ForestGuard

Rampant corruption and the magnitude of the forest area make the fight against deforestation extremely difficult. It is nearly impossible for federal agents to witness illegal deforestation or identify it in a timely manner.

However, deforestation is commonly noticed by people who interact with these areas on a daily basis. Many bird watchers and naturalists have written about the many times they encounter illegal logging on their expeditions. Some even take pictures of the destruction left behind. Audio recorders are also becoming more common in the rainforest ecosystem, placed by research groups, state and local parks, and hobbyists in the hopes of capturing wildlife sounds. A growing list of research initiatives using audio recordings to detect wildlife also end up registering chainsaw noises. We believe that this audio and visual data is an untapped resource, and could provide vital insights into the issue of illegal rainforest activities. Since the resources that we’re hoping to use exist already, they could be looked at together to paint a bigger picture of illegal logging in a certain area for a very low cost.

More info in the 'try it out' links!