Team Naturium

Inspiration

The inspiration to create an app that combines carbon accounting, animal and plant identification, and universe exploration came from the urgent need to raise environmental awareness and support conservation. The app aims to encourage people, especially the younger generation, to care more about ecosystems and human impact on the environment through interactive and easy-to-use technology.

What it does

What we did for this NATURIUM application, namely:

Carbon Calculation: This feature allows users to calculate carbon through the diameter of trees found in a location. Through an accurate algorithm, the application will provide an estimate of the carbon emissions generated.
Animal and Plant Identification: This feature uses image recognition technology to help users recognise animals and plants they encounter in nature. Using artificial intelligence, the app can analyse user-uploaded photos, match them with a large database of flora and fauna species, and provide in-depth information on habitat, conservation status, and interesting facts.
A discussion space for users: Discussion Room: To build a community that cares about the environment, the Naturium app also features a discussion room. Users can join discussions on various environmental topics, share experiences, share eco-friendly ways, or discuss local conservation projects. This feature is designed for information exchange, and spreading awareness among the wider community.

How we built it

1. Integrated Ecosystem Mapping and Identification System The system begins with advanced image recognition technology that processes user-submitted photographs through specialized machine learning models. These models are trained to identify various flora and fauna species with high accuracy. Upon successful identification, the system automatically plots the location data onto an interactive distribution map. The platform maintains temporal data, allowing users to analyze changes in species distribution over time and understand migration patterns or habitat changes.

2. Understanding Tree Carbon Storage The carbon calculation requires tree size data (measured through diameter and height) then the system in the application will directly calculate the carbon result.

3.Database Infrastructure with Security and Data Protection Naturium's database is designed with a scalable structure using PostgreSQL. Main tables include user information, identification history, and mission data. The schema is designed to optimize query performance and facilitate future feature additions. Naturium prioritizes security with JWT-based authentication and OAuth2 implementation. All sensitive data is encrypted end-to-end, and the system complies with GDPR regulations. We also implement data anonymization to protect user privacy.

4.Performance Optimization and Testing Strategy To ensure Naturium's responsiveness, we implement caching strategies using Redis and load balancing systems. The database is replicated to increase reliability and data access speed. CDN is integrated to optimize static content delivery. Naturium's development is supported by comprehensive testing arrays, including unit testing for individual components, integration testing to verify inter-component interactions, load testing to ensure system stability under load, and user acceptance testing for user experience validation.

Challenges we ran into

Creating an app like Naturium that combines carbon accounting, animal and plant identification, and user discussion spaces presents some unique challenges, namely the development of computer vision algorithms capable of recognising species with high accuracy from user-uploaded images. In addition, collecting additional data such as animal sounds for more accurate identification will require sophisticated machine learning techniques. None of us are computer science majors who know much about coding.

To meet these challenges, we also have a solution: Provide instructions for users to take clearer and sharper photos, and add an automatic image enhancement feature. In addition, we also need to study even more to learn this coding challenge, increase literature study and practice.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

In Indonesia, applications for carbon accounting and animal and plant identification already exist. However, these applications are not yet fully accurate to detect plants and animals.

We are very proud of our achievement in creating Naturium. We are also looking forward to the launch of our app, as we believe in its potential as a valuable resource. Our web application marks a new approach, which seeks to enhance the natural resources available in Indonesia. Our achievement lies in improving the accuracy for carbon calculation and animal and plant identification.

What we learned

What we've learnt is about coding to make apps, which is new to us because it's not our main area of expertise. We have learnt about how to code, how to make a good app. In addition, when making this application, we feel that we have used the knowledge about carbon environmental services and then the identification of flora and fauna that we learned since semester 3. Moreover, in semester 3 we had a dendrology course plus field trips twice, namely in semester 4 and semester 7.

Gunung Halimun Salak National Park faces challenges, such as a very minimal calculation of carbon stocks. Therefore, we need to provide solutions to make it easier for managers to carry out this carbon calculation because it is very important for the life of living things.

What's next for Nature.ID

As a Nature team, we are passionate about continuously improving the quality of our applications. We were able to obtain valuable documentation and incorporate it into the web application we created.

Next the future application will also focus on building a community of users who are passionate about sustainability and conservation. Features that facilitate discussions, knowledge sharing, and collaboration on local conservation projects can be integrated. Users could participate in forums, share their findings, and even organize events such as tree planting or wildlife monitoring activities.

As the application grows, it will aim to contribute to broader environmental policy advocacy. By aggregating data from users, the app could generate insights into regional carbon emissions and biodiversity trends, which can be shared with policymakers and stakeholders. This data could be crucial in shaping environmental policies and promoting sustainability initiatives at local, national, and international levels.