basics Part 3: How to use the Bloomberg Terminal for advocacy work: advanced tools The Bloomberg Terminal is Windows-based proprietary software that offers users real-time access to global news sources, financial [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
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							<![CDATA[Other stories in Mongabay’s series on using the Bloomberg Terminal in advocacy work: Part 1: How to use the Bloomberg Terminal for advocacy work: the basics Part 3: How to use the Bloomberg Terminal for advocacy work: advanced tools The Bloomberg Terminal is Windows-based proprietary software that offers users real-time access to global news sources, financial data, and analytics tools. Historically, only for-profit financial organizations have used the Bloomberg Terminal. However, Bloomberg has vast resources that would be useful to the advocacy community. Companies are increasingly making pledges to improve the sustainability of their production methods. The reputational risk to big companies associated with sourcing goods from downstream producers can influence the price they are willing to pay for a commodity. This, in turn, can help change the way producers operate. However, sustainability pledges are hard to enforce if there is no mechanism to track assets from the source or producer level to the upstream manufacturer or consumer level. For advocacy groups, the process of tracking assets has historically been a grassroots effort that relied on individuals manually collecting data, such as where and how a commodity was grown, and disseminating it through proprietary channels to a limited network. The financial industry has also struggled to track assets in most industries. Government and advocacy groups are increasingly setting up initiatives to fill the gap in certain sectors, such as palm oil and seafood, but much work remains to be done. In the meantime, using the Bloomberg Terminal could improve the efficiency&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://wildtech.mongabay.com/2016/06/use-bloomberg-terminal-advocacy-work-tracking-assets/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<title>Online forest mapping made easy</title>
					<link>https://wildtech.mongabay.com/2016/06/online-forest-mapping-made-easy/</link>
					<comments>https://wildtech.mongabay.com/2016/06/online-forest-mapping-made-easy/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>04 Jun 2016 17:54:24 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Suzanne Palminteri]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sue Palminteri]]>
					</author>
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							<![CDATA[Global Forest Watch enables you to monitor tree cover and forest change for your region of interest in a free online platform.]]>
						</description>
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							<![CDATA[As human development expands across the globe, forest loss in remote areas, including protected areas, often goes undetected until large areas have been cleared. Greater transparency to reveal the condition of forest habitat at high spatial resolution is increasingly central to not only halting forest loss directly, but also planning effective conservation strategies for forest-dependent species. To speed detection of forest loss and provide greater transparency of forestry practices, several initiatives are enabling online forest monitoring. The most easily available of these is Global Forest Watch (GFW), a free online forest monitoring and analysis tool the World Resources Institute (WRI), Google, ESRI and the University of Maryland launched in 2014. Given its open access and global reach, we believe a consolidated basic summary-in a series of articles-would benefit readers interested in using the tool. The GFW site itself provides an extensive set of user-friendly guides and tutorials. Slash and burn agriculture, like this in Aceh, Indonesia, gradually eliminates forest across the tropics. Photo credit: Rhett A. Butler What it does The Global Forest Watch (GFW) online platform compiles and uses satellite imagery, other spatial data sets and related algorithms to identify where trees are growing and disappearing. GFW applies this information to display up-to-date global tree cover and detect forest loss and gain worldwide. GFW updates its global map of tree cover* annually (from 2000 to 2014) at 30m x 30m resolution and bi-weekly at 500m resolution. The platform aims to provide open access to timely information aiding forest management and&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://wildtech.mongabay.com/2016/06/online-forest-mapping-made-easy/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<title>Empowering smartphone users to bear witness to illegal wildlife trade</title>
					<link>https://wildtech.mongabay.com/2016/05/empowering-smartphone-users-bear-witness-illegal-wildlife-trade/</link>
					<comments>https://wildtech.mongabay.com/2016/05/empowering-smartphone-users-bear-witness-illegal-wildlife-trade/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>26 May 2016 19:54:49 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Julia John]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Julia John]]>
					</author>
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							<![CDATA[Jostling through the narrow turns of a market on the outskirts of Bangkok, you might concernedly notice vendors displaying delicate ivory carvings, dried tiger penises and bottles of bear bile pills, all obtained from unlawfully captured or slaughtered endangered animals. The Wildlife Witness app allows you to anonymously and securely report such observations of wildlife [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
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							<![CDATA[Jostling through the narrow turns of a market on the outskirts of Bangkok, you might concernedly notice vendors displaying delicate ivory carvings, dried tiger penises and bottles of bear bile pills, all obtained from unlawfully captured or slaughtered endangered animals. The Wildlife Witness app allows you to anonymously and securely report such observations of wildlife trafficking in Southeast Asia, an illegal wildlife trade hotspot. Developed in 2014 by Taronga Zoo in Sydney and the wildlife trade monitoring network TRAFFIC using funding from the Google Impact Challenge, the software has over 6,000 downloads so far. Wildtech chatted with Belinda Fairbrother, Taronga’s Manager of Community Conservation, and Nisha Sabanayagam from TRAFFIC’s Program Development Monitoring and Evaluation department to find out more about this app that puts wildlife law enforcement and conservation in tourists’ hands. Pills derived from bear bile extraction farms in Möng La, Shan, Myanmar. Bear bile is used to treat various illnesses, such as fever, convulsions, gallstones, diabetes, liver disease, and heart disease, in traditional Asian medicine. Photo credit: Dan Bennett. 1) How does it work? BF: The app interface allows you to take a photo of what you see. You can record whether it’s at a restaurant, a live animal display, or whether you’ve witnessed poaching or seen something in a market. You take a photo, add your location and as much description as possible, what species it is, how many there were, anything about the price or display. The app makes the report, which gets generated automatically in the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://wildtech.mongabay.com/2016/05/empowering-smartphone-users-bear-witness-illegal-wildlife-trade/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<title>Five technologies help thwart illegal logging by tracing wood’s origin</title>
					<link>https://wildtech.mongabay.com/2016/05/five-technologies-help-thwart-illegal-logging-tracing-woods-origin/</link>
					<comments>https://wildtech.mongabay.com/2016/05/five-technologies-help-thwart-illegal-logging-tracing-woods-origin/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>23 May 2016 20:14:43 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Emily KaldjianLoretta CheungRuth Nogueron]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sue Palminteri]]>
					</author>
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							<![CDATA[Timber tracking tech helps governments and business trace movements of wood products and verify their timber supply chains.]]>
						</description>
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							<![CDATA[The illegal timber trade creates problems for everyone. Governments lose valuable revenue and natural resources. Indonesia’s Corruption Eradication Commission reported that the country lost $9 billion in revenue to the illegal timber trade between 2003 and 2014. Meanwhile, businesses sourcing legal timber lose profits and competitiveness to illegal timber supplies sold at lower prices. So governments and businesses are starting to do more to improve timber traceability, including adopting new and existing technologies that can help track timber, manage information, and eventually, help combat illegal logging. WRI, Instituto Nacional de Bosques (INAB) of Guatemala and IUCN Mesoamerica, with support from USAID, the European Commission, and FAO, recently hosted a workshop in Antigua, Guatemala to explore technological applications for improving forest information management and traceability in timber supply chains. Participants discussed some of the most cutting-edge technologies available today or on the horizon. Illegal logging station in Borneo. Photo credit: Rhett A. Butler Technologies that track wood’s roots Some technologies target the tracking of timber as it moves through the supply chain to guarantee authenticity of the timber’s origin, including: Stardust is a dust-like material that can be sprayed onto wood and detected only with a hand-held device. Stardust has the potential to be applied to timber and pulp and paper products as a cheaper alternative to barcodes, radio-frequency identification (RFID) and other tracking technologies. Greenwood, an organization that connects buyers with producers of high-quality wood products from sustainably harvested trees, is now pilot testing Stardust’s application to some of their&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://wildtech.mongabay.com/2016/05/five-technologies-help-thwart-illegal-logging-tracing-woods-origin/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<title>Reducing human-wildlife conflict in the blink of a light</title>
					<link>https://wildtech.mongabay.com/2016/05/reducing-human-wildlife-conflict-blink-light/</link>
					<comments>https://wildtech.mongabay.com/2016/05/reducing-human-wildlife-conflict-blink-light/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>20 May 2016 18:19:51 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sammi Dowdell and Sue Palminteri]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sue Palminteri]]>
					</author>
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							<![CDATA[Invented independently by a US game bird farmer, a young African herder and an Australian sheep farmer, disruptive lights can dissuade lions and other predators from attacking livestock.]]>
						</description>
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							<![CDATA[Human-lion conflict is widespread across the African continent (Bauer et al. 2010). Most lion predation occurs on livestock penned in overnight corrals (bomas) and leads to widespread lion persecution. Cattle, goats and sheep kept near lion territories are vulnerable to predation when they are trapped in a boma with no human guardian present. Lions seek out weak spots in the enclosure, such as a gate or corner, kill the livestock and drag it out of the boma. Their sight and smell may also intimidate the livestock, triggering a bull to break through the fence and initiating a stampede that puts the entire herd at risk (Mbithi et al. 2012). Lioness watches hidden in the grass. Photo credit: Sue Palminteri Retaliatory killing by herders, combined with habitat loss and poaching, has devastated lion populations across Africa; the total population has declined by 43% since 1993, to fewer than 20,000 today. To prevent lion killings by aggravated farmers, conservation organizations have attempted to install “predator-proof” livestock enclosures—made with chain link, woven branch, or living Commiphora tree fences—and recommended that farmers stay vigilant, or at least employ guard dogs as early warning systems (Woodroffe et al. 2007). Predator-proof bomas have been very effective in protecting livestock but can cost up to $2000USD each, precluding use by most individual herdsmen to address a problem that spans the continent. Necessity and long nights inspired invention In 2010, 11 year-old Maasai Richard Turere from Kenya, wanted to develop a low-cost method of protecting his father’s cattle. Inspiration struck&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://wildtech.mongabay.com/2016/05/reducing-human-wildlife-conflict-blink-light/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<title>Search, map, measure, and count</title>
					<link>https://wildtech.mongabay.com/2016/05/search-map-measure-count/</link>
					<comments>https://wildtech.mongabay.com/2016/05/search-map-measure-count/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>14 May 2016 23:39:49 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sue Palminteri]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sue Palminteri]]>
					</author>
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							<![CDATA[Inspiration: 10 novel ways to use drones for conservation]]>
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							<![CDATA[Once solely in the realm of advanced militaries, unmanned aerial vehicles (a.k.a. unmanned aircraft systems, or drones) are increasingly popular among a wide range of people, including field biologists and conservation teams. They take amazing aerial photos of the natural world, as the clear birds-eye view that a drone-borne camera can provide is unmatched. Increasingly, conservation and research projects across the globe are moving beyond photography and are using UAVs in innovative ways. Logging road through rainforest, as seen from above. Photo credit: Rhett A. Butler Several features of drones have facilitated or improved traditional research, conservation, and management techniques: the relative speed of travel to reach a target location the birds-eye view that provide unique perspectives of even familiar places the programmed, automated flight that facilitates precise movements and repeat visits to exact locations the access they provide to sensitive species and difficult or dangerous terrain. As inspiration, and recognizing there are many more innovative uses than can be presented in any one post, here are 10 novel or unusual applications that innovative scientists, engineers, and field teams are either testing or employing, generally with small, affordable multi-rotor or fixed-wing UAVs. 1. Mapping and fighting wildfires – Costa Rican firefighters are testing the capacity of small multi-rotor UAVs for mapping and fighting wildfires more safely and efficiently. Monitoring speed and direction of fires from a safe distance will greatly assist the management of dry forest ecosystems. Fire crews can also fly UAVs with thermal sensors over a fire zone&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://wildtech.mongabay.com/2016/05/search-map-measure-count/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<title>How to use the Bloomberg Terminal for advocacy work: the basics</title>
					<link>https://wildtech.mongabay.com/2016/05/use-bloomberg-terminal-advocacy-work-basics/</link>
					<comments>https://wildtech.mongabay.com/2016/05/use-bloomberg-terminal-advocacy-work-basics/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>06 May 2016 18:48:38 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Dan Williams]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rebecca Kessler]]>
					</author>
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							<![CDATA[Other stories in Mongabay’s series on using the Bloomberg Terminal in advocacy work: Part 2: Tracking assets for environmental advocacy work with Bloomberg  Part 3: How to use the Bloomberg Terminal for advocacy work: advanced tools The Bloomberg Professional service is Windows-based proprietary software that offers users real-time access to global news sources, financial data, and [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
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							<![CDATA[Other stories in Mongabay’s series on using the Bloomberg Terminal in advocacy work: Part 2: Tracking assets for environmental advocacy work with Bloomberg  Part 3: How to use the Bloomberg Terminal for advocacy work: advanced tools The Bloomberg Professional service is Windows-based proprietary software that offers users real-time access to global news sources, financial data, and analytics tools. It comes with a special keyboard and monitors, but is commonly referred to as the “Bloomberg Terminal” from the early 1980s versions that came as an actual computer terminal. Historically, only for-profit financial organizations have used the Bloomberg Terminal. However, it has vast resources with useful data that the advocacy community could be leveraging to enact change. These include information about securities, Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) information, global news feeds, shipping and port locations, and research reports from various institutions. Bloomberg Finance L.P., the company that makes the terminal, has identified the non-profit sector as an underrepresented constituency in its user base. This lack of representation can be explained partly by the high expense of obtaining a terminal, which costs $24,000 a year, and partly by a lack of awareness in the advocacy community. Bloomberg Terminals may be available at larger non-profit firms or research institutions. The initial Bloomberg welcome screen shown below has links to various tools like securities information, help functions, and links to customization menus. Users can completely customize the terminal based on their interests and intended use. They can set the home screen to display news feeds from&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://wildtech.mongabay.com/2016/05/use-bloomberg-terminal-advocacy-work-basics/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<title>Want to identify that bug or beetle in your photo? Ask the crowd.</title>
					<link>https://wildtech.mongabay.com/2016/05/crowdsourcing-wildlife-identification/</link>
					<comments>https://wildtech.mongabay.com/2016/05/crowdsourcing-wildlife-identification/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>06 May 2016 17:44:18 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sue Palminteri]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sue Palminteri]]>
					</author>
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							<![CDATA[The iSpot web application helps further biodiversity knowledge by connecting users interested in identifying the species they capture in photos.]]>
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							<![CDATA[Have you crowdsourced your research or conservation project yet?  Should you?  The growing trend of inviting masses of online volunteers to assist scientific research projects takes advantage of emerging technologies and people’s love of social networks. Crowdsourcing involves outsourcing tasks to an undefined group of people. Crowdsourcing may allow a research team to complete a series of specific tasks, such as making repeated observations of a site (e.g. nest, stream) or reviewing large datasets of text, numbers or images, quickly and more affordably than hiring a team of technicians to do it. Moreover, in any crowd boasting a broad range of experience and knowledge, a few participants may pose a helpful idea or strategy that you, the project leader, may never have considered. Finally, by inviting open participation, crowdsourcing engages a broader spectrum of the public in scientific or conservation research and can expand participants’ familiarity with and knowledge of biodiversity. Crowdsourcing case study: iSPOT Building on the scientific research tradition of inviting volunteers to make observations of plants and animals in the field, The Open University in the U.K. has developed a web and mobile application called iSpot. This app allows and encourages people to identify photos of plants and animals uploaded via a social network. One way to learn about beetles is to view where different species share characteristics and where they differ. Photo credit: iSpot It aims to use a mobile, informal learning tool to “…create and inspire a new generation of nature lovers by getting people&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://wildtech.mongabay.com/2016/05/crowdsourcing-wildlife-identification/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<title>Could conservation education in virtual reality help change the real world?</title>
					<link>https://wildtech.mongabay.com/2016/05/virtual-reality-education-make-real-world-better-place/</link>
					<comments>https://wildtech.mongabay.com/2016/05/virtual-reality-education-make-real-world-better-place/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 May 2016 20:25:54 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Julia John]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Julia John]]>
					</author>
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							<![CDATA[Through your big black helmet, you witness the massive bodies of redwoods rise before you from the emerald undergrowth like an ancient congregation. A cool breeze breathes by, rustling the leaves. Stellar’s jays hop in the canopy, their cacophonous calls grating against the chorus of insects chirping in the shadows on the ground. The forest [&#8230;]]]>
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							<![CDATA[Through your big black helmet, you witness the massive bodies of redwoods rise before you from the emerald undergrowth like an ancient congregation. A cool breeze breathes by, rustling the leaves. Stellar’s jays hop in the canopy, their cacophonous calls grating against the chorus of insects chirping in the shadows on the ground. The forest is every bit as alive as you. As you trek past the plants, their jumbled branches never quite brushing against you, you realize the woods’ soothing murmur has amplified into a disconcerting growl. Suddenly, you feel a chainsaw revving in your hands, overwhelming the pulse of everything around it. You can’t fight it; neither can the trees. Blade meets bark, roaring and spraying wood dust into the air as the machine trembles violently in your hands. Your arms sway back and forth like its motor’s extension, guiding its teeth through the trunk of the sequoia in front of you. You recoil as the tree crashes to the floor, dead lumber to be processed into paper. Helpless, you wonder why you didn’t switch off that saw and stop the destruction. It’s only when the headset comes off and you see the four walls surrounding you and feel the carpet beneath your feet that you remember it was all just virtual reality (VR). Man experiencing immersive VR in an Oculus Rift headset. Photo credit: Sergey Galyonkin. Once of interest only to tech geeks and hardcore gamers, new VR apps can immerse anyone in lifelike virtual environments and&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://wildtech.mongabay.com/2016/05/virtual-reality-education-make-real-world-better-place/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<title>Light, long-lasting and low-cost: the technology needs of field conservationists and wildlife researchers</title>
					<link>https://wildtech.mongabay.com/2016/04/light-long-lasting-low-cost-technology-needs-field-conservationists-wildlife-researchers/</link>
					<comments>https://wildtech.mongabay.com/2016/04/light-long-lasting-low-cost-technology-needs-field-conservationists-wildlife-researchers/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>27 Apr 2016 16:04:34 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sue Palminteri]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sue Palminteri]]>
					</author>
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							<![CDATA[Results of an assessment of the technology needs of front-line conservationists and researchers that informs wildtech-mongabay-com.mongabay.com]]>
						</description>
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							<![CDATA[What challenges do wildlife managers and researchers face most frequently in the field?  And what technology advances can help address them? To help ensure wildtech-mongabay-com.mongabay.com remains a useful tool for readers, we invited front-line conservationists and researchers, representing a range of institutions and field conditions, to fill out anonymous questionnaires, with a separate questionnaire for each group.  We asked them describe the challenges they face in their work, current means of addressing these challenges, capacities that could increase their effectiveness, and any game-changing technologies that would revolutionize their work. We received responses from 44 front-line conservationists from 14 countries and from 50 wildlife biologists working in 37 countries on technology they use currently, problems they face with it, and how they would improve it. Click here for a detailed report of the survey results. Major conservation challenges A. The Front-Line Conservationists (FLCs), from the non-profit and public sectors, work primarily on-site at protected areas or within government parks or wildlife departments, with a relative concentration of responses from South Asia and East Africa. Most have multiple responsibilities, including controlling poaching and other crimes, maintaining community relations, mitigating human-wildlife conflict, surveying wildlife and their habitats, training staff or colleagues, analyzing data, raising funds or public awareness and managing a conservation area. Nearly every FLC respondent said that wildlife poaching was a serious problem. Human-wildlife conflict (HWC), was identified as the second major challenge (60% of respondents), with habitat loss, encroachment and infrastructure development currently less urgent issues. Poaching challenges: According to&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://wildtech.mongabay.com/2016/04/light-long-lasting-low-cost-technology-needs-field-conservationists-wildlife-researchers/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<title>Earth Day and Half Earth</title>
					<link>https://wildtech.mongabay.com/2016/04/earth-day-half-earth/</link>
					<comments>https://wildtech.mongabay.com/2016/04/earth-day-half-earth/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>22 Apr 2016 22:38:49 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sue Palminteri]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sue Palminteri]]>
					</author>
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							<![CDATA[Happy Earth Day - ]]>
						</description>
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							<![CDATA[This Earth Day is special because it follows the release of one of the most important books of this millennium, Professor E. O. Wilson’s Half Earth. Wilson’s proposition is the boldest conservation paradigm yet: that to avoid the sixth great extinction crisis we find ourselves mired in and support a sustainable biosphere, we need to eventually put half of the land area of Earth under some form of conservation management. Over the next year, we plan to dedicate several columns that profile tools, methods, and emerging technologies to measure our progress at conserving Half Earth in a number of important locales. Dr. Wilson once uttered, “Biodiversity cannot afford another century like the last one.” We agree. Through this website, we will promote promising tech and individuals using them to ramp up conservation of species and places that will someday populate this grand vision of Half Earth. Coming soon, we’ll report the results of a tech needs assessment, to honor nearly 100 front-line conservationists and researchers that answered questions on the challenges they face and capacities they most need in the field. The report also highlights their suggested improvements to existing technologies and ideas that will help research and conservation in the future (think non-invasive animal tagging, camera trap-drone tag-team systems, and virtual fences that detect different animals or humans to warn farmers or rangers of their approach). Technology will, of course, not lead to sustainability – it requires political and societal will, a change in priorities, which technology can help&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://wildtech.mongabay.com/2016/04/earth-day-half-earth/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<title>Undercover robots: On a mission to stop poaching</title>
					<link>https://wildtech.mongabay.com/2016/04/undercover-robots-mission-stop-poaching/</link>
					<comments>https://wildtech.mongabay.com/2016/04/undercover-robots-mission-stop-poaching/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>11 Apr 2016 21:38:50 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Julia John]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Julia John]]>
					</author>
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							<![CDATA[Across North America, wildlife agencies use robotic decoys to ensnare illegal hunters.]]>
						</description>
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							<![CDATA[When we think of poaching, trapped, slaughtered and mutilated apes, big cats, pachyderms and other tropical animals fallen prey to the multi-billion dollar global black-market wildlife trade usually come to mind. But unlawful hunting doesn’t just claim lives abroad. It runs rampant in remote parts of North America too, where hunters annually illegally kill tens of millions of protected animals that end up outnumbering legally taken game. Wildlife officials have been deploying an undercover corps of robots across the continent to catch poachers and curb hunting in restricted regions and time periods, as well as hunting using roadways and motor vehicles, for over two decades. These motorized remote-controlled taxidermied bots serve as decoys for poaching targets–they can move their tails, heads, legs and ears like actual animals, swivel around a base, and slide along a short aluminum track. Poaching usually occurs without witnesses, involves evidence that can easily be destroyed and affects victims that can’t speak, making wildlife law enforcement particularly challenging. But these robo creatures help understaffed, underfunded and poorly equipped enforcement agencies safely witness poaching firsthand and apprehend hundreds of unauthorized hunters, acquire tens of thousands of dollars in enforcement fines, deter potential violators and save real animals’ lives. “They’ll never be able to write tickets, but they certainly help our officers,” says Candy Thomson, Maryland Natural Resources Police (NRP) Public Information Officer. “Generally speaking, you’re going to have somebody shooting from a car so they’re on the road, and we’ve set it [the decoy] up off the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://wildtech.mongabay.com/2016/04/undercover-robots-mission-stop-poaching/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<title>Participatory Mapping in the Mobile Age</title>
					<link>https://wildtech.mongabay.com/2016/04/participatory-mapping-in-the-mobile-age/</link>
					<comments>https://wildtech.mongabay.com/2016/04/participatory-mapping-in-the-mobile-age/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>06 Apr 2016 15:13:03 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Nathan Hahn]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Nathan Hahn]]>
					</author>
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							<![CDATA[Deep in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta mountains, with peaks that soar over 18,000 feet over the Colombian coast, the Kogi people live on roughly six million isolated from the rest of the world by cocaine traffickers, tomb raiders, and militias that rove the rainforest. The Kogi and associated tribes are one of the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
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							<![CDATA[Deep in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta mountains, with peaks that soar over 18,000 feet over the Colombian coast, the Kogi people live on roughly six million isolated from the rest of the world by cocaine traffickers, tomb raiders, and militias that rove the rainforest. The Kogi and associated tribes are one of the last surviving civilizations from the pre-Colombian period, having fled the Spanish conquest five centuries ago. The Kogi, Arhuaco, and Wiwa remain true to their ancient laws—moral, ecological, and spiritual—and are still led and inspired by priests, or mamas, who have an exceptional spiritual connection with the ecosystems in which they live. The Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta mountains in Colombia. Image courtesy of Congreso Alfepsi. Around the margins of the Sierra Nevada is the Línea Negra – the “Black Line” – a chain of 54 pilgrimage sites sacred to the Kogi and once part of their ancestral territories. Most of the sites are no longer under Kogi ownership or control and have come under threat by poorly-planned development schemes and illicit crop cultivation. Many of these sites are vital water sources and encompass lagoons, springs, and wetlands. Other sacred sites include ancient paths, terraces, and cities from the Tayrona culture, the ancestors of the indigenous peoples of the Sierra. With these sites under threat, the Amazon Conservation Team (ACT) has announced a new pilot to help the Kogi map their lands using an open-source mobile software called Open Data Kit. In an email interview with&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://wildtech.mongabay.com/2016/04/participatory-mapping-in-the-mobile-age/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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