Upcycled smartphones to combat illegal deforestation, halt animal poaching, and enable bio-acoustic!!

A Silicon Valley non-profit, Rainforest Connection, founded by physicist and engineer Topher White, repurposes discarded smartphones to combat illegal deforestation, halt animal poaching, and enable bio-acoustic monitoring in the rainforests of Africa and the Amazon. According to their website, their products have been monitoring 406 thousand hectares in 106 reservations in 35 countries. Incredible!

This forest-monitoring innovation, known as 'Forest Guardians,' originated in 2012 with the concept of repurposing recycled, solar-powered cellphones equipped with artificial intelligence software to oversee and assess the activities and biodiversity of the surrounding environment. Solar-powered phones are placed high in the tree canopy, where they listen for the sounds of chainsaws and alert authorities via existing cellphone networks in real time when illegal activity is detected. Each phone can protect up to one square mile of forest. The technology addresses the urgent need for forest conservation in the face of widespread deforestation. Rainforest Connection has successfully tested the technology in Sumatra and is now expanding its efforts to Africa and the Amazon with the help of local law enforcement and conservation groups. The initiative also aims to engage the public through an app that allows people worldwide to listen to rainforest sounds and receive real-time alerts. Ultimately, Rainforest Connection hopes to promote sustainable economic alternatives to illegal activities in the rainforest while protecting these critical ecosystems.

Sources:

https://rfcx.org/

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/.../how-solar-powered.../

*All the photos are from the Forest Connection's website.