<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss version="2.0" xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/" xmlns:wfw="http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/" xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" xmlns:sy="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/syndication/" xmlns:slash="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/slash/" >

	<channel>
		<title>Conservation news</title>
		<atom:link href="https://news.mongabay.com/feed/?topic=early-warning&#038;type=post" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" />
		<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/early-warning/</link>
		<description>Environmental science and conservation news</description>
		<lastBuildDate>Sun, 06 Sep 2026 15:06:41 +0000</lastBuildDate>
		<language>en-US</language>
		<sy:updatePeriod>hourly</sy:updatePeriod>
		<sy:updateFrequency>1</sy:updateFrequency>
		<generator>https://wordpress.org/?v=7.0.4</generator>

<image>
	<url>https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2020/05/16160320/cropped-mongabay_icon-32x32.png</url>
	<title>News on early warning</title>
	<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/early-warning/</link>
	<width>32</width>
	<height>32</height>
</image> 
				<item>
					<title>During Nepal floods, decentralized, community-based warning saved lives</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/during-nepal-floods-decentralized-community-based-warning-saved-lives/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/during-nepal-floods-decentralized-community-based-warning-saved-lives/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Sep 2026 08:16:12 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Abhaya Raj Joshi]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abhaya Raj Joshi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/03073256/AP26240258398778-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=328510</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Global, Himalayas, Nepal, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Adaptation, Adaptation To Climate Change, Climate Change, Communication, Disasters, early warning, and Global Environmental Crisis]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — At 9:10 a.m. on Aug. 26, head teacher Rajendra Dawadi received frantic phone calls about a flood heading downstream toward Tribhuvan Trishuli Secondary School. He ordered his roughly 900 students to run for higher ground. Ten minutes later, the flood hit the evacuated school. When flood waters receded, the whole compound was buried [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — At 9:10 a.m. on Aug. 26, head teacher Rajendra Dawadi received frantic phone calls about a flood heading downstream toward Tribhuvan Trishuli Secondary School. He ordered his roughly 900 students to run for higher ground. Ten minutes later, the flood hit the evacuated school. When flood waters receded, the whole compound was buried under debris, with only a fragment of the school’s roofline left showing. There were two “systems” that warned people about the impending danger that day: one built by the state relying on sensors and SMS messages, the other relying on community-based ties. Only the second worked reliably, and in the case of Dawadi and many other survivors, it even arrived first. But not everyone was as lucky. According to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority (NDRRMA), as of Sept. 3, a total of 1,252  people have died, with 4,216 more missing and roughly 1.6 million people affected across five districts in Nepal. Headteacher Rajendra Dawadi of Tribhuvan Trishuli Secondary School, talks to relatives on his mobile phone in Trishuli Valley in Nepal. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh) Communication researcher Bhuwan KC observed that while one-half of the corridor (upstream) had no information at all, the other had information, but that information couldn’t convey urgency and scale. In areas nearest to the border, on both the Nepal and China sides, everything happened in just seven minutes. The sensors were knocked out immediately. But farther down, in Trishuli Bazaar, Betrawati and toward Muglin and Devghat, people&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/during-nepal-floods-decentralized-community-based-warning-saved-lives/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/during-nepal-floods-decentralized-community-based-warning-saved-lives/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-328510</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Zika, dengue transmission expected to rise with climate change</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/08/zika-dengue-transmission-expected-to-rise-with-climate-change/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/08/zika-dengue-transmission-expected-to-rise-with-climate-change/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>09 Aug 2023 19:20:25 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Luís Patriani]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Xavier Bartaburu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/08/09191328/Aedes_aegypti-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=272003</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Brazil, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation, Conservation Solutions, Diseases, DNA, Drinking Water, early warning, Environment, Health, Pollution, Portable, Public Health, Solutions, Technology, Water, Water Pollution, Wildtech, and Zoonotic Diseases]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A new study foresees a 20% increase in cases of viruses like dengue, Zika and chikungunya over the next 30 years due to climate change. Higher temperatures are already causing the diseases carried by the Aedes aegypti mosquito to spread in cooler regions like southern Brazil and southern Europe.]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The number of deaths in Brazil due to dengue hit a record high in 2022, with 1,016 — the first time in history the number had surpassed four digits. And the sobering statistic is expected to be even higher in 2023. According to the Center for Arbovirus Emergency Operations, 635 fatal cases had been reported by June 11 — up 22% as compared with the same period in 2022. The agency’s most recent update, released by the Ministry of Health, shows 1.3 million probable cases so far this year, while the total number for 2022 was 1,450,270 cases. If the threat of dengue, which is mostly transmitted by the female Aedes aegypti mosquito, seems frightening now, a study carried out at the University of Michigan in the United States painted a worse picture for the future. The transmission potential of arboviruses — which include, aside from dengue, Zika and chikungunya — could increase by 20% over the next 30 years because of climate change. The study arrived at this alarming conclusion after analyzing the incidence of these diseases in four Brazilian cities: Manaus, Recife, Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo. “Brazilian health agencies need to be prepared not only for the increased incidence of diseases like dengue and Zika, but also for longer transmission seasons and broader geographic areas of occurrence,” affirms epidemiologist Andrew Brouwer, co-author of the study and researcher at the University of Michigan School of Public Health. João Gabriel, born with microcephaly caused by a Zika virus&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/08/zika-dengue-transmission-expected-to-rise-with-climate-change/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/08/zika-dengue-transmission-expected-to-rise-with-climate-change/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-272003</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>‘No place to hide’ for illegal fishing fleets as surveillance satellites prepare for lift-off</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/08/no-place-to-hide-for-illegal-fishing-fleets-as-surveillance-satellites-prepare-for-lift-off/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/08/no-place-to-hide-for-illegal-fishing-fleets-as-surveillance-satellites-prepare-for-lift-off/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>30 Aug 2019 14:36:22 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Gavin Haines]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sue Palminteri]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2019/08/30113050/huge-fish-school-off-Baja-Calif-Mexico_Matthew-T-Rader-via-Pexels-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=222041</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[early warning, Fishing, Illegal Fishing, Law Enforcement, Marine Conservation, Monitoring, Oceans, Overfishing, Remote Sensing, Satellite Imagery, Sensors, Surveillance, Technology, and Wildtech]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
											<grant>
							<![CDATA[2163-3717]]>
						</grant>
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The prospect of monitoring every vessel at sea in real time has moved a step closer to reality as a new generation of surveillance satellites takes to the skies. The satellites are being launched by a small number of private companies with the potential to transform the monitoring of marine fisheries. One of those companies [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The prospect of monitoring every vessel at sea in real time has moved a step closer to reality as a new generation of surveillance satellites takes to the skies. The satellites are being launched by a small number of private companies with the potential to transform the monitoring of marine fisheries. One of those companies is Capella Space, which will launch a constellation of 36 surveillance satellites into orbit starting in December, following successful trials with a pilot satellite. A 2018 map of areas likely damaged from ash and lava flow from Fuego volcano in Guatemala derived from synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images from the Copernicus Sentinel-1 satellites, operated by the European Space Agency (ESA). Each pixel is 30 meters (99 feet) across. Radar images penetrate smoke, clouds and darkness to provide information on the structure of what is below. They can thus assess ground surface damage from volcanic activity (here, red color indicates more damage), as well as the presence of a large fishing vessel on the sea. Image courtesy of NASA/JPL-Caltech/ESA/Copernicus/Google. Capella’s “minibar-sized satellites” are equipped with synthetic-aperture radar (SAR) sensors, which ping signals down to Earth and use the information bouncing back to generate radar images. Though radar pictures lack the detail of optical images and cannot currently be used to identify specific vessels, they can detect the presence of any ship in the ocean, day or night, whatever the weather. SAR’s greatest asset is that it can detect the presence of vessels that aren’t transmitting Automatic&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2019/08/no-place-to-hide-for-illegal-fishing-fleets-as-surveillance-satellites-prepare-for-lift-off/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/08/no-place-to-hide-for-illegal-fishing-fleets-as-surveillance-satellites-prepare-for-lift-off/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-222041</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Conservation tech prize with invasive species focus announces finalists</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/07/conservation-tech-prize-with-invasive-species-focus-announces-finalists/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/07/conservation-tech-prize-with-invasive-species-focus-announces-finalists/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>19 Jul 2019 15:59:04 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sue Palminteri (1965-2019)]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sue Palminteri]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2019/07/19154111/Pterois_miles_Marsa_Alam_Magnus-Kjaergaard-via-Wikimedia-CC-3.0_small-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=220645</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Acoustic, Agriculture, algae, Artificial Intelligence, cameras, Conservation Technology, Drones, early warning, Frogs, Insects, Invasive Species, Monitoring, Oceans, Sensors, Surveying, Technology, Turtles And Tortoises, and Wildtech]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The Con X Tech Prize just announced its second round will be funding 20 finalists each with $3,500 to create their first prototypes. Some 150 teams submitted ideas that use technology to address a conservation challenge. The 20 winners of this first stage of the competition will also compete for a grand prize of $20,000, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The Con X Tech Prize just announced its second round will be funding 20 finalists each with $3,500 to create their first prototypes. Some 150 teams submitted ideas that use technology to address a conservation challenge. The 20 winners of this first stage of the competition will also compete for a grand prize of $20,000, plus support from CXL on product development and attracting investment. The prize accepts ideas for any conservation problem, with a particular focus on addressing threats from a specific theme. This second round of the prize focused on reducing impacts from invasive species to native species and ecosystems. The first round, sponsored in 2018, focused on ocean conservation. Biotech Steve Orwig removes an invasive Mexican weeping pine (Pinus patula) from the crater of Hawai’i’s Haleakalā National Park. Pines like these grow rapidly, are spread by wind from nearby forest plantings, and disrupt native ecosystems by shading out native shrubs and taking up water and nutrients. Image courtesy of U.S. National Park Service. “We have a range of hardware and software solutions we are funding, including tools in aquatic invasive species, camera traps, ag-tech, human-wildlife conflict, marine acoustics, and many more,” said Tom Quigley, who manages the digital makerspace community at Conservation X Labs, which offers the prize. “It’s a really exciting cohort.” Seven of the 20 finalists focused specifically on designs to address invasive species, while the remaining 13 teams sought to address a range of conservation issues, from wildlife trafficking to acoustic monitoring to capturing&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2019/07/conservation-tech-prize-with-invasive-species-focus-announces-finalists/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/07/conservation-tech-prize-with-invasive-species-focus-announces-finalists/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-220645</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Reducing human-elephant encounters with calls, texts, and digital signs</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/03/reducing-human-elephant-encounters-with-calls-texts-and-digital-signs/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/03/reducing-human-elephant-encounters-with-calls-texts-and-digital-signs/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>06 Mar 2019 21:59:22 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Vasudevan Sridharan]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sue Palminteri]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2019/03/06210934/Elephants_Jim_Corbett_NP_curiouslog-via-Flickr-CC2.0-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=216289</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[India and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Conservation, Conservation Solutions, early warning, Education, Elephants, Human-wildlife Conflict, low-tech, Mobile, Monitoring, Research, Solutions, Technology, Tracking, and Wildtech]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In India, few animals carry the kind of cultural symbolism that elephants do. Human-elephant interaction boasts a rich history dating back centuries. Nevertheless, such a long association has also included encounters that do not end happily. Human-elephant conflict is particularly apparent in the Hassan district of Karnataka, the state housing India’s largest population of Asian [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In India, few animals carry the kind of cultural symbolism that elephants do. Human-elephant interaction boasts a rich history dating back centuries. Nevertheless, such a long association has also included encounters that do not end happily. Human-elephant conflict is particularly apparent in the Hassan district of Karnataka, the state housing India’s largest population of Asian elephants. The Hassan region has faced human-elephant conflicts for years, with a number of these encounters resulting in fatalities. But thanks to resilient conservation efforts and smart application of common technologies in recent months, Hassan could soon be at peace with its elephants. Jumbos on the move Hassan and nearby districts sit at the edges of India’s iconic Western Ghats, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and global biodiversity hotspot which accounts for about 60 percent of Karnataka’s forest area. Hassan’s fertile landscape comprises fragmented forest patches, coffee plantations and paddy fields, offering a rich and conducive topographical mosaic for elephants, a habitat generalist species known for travelling long distances. Elephants forage across human-dominated lands in Munnar, Kerala, in southern India. Image by Aruna via Wikipedia, CC3.0. A recent scientific study, published in Tropical Conservation Science in December 2018, on 205 hamlets around Hassan found a peculiar pattern in elephant movement between 2015 and 2017. Direct tracking and GPS-enabled tags worn by the elephants showed that although the elephants’ numbers were equally distributed between northern and southern areas during their first year (2015-16), their movement was restricted in the second year of study (2016-17). “Large-scale felling of trees in&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2019/03/reducing-human-elephant-encounters-with-calls-texts-and-digital-signs/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/03/reducing-human-elephant-encounters-with-calls-texts-and-digital-signs/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-216289</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Top camera trapping stories of 2018</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2018/12/top-camera-trapping-stories-of-2018/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2018/12/top-camera-trapping-stories-of-2018/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>31 Dec 2018 13:12:46 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sue Palminteri (1965-2019)]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sue Palminteri]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2018/12/31124137/zebra-moving-fast-away-from-camera_snapshot-serengeti_feature-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=214230</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Antarctica, Botswana, China, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Gabon, Global, India, Indonesia, Peru, Russia, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Artificial Intelligence, Camera Trapping, cameras, Citizen Science, Conservation, Cryptic Species, data, early warning, Forests, Human-wildlife Conflict, Law Enforcement, Rainforests, Research, Surveying, Technology, and Wildtech]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Everyone loves camera trap photos. Remotely installed cameras triggered by motion or heat of a passing person or animal, have helped research projects document the occurrence of species or describe a vertebrate community in a given area. Their remoteness allows camera traps to photograph shy, cryptic, or nocturnal species, the presence of which would otherwise [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Everyone loves camera trap photos. Remotely installed cameras triggered by motion or heat of a passing person or animal, have helped research projects document the occurrence of species or describe a vertebrate community in a given area. Their remoteness allows camera traps to photograph shy, cryptic, or nocturnal species, the presence of which would otherwise be difficult to confirm. A spotted hyena caught by a camera trap recently in the Batéké Plateau National Park in Gabon, the first seen in the park in 20 years. ©Panthera/ANPN/TAF. For example, camera traps installed to document and monitor species in several lesser-known nature reserves have captured the first spotted hyena in a Gabonese national park in 20 years; confirmed discovery of lowland bongo in Uganda for first time; and various large mammals and rare birds in a biological reserve in Ecuador. This review of camera trapping stories we covered in 2018 shows that camera trapping studies are addressing new research and management questions, including document rare events, assess population dynamics, detect poachers, and involve rural landowners in monitoring. And with projects generating ever-larger image data sets, in some cases with millions of images, they are using volunteers and, more recently, artificial intelligence to analyse the information. Camera traps installed by the local guides of Punta Marenco Lodge in southwestern Costa Rica caught a puma (Puma concolor) traveling on a steep ridge in a wildlife refuge on the edge of Corcovado National Park. Image courtesy of Osa Camera Trap Network (OCTN). For elusive Javan&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2018/12/top-camera-trapping-stories-of-2018/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2018/12/top-camera-trapping-stories-of-2018/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-214230</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Peru’s Brazil nut harvesters learn to monitor forests with drones</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2018/12/perus-brazil-nut-harvesters-learn-to-monitor-forests-with-drones/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2018/12/perus-brazil-nut-harvesters-learn-to-monitor-forests-with-drones/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>06 Dec 2018 08:45:17 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Yvette Sierra Praeli]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sue Palminteri]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2018/12/05155813/Tambopata-canopy-2_GeorgePowell-or-Krista-Adamek-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=213140</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Madre de Dios, Peru, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[cameras, Conservation, Conservation Solutions, Deforestation, Deforestation Alert System, Drones, early warning, Ecotourism, Forests, Governance, Law Enforcement, Monitoring, Rainforests, Remote Sensing, Sensors, Solutions, Supply Chain, Surveillance, Technology, Tropical Forests, and Wildtech]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
											<grant>
							<![CDATA[GLO-4060 QZA-16/0047.3]]>
						</grant>
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Flor Rumayna and Sara Hurtado arrived in Lima this past August from their homes in the Amazon headwaters to learn more about aerial monitoring of forests. They’d been researching new technologies for several months to help them protect their forest concessions in Madre de Dios Peru, a region in the southeast of the country facing increasing [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Flor Rumayna and Sara Hurtado arrived in Lima this past August from their homes in the Amazon headwaters to learn more about aerial monitoring of forests. They’d been researching new technologies for several months to help them protect their forest concessions in Madre de Dios Peru, a region in the southeast of the country facing increasing levels of deforestation. Small commercial unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), or drones, help landowners remotely monitor forests and capture high-resolution images of human activity below. Image courtesy of Conservación Amazónica – ACCA. They have already learned of several tools to help them manage their lands, including georeferenced alerts of possible deforestation events that arrive directly to their cell phones and techniques to monitor their lands from above using small commercial unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones. &#8220;I have always believed that technology can help us take care of our concessions,” Hurtado told Mongabay-Latam, “because, as they are large tracts of land, we face the danger of squatters and illegal loggers entering.&#8221; She currently manages two Brazil nut concessions in Madre de Dios, totaling almost 1,500 hectares (3,707 acres) of forest. Flor Rumayna and Sara Hurtado have learned to pilot drones to monitor the forest cover in their concessions in Madre de Dios. Image by Yvette Sierra Praeli/Mongabay-Latam. Rumayna recently received her diploma as a certified drone pilot, which will enable her to more efficiently monitor the illegal activities that damage the forest in her ecotourism concession. &#8220;Technology helps us with our work,” Rumayna said. “Before, when I heard a machine, I&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2018/12/perus-brazil-nut-harvesters-learn-to-monitor-forests-with-drones/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2018/12/perus-brazil-nut-harvesters-learn-to-monitor-forests-with-drones/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-213140</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Radar helps Kenya map mangroves and other cloud-covered forests</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2018/11/radar-helps-kenya-map-mangroves-and-other-cloud-covered-forests/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2018/11/radar-helps-kenya-map-mangroves-and-other-cloud-covered-forests/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>15 Nov 2018 12:20:22 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Gatonye Gathura]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sue Palminteri]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2018/11/13193532/Mangroves-offf-Lamu_Peter-Prokosch-for-GRID-Arendel_CC-2.0_small-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=212211</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[East Africa and Kenya]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Coastal Ecosystems, Conservation, Conservation Solutions, Dry Forests, early warning, Forests, Mangroves, Mapping, Remote Sensing, Satellite Imagery, Solutions, Technology, and Wildtech]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Most of Kenya is arid, and lengthy droughts can lead to livestock loss, illegal grazing in protected areas, and violent interactions between nomadic herders and other landowners. Less known are its forests, located along its coast and along Lake Victoria, that are humid and often covered by clouds. Using Sentinel-1 radar imagery, a multi-agency team [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Most of Kenya is arid, and lengthy droughts can lead to livestock loss, illegal grazing in protected areas, and violent interactions between nomadic herders and other landowners. Less known are its forests, located along its coast and along Lake Victoria, that are humid and often covered by clouds. Aerial photograph on a clear day of the coastal forests along Gazi Bay, Kenya, connecting to the Indian Ocean. Image by Rob Barnes for the GRID Arendel resources library, CC 2.0. Using Sentinel-1 radar imagery, a multi-agency team says they are now able to map these previously hard-to-assess forests at the coast and in western Kenya, through a combination of  satellite data acquisition and verification, processing and ground-truthing. “This will now help us assess and monitor our national forest cover more accurately,” said Jamleck Ndambiri, deputy director of the Kenya Forest Service (KFS). “But there were data gaps” Historically, the Kenyan government depended on expensive and time-consuming ground surveys to inventory its forests. Between 2011 and 2013, the country engaged in its first-ever national forest mapping effort using satellite imaging technology, with funding from the Japanese government. “The objective was to map all forest resources in the country while improving our capacity in the use of modern satellite imaging technologies,” Ndambiri said. The project first trained local personnel from several relevant institutions and disciplines to use the new computing technologies and established a national Geographic Information System (GIS). Project data analysts combined Landsat images from 1990 to 2000 with images from the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2018/11/radar-helps-kenya-map-mangroves-and-other-cloud-covered-forests/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2018/11/radar-helps-kenya-map-mangroves-and-other-cloud-covered-forests/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-212211</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Satellite technology unites Kenyans against bush fires</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2018/11/satellite-technology-unites-kenyans-against-bush-fires/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2018/11/satellite-technology-unites-kenyans-against-bush-fires/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>09 Nov 2018 15:48:52 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[David Njagi]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sue Palminteri]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2018/11/09154604/ESAFIS-2_feature-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=212136</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[East Africa and Kenya]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation, Conservation Solutions, data, Dry Forests, early warning, Fires, Forests, Mapping, Monitoring, Remote Sensing, Sensors, Solutions, Technology, and Wildtech]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[NYERI, Kenya &#8211; It took nine hours for Margaret Wanjugu and neighbors to put out a fire that razed Gathorongai forest near her home in central Kenya, in 2016. She would not like to go through such an experience again, and for a good reason. Not only did the mother of two nearly lose her [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[NYERI, Kenya &#8211; It took nine hours for Margaret Wanjugu and neighbors to put out a fire that razed Gathorongai forest near her home in central Kenya, in 2016. She would not like to go through such an experience again, and for a good reason. Not only did the mother of two nearly lose her herd of goats, which were grazing in the forest, but elephants escaping the fire raided her field of potato plants, leaving her without a harvest. “No help came from forest officers working here,” Wanjugu said. “We improvised and used twigs to put out the fire.” Margaret Wanjugu leading her herd of goats home from Gathorongai forest in central Kenya, where they were grazing. The forest is prone to unexpected fire outbreaks that threaten farmers and wildlife alike. Image by David Njagi for Mongabay. Like thousands of farmers living near conservation areas in Kenya, Wanjugu lives in fear of Gathorongai forest catching fire. These communities lack an early warning system, relying on crude methods, like seeing smoke, to know of a fire outbreak. Recently, a technology developed by the Regional Center for Mapping of Resources for Development (RCMRD), a government agency based in Nairobi, has begun helping troubled Kenyans like Wanjugu with early detection of bush fires in conservation areas. RCMRD’s Eastern and Southern Africa Fire Information System (ESAFIS) web application is a free and open-source service used in all conservation and protected areas in Kenya and 10 other eastern African countries. Detecting fire intensity The&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2018/11/satellite-technology-unites-kenyans-against-bush-fires/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2018/11/satellite-technology-unites-kenyans-against-bush-fires/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-212136</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Machine-learning app to fight invasive crop pest in Africa</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2018/10/machine-learning-app-to-fight-invasive-crop-pest-in-africa/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2018/10/machine-learning-app-to-fight-invasive-crop-pest-in-africa/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>26 Oct 2018 13:37:45 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Stephanie Parker]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sue Palminteri]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2018/10/26131945/DSC_0629_Stephanie-Parker_featured-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=211527</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, India, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Artificial Intelligence, cameras, Conservation, Conservation Solutions, data, early warning, Ecosystems, Health, Insects, Mobile, Pesticides, Solutions, Technology, and Wildtech]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Since the arrival of the fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda) caterpillar in West Africa in early 2016, true to its name, it has been marching quickly and mercilessly through the continent, eating maize (corn) along with sorghum, millet, and rice and causing billions of dollars in crop losses. It has now been confirmed or reported in [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Since the arrival of the fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda) caterpillar in West Africa in early 2016, true to its name, it has been marching quickly and mercilessly through the continent, eating maize (corn) along with sorghum, millet, and rice and causing billions of dollars in crop losses. It has now been confirmed or reported in every sub-Saharan African country and was recently found in southern India, beginning its likely spread into much of the Asian continent. An Ethiopian farmer shows the fall armyworm and its damage on his maize plants. Image by Stephanie Parker. The time for eradication has long passed, and scientists, NGOs, and governments are now focused on control. For some, this means chemical pesticides, but these are expensive and many smallholders do not know how to safely apply the chemicals, making them a threat to human and environmental health, including the survival of other insects and their predators. Additionally, many farmers have said that even when they spray the pesticides, they are ineffective. In order to better control the fall armyworm, maize farmers in Africa, most of whom are smallholders and grow the crop for their own consumption, need to learn how to identify the fall armyworm and its damage, a task that can trip up even trained extension agents. Now, there’s an app for that. Early this year, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) rolled out a phone app, the Fall Armyworm Monitoring and Early Warning System (FAMEWS), to help farmers and extension agents&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2018/10/machine-learning-app-to-fight-invasive-crop-pest-in-africa/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2018/10/machine-learning-app-to-fight-invasive-crop-pest-in-africa/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-211527</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Identifying Zika-transmitting mosquito fast, cheaply, and on the go</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2018/10/identifying-zika-transmitting-mosquito-fast-cheaply-and-on-the-go/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2018/10/identifying-zika-transmitting-mosquito-fast-cheaply-and-on-the-go/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Oct 2018 10:00:55 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[David Klinges]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sue Palminteri]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2018/10/02235128/Aedes_comparison_small-768x512.png" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=210839</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Brazil and Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation, Conservation Solutions, Diseases, DNA, early warning, Health, Portable, Solutions, Technology, Wildtech, and Zoonotic Diseases]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A team at University of Texas Austin has developed a new method for identifying whether a mosquito is of the Aedes aegypti species, which is responsible for transmitting Zika, dengue and other deadly diseases. The method can easily be conducted while out in the field and does not need much more than a cell phone, a 3D-printed box and a [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A team at University of Texas Austin has developed a new method for identifying whether a mosquito is of the Aedes aegypti species, which is responsible for transmitting Zika, dengue and other deadly diseases. The method can easily be conducted while out in the field and does not need much more than a cell phone, a 3D-printed box and a few chemical solutions. This toolkit can also determine whether a mosquito has been exposed to the Wolbachia bacteria, which infects mosquitoes and prevents them from transmitting dangerous pathogens. The low-cost, 3D-printed portable toolbox identifies a pair of genes in a crushed-up mosquito that reveal whether the insect is Aedes aegypti and whether it has been exposed to the Wolbachia bacterium, which prevents the spread of diseases carried by the mosquito. Image by Vivian Abagiu. Although portable tools and “biopesticides” such as Wolbachia are currently effective, adaptive dengue and Zika viruses will likely evolve past these tactics just as they have for countless other methods. Constant attention and funding is needed to stay ahead of such pathogens in this ever-lasting battle. Biologists and doctors alike have sought creative methods to track, analyze, and prevent infectious diseases spread by mosquitoes. Some of the approaches taken may appear unconventional and yet are highly effective. For instance, what better way to fight off a mosquito-borne microbe other than to use another microbe? DIY Diagnostics, a team of researchers based at University of Texas at Austin, has been investigating how the Wolbachia bacterium can be used to suppress the load&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2018/10/identifying-zika-transmitting-mosquito-fast-cheaply-and-on-the-go/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2018/10/identifying-zika-transmitting-mosquito-fast-cheaply-and-on-the-go/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-210839</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>‘Better and better’: Thermal cameras turn up the heat on poachers</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2018/07/better-and-better-thermal-cameras-turn-up-the-heat-on-poachers/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2018/07/better-and-better-thermal-cameras-turn-up-the-heat-on-poachers/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>09 Jul 2018 08:05:27 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sue Palminteri (1965-2019)]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sue Palminteri]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2018/07/05144202/Serengeti-herds-1_small-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=208062</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Kenya, Serengeti, and Tanzania]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, cameras, Communication, Conservation, Conservation Solutions, Crime, early warning, Law Enforcement, Migration, Mobile, Poaching, Protected Areas, Sensors, Solutions, Surveillance, Technology, Wildlife, and Wildtech]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Nearly 2 million animals, mostly wildebeest and zebra, migrate roughly 800 kilometers (500 miles) each year between Serengeti National Park in Tanzania and Maasai Mara National Reserve across the border in Kenya. Their joint search for fresh green grass is an ecological phenomenon and a major tourist attraction in both countries. But along with tourists, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Nearly 2 million animals, mostly wildebeest and zebra, migrate roughly 800 kilometers (500 miles) each year between Serengeti National Park in Tanzania and Maasai Mara National Reserve across the border in Kenya. Their joint search for fresh green grass is an ecological phenomenon and a major tourist attraction in both countries. A few of the participants in the annual Serengeti-Mara wildebeest migration. Image by Sue Palminteri/Mongabay But along with tourists, this profusion of animals also attracts bushmeat poachers. Each year, poachers from the western edge of the Serengeti follow the herd into Kenya. Along the way, they kill between 40,000 and 100,000 wildebeest, zebra and other grazers each year, according to Brian Heath, CEO of the Mara Conservancy. The conservancy manages a portion of the Maasai Mara reserve called the Mara Triangle, perhaps best known for the annual crossing by the wildebeest of the crocodile-laden Mara River. Heath spoke with Mongabay-Wildtech about security, his biggest conservation challenge there, as well as his team’s use of forward-looking infrared (FLIR) thermal imaging sensors in their ongoing effort to keep poaching of the famous migrating wildebeest and other wildlife at bay. Poachers typically kill the animals by setting wire snares, made from steel stripped from old tires. “There’s a whole business doing this,” Heath said, referring to local production of the many thousands of snares used illegally within the two reserves. “Last year we collected 7,000 snares [in the Mara Triangle], the year before was the same.” A wire snare formed from the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2018/07/better-and-better-thermal-cameras-turn-up-the-heat-on-poachers/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2018/07/better-and-better-thermal-cameras-turn-up-the-heat-on-poachers/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-208062</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>eDNA may offer an early warning signal for deadly frog pathogen</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2018/04/edna-may-offer-an-early-warning-signal-for-deadly-frog-pathogen/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2018/04/edna-may-offer-an-early-warning-signal-for-deadly-frog-pathogen/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>18 Apr 2018 19:06:46 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sue Palminteri (1965-2019)]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sue Palminteri]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2018/04/18175810/eDNA-pic2_small_Jessica-Thompson-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=205893</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[California]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[DNA, early warning, Monitoring, Research, Surveying, Technology, and Wildtech]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[When Colleen Kamoroff and her graduate advisor Caren Goldberg collected water samples to look for the DNA of non-native fish species, they could not have guessed the potential importance of their timing. One month after they sampled water from 13 lakes in California&#8217;s Sequoia Kings Canyon National Park in 2015, endangered mountain yellow-legged frogs in [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[When Colleen Kamoroff and her graduate advisor Caren Goldberg collected water samples to look for the DNA of non-native fish species, they could not have guessed the potential importance of their timing. One month after they sampled water from 13 lakes in California&#8217;s Sequoia Kings Canyon National Park in 2015, endangered mountain yellow-legged frogs in three of the seven lakes they’d inhabited died in large numbers. Kamoroff and Goldberg, assistant professor at Washington State University, suspected the presence of the Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd) fungus. Bd, a.k.a. chytrid fungus, causes Chytridiomycosis, which has devastated populations of at least 200 species of frogs and salamanders across the globe. A healthy mountain yellow-legged frog. Photo credit: Michael Hernandez The fungus feeds on keratin in a frog&#8217;s skin, causing the skin to thicken and peel. Frogs use their skin to breathe, so chytrid makes breathing difficult and causes the frog to move sluggishly and react slowly to danger. It also damages the nervous system and causes them to behave abnormally, including sitting out in the open rather than protecting themselves. Chytrid doesn’t kill frogs immediately, so they will first hop and swim around, spreading the fungus to other ponds and streams. This also makes infection difficult to detect prior to a major outbreak that can kill whole frog populations. Moreover, once chytrid has infected a pond, the fungus may remain in the water forever. Detecting disease through distributed DNA Kamoroff and Goldberg analyzed the water samples for environmental DNA, or eDNA—genetic material from the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2018/04/edna-may-offer-an-early-warning-signal-for-deadly-frog-pathogen/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2018/04/edna-may-offer-an-early-warning-signal-for-deadly-frog-pathogen/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-205893</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Understanding bird behavior key to developing risk reduction technologies</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2018/04/developing-bird-risk-reduction-technologies/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2018/04/developing-bird-risk-reduction-technologies/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>13 Apr 2018 10:00:57 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Danielle Bettermann]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sue Palminteri]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2018/04/12195421/Bald_Eagle_on_Tree_top_Martin-Keus-Quoddy-Tours-CC-2.0_featured1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=205758</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Acoustic, Alternative Energy, Birds, early warning, Energy, Human-wildlife Conflict, Technology, and Wildtech]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Years of studying birds and their relationship with their environment taught John Swaddle, professor of biology at the College of William &#38; Mary, the importance of understanding animals’ instincts and behaviors when developing methods for improving human-wildlife interactions. Swaddle used what he knew about different bird species’ tendencies to create a pair of systems that [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Years of studying birds and their relationship with their environment taught John Swaddle, professor of biology at the College of William &amp; Mary, the importance of understanding animals’ instincts and behaviors when developing methods for improving human-wildlife interactions. Swaddle used what he knew about different bird species’ tendencies to create a pair of systems that minimize collisions with tall man-made structures, such as skyscrapers or wind turbines, and keep birds away from areas where their presence may be unwelcome or a hazard, such as on farmland or airports. He presented his findings in February at the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Austin, Texas. In his presentation, Swaddle introduced two different technologies, the Sonic Net and the Acoustic Lighthouse. A bald eagle surveys the landscape from a treetop. Eagles and other large birds seeking a high perch or looking down for prey below may accidentally collide with wind turbine blades. Photo credit: Martin Keus, courtesy of Quoddy Tours CC 2.0 Testing Sonic Nets to remove birds from risky areas When working on the Sonic Net, Swaddle kept the long-standing practice of scarecrows on farmland in mind. He recognized that scarecrows only temporarily discourage birds from visiting an area because birds learn that they are not a real threat. “Birds are pretty smart, they habituate, and if the threat is not real they know and they stick around,” Swaddle said. “Those kinds of technologies just show diminishing returns, no matter how high-tech the technology gets. Birds will still habituate&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2018/04/developing-bird-risk-reduction-technologies/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2018/04/developing-bird-risk-reduction-technologies/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-205758</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>You don’t need a bigger boat: AI buoys safeguard swimmers and sharks</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2018/04/ai-buoys-safeguard-swimmers-and-sharks/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2018/04/ai-buoys-safeguard-swimmers-and-sharks/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>05 Apr 2018 14:46:17 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sue Palminteri (1965-2019)]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sue Palminteri]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2018/04/05132008/Sandbar-shark_Carcharhinus_plumbeus_Brian-Gratwicke-CC-2.0_small-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=205540</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Australia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Artificial Intelligence, early warning, Human-wildlife Conflict, Marine, Mobile, Oceans, Sharks, Software, Surveillance, Technology, and Wildtech]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Sharks are in trouble worldwide, with one study estimating that people kill up to 100 million of them each year through illegal fishing, shark finning, and bycatch. The negative public view of sharks as aggressive killers limits empathy for the ocean’s largest fish, even though only 33 of over 500 species have been known to [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Sharks are in trouble worldwide, with one study estimating that people kill up to 100 million of them each year through illegal fishing, shark finning, and bycatch. The negative public view of sharks as aggressive killers limits empathy for the ocean’s largest fish, even though only 33 of over 500 species have been known to bite people, and 63 percent of reported attacks have been by three species: tiger, bull, and great white sharks. A sandbar shark (Carcharhinus plumbeus) swimming. These sharks inhabit coastal areas but dine on fish, crabs, and rays and are considered not dangerous to people. However, commercial fisheries targeted these sharks for their relatively large dorsal fins, and the species is now listed as vulnerable. Photo credit: Brian Gratwicke CC 2.0 Shark-human interactions have increased as people spend more time in the ocean and as more attacks are actually reported. Of the 88 unprovoked shark attacks reported in 2017, five were fatal; to put that into perspective, more people die of lightning strikes than shark attacks. Limitations of existing shark attack prevention strategies Previous efforts in Australia to protect surfers and swimmers have relied on nets—which trap not just sharks but also rays, dolphins, and turtles—or drum lines, lengths of baited hooks attached to the seabed that aim to catch and drown passing sharks, as well as direct culling of sharks. These methods have not proved successful in eliminating shark attacks, and killing the ocean’s top predators, while harming other species in the process, negatively affects&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2018/04/ai-buoys-safeguard-swimmers-and-sharks/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2018/04/ai-buoys-safeguard-swimmers-and-sharks/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-205540</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Powering cameras and empowering people</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2018/02/powering-cameras-and-empowering-people/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2018/02/powering-cameras-and-empowering-people/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>01 Feb 2018 09:15:55 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sue Palminteri (1965-2019)]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sue Palminteri]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2018/01/30091729/wps-banner-montage-2-768x317.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=203073</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Hawaii, Indonesia, and South Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Batteries, Camera Trapping, cameras, Citizen Science, early warning, Law Enforcement, Poaching, Protected Areas, Sensors, Software, Solar Power, Surveillance, Technology, and Wildtech]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Keeping equipment running in harsh field conditions can challenge any tech project, as can working successfully with volunteers. Some projects have to manage both. A recent Wildtech post describes wpsWatch, a remote camera and data integration system developed by Wildlife Protection Solutions (WPS) to monitor wildlife and threats in real-time. Concealed cameras placed around reserves [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Keeping equipment running in harsh field conditions can challenge any tech project, as can working successfully with volunteers. Some projects have to manage both. A recent Wildtech post describes wpsWatch, a remote camera and data integration system developed by Wildlife Protection Solutions (WPS) to monitor wildlife and threats in real-time. A pair of white rhinos face off in front of a camera trap. Photo credit: wpsWatch Concealed cameras placed around reserves are connected via one of several networks to managers on site, as well as to staff and volunteers located a world away in the US who use the system’s apps to monitor image feeds. The groups notify each other of wildlife and/or intruders detected in camera images, allowing rangers to take quick action. As part of the discussion with Mongabay-Wildtech, WPS Executive Director Eric Schmidt and Program Director Carrie Smizik explained some of the strategies their team uses to prevent and respond to the twin challenges of deploying technology in remote and rugged areas and maintaining an effective corps of project volunteers. Mongabay-Wildtech:  What are the main challenges in maintaining the cameras and keeping the system going on the ground? Smizik:  Applying solar power to keep the batteries and the cameras up and running was the first issue that we ran into. We learned that as the cameras would drain battery power or lose battery power, the [image] transmission rates were falling off as well. So the camera didn&#8217;t have the power to transmit the images it was taking&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2018/02/powering-cameras-and-empowering-people/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2018/02/powering-cameras-and-empowering-people/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-203073</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Piloting PALM Risk to detect palm oil-driven deforestation</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2016/07/piloting-palm-risk-detect-palm-oil-driven-deforestation/</link>
					<comments>https://news.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[Sue Palminteri]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2016/07/01193258/7197044324_f53eca0136_b-wp-495x330.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://wildtech-mongabay-com.mongabay.com/?p=185425</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global, Indonesia, and Malaysia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Analysis, Corporate Social Responsibility, Deforestation, early warning, Forests, Mapping, Monitoring, Open-source, Palm Oil, Remote Sensing, Satellite Imagery, Technology, and Wildtech]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![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;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![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://news.mongabay.com/2016/07/piloting-palm-risk-detect-palm-oil-driven-deforestation/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2016/07/piloting-palm-risk-detect-palm-oil-driven-deforestation/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-188455</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Reducing human-wildlife conflict in the blink of a light</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2016/05/reducing-human-wildlife-conflict-blink-light/</link>
					<comments>https://news.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 DowdellSue Palminteri (1965-2019)]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sue Palminteri]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2016/05/01193320/Tanzania_sneaky-lioness_web-wt-520x279.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://wildtech-mongabay-com.mongabay.com/?p=185272</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global, Kenya, and Zimbabwe]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Carnivores, Conservation, early warning, Human-wildlife Conflict, Lions, low-tech, Predators, Technology, Wildlife, and Wildtech]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![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>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![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://news.mongabay.com/2016/05/reducing-human-wildlife-conflict-blink-light/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2016/05/reducing-human-wildlife-conflict-blink-light/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-188302</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Light, long-lasting and low-cost: the technology needs of field conservationists and wildlife researchers</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2016/04/light-long-lasting-low-cost-technology-needs-field-conservationists-wildlife-researchers/</link>
					<comments>https://news.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 (1965-2019)]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sue Palminteri]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2016/04/01193332/Oryx_Lewa_GP-1-wt-520x266.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://wildtech-mongabay-com.mongabay.com/?p=185191</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[cameras, Communication, Conservation, data, DNA, early warning, GPS, Human-wildlife Conflict, low-tech, Mobile, Monitoring, Poaching, Research, Technology, Tracking, and Wildtech]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Results of an assessment of the technology needs of front-line conservationists and researchers that informs wildtech-mongabay-com.mongabay.com]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![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://news.mongabay.com/2016/04/light-long-lasting-low-cost-technology-needs-field-conservationists-wildlife-researchers/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2016/04/light-long-lasting-low-cost-technology-needs-field-conservationists-wildlife-researchers/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-188221</doi>				</item>
			</channel>
</rss>