“Our world must not only become net zero, but also nature positive, for the benefit of both people and the planet.”
Yet, we are in the midst of the sixth mass extinction, where species are vanishing a hundred or thousand times faster than the conventional pace seen in the last tens of millions of years. “Biodiversity Loss and Economic Collapse” ranks fourth among the top 10 risks over the next ten years, with over a million species under the threat of being wiped off the face of the earth.
Going Nature Positive With Technology
Actions to conserve and arrest the loss of scores of life have to be taken everywhere and by everyone. The use of technology could play a vital role in efforts to preserve and restore the planet’s ecological diversity. This article attempts to provide a bird’s eye view of how various technologies can help save biodiversity.
“Technology can help us save the planet. But more than anything, we must learn to value nature.”
A nature positive approach enhances the resilience of our planet and halts and reverses nature loss. It is true that no one technology is a panacea to solve the biodiversity loss crisis. Yet, prudently using one or more of these solutions can benefit the conservation and restoration of nature, especially with the recent unprecedented breakthroughs and the advent of new technologies. For effective use of technology, it is essential to find answers to – How do we collect reliable and comprehensive data in real time? Once collected, where do we store this data? How do we ensure that this data, once recorded, has not been manipulated for the benefit of the interested parties? Then, how do we get the most insights out of the data?
Collecting Reliable Data in Real Time
Drones are practical for collecting rare data on the species and detecting illegal activities.
The data, thus collected, can provide reliable insights into even the most elusive and inaccessible species that help everyone make better decisions to be nature positive. Drones successfully chronicled the return of around 200 species of rich flora and fauna to radioactive Chernobyl, a place unsafe for humans. Unfortunately, some of them have moved away after the recent Russian invasion. Drones helped discover the previously unknown colonies of penguins in the South Shetlands Islands, Antarctica. The bird’s eye view these drones give also comes in handy in detecting illicit activities.
Technologies that track species remotely are a boon to assess our planet’s breathtaking diversity without disturbing them with human interference.
The lives of the most elusive species are often captured in motion capture cameras. With GIS based mapping, it is possible to track the movement of our diverse species across the globe. As a result, scientists are able to visualize the migration patterns of wildlife in response to climate change. Similarly, satellite data and wildlife surveys identify what kind of human activities affect biodiversity the most. The tracking devices, GPS collars, or acoustic recorders alert authorities in real time about critical events, such as hunting, poaching, and illegal logging.
Another way to gather biodiversity data is to encourage crowdsourcing.
Encouraging volunteers and tourists to capture and share data, such as wildlife photos, taken during their trips can help garner a great deal of valuable data. Using web and mobile apps, amateur naturalists could record their rare encounters in nature and connect with the experts who can identify them. Giving wildlife enthusiasts tools to create their own unique forest watching experience and enabling them to share it with the world could get more people into this data gathering process. A gamified app that rewards people based on the rarity of their finds would increase participation. At the same time, the traditional knowledge of the indigenous people and local communities must not be forgotten. Harnessing the expertise would help become nature positive faster. Collecting a wealth of data in such ways helps us understand our planet’s rich diversity better.
Storing The Data In a Trustworthy and Verifiable Manner
The blockchain is a powerful tool to track transparently sustainable forest produce and weed out illegal goods.
Blockchain technology is an effective solution for preserving the integrity of the data of our precious ecological diversity. Biodiversity data could be shared among scientists, businesses, and enthusiasts while ensuring data security and privacy. Tools such as NFTs can provide a unique identity to forest produce. Tokenizing forest life helps track the various keystone species and hence protects the vast biodiversity of the wild. Furthermore, building a marketplace for these eco tokens will create lucrative investment opportunities for a broader range of stakeholders. Biodiversity offsets, a last resort for biodiversity protection, can benefit from trading on the blockchain. The fractional nature of digital tokens can bring in more investments, as investing in small amounts is an attractive and safer choice for many. Issuing and trading green bonds representing “green projects” can profit from the blockchain. Blockchain can be an effective tool to verify the “greenness” of these projects. When incentives to preserve our rich ecological diversity become higher than those to destroy them, then we are closer than ever to being nature positive.
Deriving Valuable and Timely Insights
Collecting vast amounts of data from sensors, satellites, and everything in between is one thing; making effectual decisions with the data is another.
The images from satellites and camera traps and the recordings from drones and acoustic recorders have extensive data about species and their habitats. A thorough analysis of this data would give comprehensive insights into their migration and behavior. At the same time, AI can improve the scale, speed, and accuracy of cataloging, classifying, monitoring, and alerting systems. AI powered computer vision could glean scores of photos and videos either crowdsourced or got from publicly posted social media messages to identify species of interest.
Once added to the wildlife catalog, these data help scientists and researchers understand nature better. Meanwhile, AI could be used to isolate specific sounds, such as chainsaws, gunshots, trucks, etc., from the sounds of the jungles and send alerts in real time. Such uses can prevent the illegal destruction of the forest’s rich flora and fauna.
Use of Technology Comes With Its Own Risks
There would be some local or regulatory hindrances to the unfettered use of technology. Some countries impose restrictions on the use of aerial unmanned vehicles. Collecting swaths of data and storing it on blockchain could pose data privacy, security, and residency problems. Furthermore, the sheer amount of computing power required to process and analyze the data collected could create its own environmental hazards. The use of drones can be detrimental to the environment if not operated responsibly. The cost of some of these cutting-edge technologies might restrict their usage to wealthy nations, thereby preventing them from being used in regions where they are required the most. It is also vital to monitor how the species respond to the presence of technology all around and perhaps even inside them.
In conclusion, technology could support the cause of being nature positive very well. Yet, it is vital to remember the same technology can become its snare. It could destroy some while protecting others. Moreover, technology by itself is not enough. Meaningful change can only be made when technology works hand in hand with the actions from the authorities with the locals. Finally, these advanced techs should be affordable to even poorer nations. Tech solutions are not effective if they are not equitable and inclusive.
“The natural world is resilient. Great riches still remain. And with our help, the planet can recover.”
