NGO projects partnerships and proposes real time monitoring of illegal activities in the Amazon

The autonomous devices are solar-powered and are attached to the treetops (Promotion)

Collaborated by Ana Carolina Beauvoir

MANAUS – The 12th Annual Meeting of the Governors’ Climate & Forests Task Force (GCF Task Force), which began in Manaus, was attended by leaders from 10 countries, private sector companies, and representatives of Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), including Rainforest Connections. Bouhan Yassin (CEO) and Chrissy Durkin (director of international expansion) came to Brazil.

Bouhan says that in 2014 a project was started in the indigenous community Tembé, in eastern Pará. The project is still active and the intention is to launch more projects, and furthermore, he assures that it is vital that they can provide technology and support to the monitoring networks that already exist. 

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RFCx was created as a volunteer project. The founder volunteered in a gibbon reserve and found out very quickly that they spent more time fighting deforestation than actually protecting the animals, so they figured out that they could use technology to help them monitor what was going on inside the reserve. This is how RFCx started, a small volunteer project that has grown into a larger project.

During today’s meeting, a partnership with Br Carbon was closed, Bouhan says that their activity is complementary to the work that RFCx develops. BR Carbon has projects with carbon credits, and part of this includes forest protection and biodiversity monitoring, which is part of RFCx’s focus; the representatives did not hesitate to join forces and sign the partnership.

Bouhan says that one of the things that the NGO can help with is the creation of real-time data, monitoring illegal activities that are taking place. He also points out that currently the DETER system that is used today is based on satellite images, but it has the flaw that activities are only recorded shortly after the illegal activities have taken place.

So the benefit of using real-time acoustic monitoring is to have the information immediately and be able to make a quick decision, respond to the infraction on the spot, and create a more proactive way to respond and stop these illegal activities rather than waiting a longer time to process the data.

A partnership with Br Carbon was closed, Bouhan says that their activity is complementary to the work that the RFCx develops (Promotion)

Chrissy (director of international expansion) talks about the difficulties and says that all projects always have unique challenges, especially when dealing with illegal activities. There are many stakeholders involved. And you need many people to align the project in order for it to work successfully.

Especially when you have to work with partners such as government entities, for her, one of the biggest challenges is to get everyone to agree so that we can go ahead with a joint approach, especially for threat detection projects. In addition, there are challenges such as logistics, of how to actually deploy our devices in some of the most challenging ecosystems in the world.

How the device works

The autonomous device is solar-powered and attached to treetops, accompanied by an application where you can access the audios and information and has a direct connection to the satellites, from the artificial intelligence and the scientific team, and identifies the sounds, shots, saws, bugs and, etc.

Handling the equipment in the trees and sending the equipment to the field are also challenges. Added to this, Chrissy says she is very happy to get to know the Amazon, and speaks of the greatness of the forest and its biodiversity. She said: “I hope that our technology will empower these people to help keep the forest standing, and also help them understand the species they inhabit and how best to protect its richness”.

Handling the equipment in the trees and sending the equipment to the field are also challenges (Promotion)

RFCx recognizes that local people are the best people to protect the forest, and they say that based on experience, everyone is happy to use new technology and new ways of understanding what is happening in the forest. This makes the work easier and safer. So they have had many positive experiences in all the local communities they have worked with. Bouhan ends by saying “we are basically there to support them – our goal is to deliver this technology for them to use in the best way they want.”

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