Powering cameras and empowering people

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’t have the power to transmit the images it was taking…

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Zero-deforestation pledges need help, support to meet targets, new study finds

It’s become a trend for big corporations to pledge that their products won’t cause any more deforestation. And while many experts believe in the potential of these “zero-deforestation” commitments to slow or stop deforestation, a new study published Monday in the journal Nature Climate Change finds that a number of challenges hamstring the efforts. “These companies stand poised to break the link between commodity production and deforestation,” co-author and environmental scientist Holly Gibbs of the University of Wisconsin-Madison said in a statement. “To do that, more immediate action is needed to demonstrate commitment to change and to clear the haze surrounding these efforts.” Gibbs and a team of colleagues from nearly a dozen other institutions around the world looked at commitments to cut deforestation from company supply chains in recent years. Nearly 450 corporations made 760 such promises by March of 2017. Yet the early evidence seems to indicate that they may not be making as much of a difference as hoped, so the researchers set out to figure out why. Deforestation for an oil palm plantation in Sarawak, Malaysia. Photo by Rhett A. Butler/Mongabay. The team examined the different approaches, looking at whether they are announced by a single company on its own or as part of a group, for example, as well as whether they define a set of discrete actions aimed at tackling the deforestation in their supply chains, or they merely lay out a set of targets. In the latter case, the commitment may predominantly serve…

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Climate Strange

It's not okay how clueless Donald Trump is about climate change | Dana Nuccitelli

Was Your Seafood Caught With Slave Labor? New Database Helps Retailers Combat Abuse

Many seafood lovers use the Monterey Bay Aquarium's ratings to choose sustainable fish. Now it's rolled out a tool to help corporations assess the risk of human trafficking in seafood supply chains.

(Image credit: Nicolas Asfouri /AFP/Getty Images)

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India's farmed chickens dosed with world's strongest antibiotics, study finds

Hong Kong votes to ban ivory trade by 2021

In a historic move, 49 Hong Kong lawmakers voted on Jan. 31 to end all domestic ivory trade by 2021 and passed the Endangered Species of Animals and Plants (Amendment) Bill 2017, also called the Hong Kong Ivory Ban Bill. Only four legislators voted against the ban. The overwhelming vote comes just a month after China shut down all of its ivory markets and factories on the mainland. The new ivory ban bill also increases penalties for wildlife crimes. “Today’s decision is another milestone for the conservation of elephants, and should serve as further encouragement for governments in the region to put an end to the domestic ivory markets that fuel the poaching crisis,” James Compton, senior program director for wildlife trafficking watchdog TRAFFIC in Asia Pacific, said in a statement. “Hong Kong’s legislators should be congratulated for choosing to stand on the right side of history.” Ivory jewelry. Photo by USFWS Mountain-Prairie, licensed under CC BY 2.0/Flickr. Hong Kong, one of the world’s largest ivory markets, is a signatory to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). In 1989, CITES banned international trade in elephant ivory by placing elephants on Appendix I. The convention did not mandate the closure of domestic markets, though. So Hong Kong continued to allow ivory imported before 1976 (pre-convention or before CITES was established) or before 1990 (pre-ban ivory) to be legally traded. However, traders have been using loopholes within Hong Kong’s laws to re-stock their “legal” ivory…

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Has spring come early where you live? Share your pictures

Schools across the US exposed to air pollution: 'children are facing risks'

$23.5 million funding pledge aims to protect critical West African national park

Benin’s Pendjari National Park, one of West Africa’s largest remaining strongholds for the elephant and the critically endangered West African lion, has now received a major funding boost. Four groups — the U.S.-based National Geographic Society and Wyss Foundation, South Africa-based African Parks, and the government of Benin — announced on Jan. 31 a combined commitment of more than $23 million to secure and restore the Pendjari National Park. This partnership hopes to “revitalize Pendjari’s extraordinary landscape through increased operational effectiveness, scientific research, innovative technology and visually compelling storytelling,” according to a press release from African Parks. “Today’s announcement is a testament to the power of partnerships,” Gary E. Knell, president and CEO of the National Geographic Society, said in the statement. “Combining forces with African Parks, the Wyss Foundation and the government of Benin, we are capitalizing on the unique capabilities of each organization — including on-the-ground management, cutting-edge science and exploration and storytelling prowess — to create an unprecedented model for conservation.” Pendjari National Park in Benin is one of the largest remaining strongholds for elephants in West Africa. Photo by Jonas Vande Voorde/African Parks/National Geographic Society. The Pendjari National Park, covering an area of 2,755 square kilometers (1,063 square miles), is part of the WAP complex (comprising the W, Arly and Pendjari national parks), a large expanse of relatively intact savanna that straddles Benin, Burkina Faso and Niger. The park is home to some of Africa’s rarest mammals, including the critically endangered West African lion (Panthera leo senegalensis) and…

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Country diary: this is the season for fern sex