How can IoT help us solve our ecological issues?

Harnessing the power of IoT to preserve biodiversity

This is the second article of a series in which we are looking at how IoT can help us better manage our resources and solve our ecological issues. If you’d like to read the first article, about Agritech, head over here.

This article was originally published in May 2020 and updated in June 2022. 

As part of the EU’s biodiversity strategy for 2030 and the European Green Deal, the European Commission has recently adopted pioneering proposals to restore damaged ecosystems and bring nature back across Europe, from agricultural land and seas, to forests and urban environments. The Commission also proposes to reduce the use and risk of chemical pesticides by 50% by 2030. These are the flagship legislative proposals to follow the Biodiversity and Farm to Fork Strategies, and will help ensure the resilience and security of food supply in the EU and across the world.

These actions are not confined to Europe, and advances in IoT technology are being used to preserve biodiversity by helping experts to track and understand different species within their natural environment. Let’s take a look at some examples of IoT and see how connected objects are being used to benefit vulnerable ecosystems…

Understanding species to better protect them: IoT to the rescue! 

Deep learning algorithms that monitor the population of various species, smart cameras that can detect poachers in the bush, sensor-tagged animals that reveal details of their life histories, and smartphones that can listen for chainsaws in the forest, are just some examples of the advantages to be gained from implementing benevolent monitoring systems across the natural world. As of June 2022, over 3,000 companies have taken science-based climate action, and close to 1,500 have approved science-based targets and that’s not including the directives already implemented by governments. (source: Science Based Targets)

One such project, dubbed ‘Providence’, is a monitoring system that tracks the diminishing biodiversity in South America’s Amazon rainforest. A wireless sensor network consisting of autonomous nodes is deployed throughout the jungle to continuously monitor wildlife under the canopy of the rainforest. These sensors include acoustic sensors, weather monitoring sensors, and visual and thermal imaging technologies.

Photo © csiro

AWT, one of Saft’s clients, has designed several tailor-made tracking devices to protect endangered species such as rhinoceros, lions, elephants and fish. Wildlife rangers and conservationists are using collars to keep an eye on animals and study their behavior in order to gain insight into their natural environment. AWT created several types of collars, ear tags and horn implants, using different frequencies and networks, to meet the unique requirements of various species and their habitats. Its trackers transmit data as often as every 10 seconds to keep scientists informed about data such as temperature, light intensity, daily movement, home range sizes and information from a 3-axis accelerometer from which mortality can be detected. Around 9,000 elephants in Africa and Asia have been studied thanks to AWT radio-GPS collars.

Photo © AWT

From 2016 to 2020, the Sigfox Fondation developed GPS trackers to locate rhinos. Baptised “Now Rhinos Speak”, the program is part of a wider and ambitious project, “The Power of Low”, an endowment fund which aims to put the Internet of Things at the service of humanitarian and environmental causes. The goal of the project is to obtain better knowledge of the animals’ behavior by providing up to 33,000 data points from which to track the endangered species (only 29,000 Rhinos remain compared to 500,000 recorded just 20 years ago). The devices use low-powered sensors and Sigfox 0G network, giving the trackers up to three years battery life. Following this successful trial, 60 rhinos remain connected, living in 3 nature reserves. The Sigfox Foundation is offering the GPS tracker technology as open source to any device makers who would like to use it for wild animal protection purposes.

WWF and Intel are using trackers to help protect wild tigers and their habitats, monitoring trends in tiger distribution and population numbers. Camera traps are triggered to take a photo or to record a video when they detect movement. They are also used to recognize each individual tigers and different prey species. AI is then helping to analyze the enormous amount of data gathered and make sense of it to protect the species. 

Intel again but this time with Inmarsat and in partnership with the non-profit RESOLVE, have developed another camera-based anti-poaching system with satellite connectivity and image processing, TrailGuard AI. Its early warning system, powered by AI cameras is capable of performing in the field on battery power for up to 18 months and can determine when a person or a vehicle is present and send alerts to rangers who can then intercept poachers before they act. The TrailGuard technology has already enabled the arrest of thirty poachers and the seizure of 1,300 lb. of illegal bushmeat during a test phase in Tanzania.
 

Bees are one of the most important creatures on the planet, that play a vital role in maintaining biological diversity, but their numbers have been declining at an astonishing rate. BeeLab, is an initiative by the Nordic tech company Tietoevry, which collects and analyses data from connected hives. With the help of IoT sensors and AI, they monitor temperature, weight, air pressure, humidity and air quality to get a completely new understanding of how bees live and how to avoid bee deaths and diseases, to help beekeepers take better care of their colonies.   

Here is a video which explains their project:

On a wider scale, the Zoological Society of London (ZSL), an important international conservation charity, has developed a monitoring system that captures and transmits real-time data on wildlife and human activity anywhere in the world. Baptized “Instant Detect”, the monitoring system uses a combination of sensors, cameras, low-power radio networks, and satellite technology to monitor wildlife behavior and habitat changes, and alerts the authorities in near real time when illegal poaching activity is detected. The devices are powered by internal Li-ion batteries and sometimes by external (solar-powered) batteries to allow installation on animals and elsewhere, even in the most remote locations. They are designed to sleep whenever possible and ZSL is looking for ways to reduce the power draw in sleep mode to prolong the life of both the batteries and the devices.

These are just a few examples of how IoT combined with IA can help in protecting our wildlife in a non-invasive way. Many more are being developed with encouraging results. As custodians of the earth and its living species, we have a responsibility to protect our wildlife and to do everything within our power to do so.