How space is helping revolutionise wildlife conservation
Could we monitor biodiversity like we do tomorrow’s weather?
Satellite imagery is changing conservation efforts as we know them. By observing vast areas of the Earth’s surface on daily to weekly schedules, scientists can now monitor habitats that would otherwise be logistically challenging and time-consuming to survey from the ground.
For instance, jaguars once roamed from the US Southwest to Argentina, but in the last century, they have lost about 50% of their range. In Argentina’s Chaco region, specifically, approximately 36% of these priority conservation areas are classified as “low-protection” zones where deforestation is allowed.
To address this issue, NASA-funded researchers recently analysed land use and infrastructure data. Combining the findings with Earth observations from MODIS and Landsat, they were able to map key conservation areas to see where current forest zoning is protecting animals and where it might need re-evaluation.
Companies such as Airbus are pioneering efforts to advance these new approaches to conservation. Recently, it collaborated with the Connected Conservation Foundation (CCF) to integrate imagery from its Pléiades Neo satellites with an AI-powered solution by technology services company NTT Ltd. This approach enabled teams to identify wildlife hotspots and map the movements of species in hard-to-reach areas on the African continent.
Similarly, the joint efforts of RESOLVE and Inmarsat, combining satellite technology, and Artificial Intelligence (AI) capabilities alongside local cameras, allowed for the detection of human presence in natural reserves at 97% accuracy. During its trial phase in Tanzania alone, the system facilitated the arrest of 30 poachers.
Before the emergence of this groundbreaking solution, addressing the unprecedented environmental threats and biodiversity crises we face globally was a daunting task. Many of the habitats needing attention are remote and inhospitable, devoid of roads or infrastructure for access. Moreover, beyond populated regions, internet and mobile phone coverage ranges from patchy to non-existent. Not to mention the risk of disturbing fragile habitats.
As stated by Andrew Gonzalez, professor of conservation biology at the University of McGill, “The uncertainty in our knowledge of where biodiversity is changing is so great that even if we achieve the goals, we would not be able to measure them.” “We would not even know if we had hit the target. […] If you cannot measure it, you cannot manage it, as the saying goes. And if you cannot predict it, you cannot protect it,” he adds.
This is where satellite imagery comes into play, revolutionising the way we go about approaching conservation issues.
Tusk is among the organisations that have long been promoting the conversation about embracing the role of technology in this field. As an example, by providing financial resources to the Anti-Poaching Unit at Lewa Wildlife Conservancy, the local team was able to adopt tools like EarthRanger — a high-tech software that aids protected area managers, ecologists, and wildlife biologists in making more informed operational decisions for wildlife conservation.
The tool was developed as a one-stop data hub to ease monitoring and make decisions in real-time. By receiving information from sources such as satellites, it can help address a myriad of threats to biodiversity.
Early lead on EarthRanger, Ted Schmitt, highlights that “There were all these little silos of data, but nothing to bring it into one picture to make use of it.” Thanks to this innovative solution, conservation teams on the ground can now analyse and report information in ways that never existed before, with a number of Tusk’s project partners having already adopted it across the African continent.
Of course, there are many challenges to implementing these new technologies — upfront costs, capacity building, regulations and permits, a lack of agreed-upon ethical and technical standards — the list goes on. Yet, the potential benefits are significant.
These tools are already providing invaluable insights, aiding in pinpointing priority areas for protection, and further empowering local authorities to tackle the biodiversity crises we face. Ultimately, exploring ways to protect the planet’s fragility and beauty from different angles, like space, is worthwhile.
