«There’s no way to offset or avoid the effects of climate change without protecting existing forests», says Topher White, Founder of Rainforest Connection and Rolex Associate Laureate
Listening to rainforests – Rainforest Connection
The territorial songs of the gibbons, the howls of the mantled howler monkeys, and the buzzing of the cicadas — the world’s rainforests offer a cacophony of sounds for anyone willing to listen. Amid the constant jungle murmurs, what often goes unnoticed is the sounds of the chainsaws illegally chopping down trees. For close to a decade now, San Francisco-based nonprofit conservation technology startup, Rainforest Connection has been capturing millions of hours of sounds from rainforests across the globe.
Using cloud computing, artificial intelligence (AI), and machine learning (ML), the organization analyzes the audios for any threats. If disturbances are detected, the nonprofit’s systems automatically send alerts to their on-the-ground partners, who intervene to stop illegal logging and poaching — in real-time.
Topher White and the guardians of the forest
Topher White of Rainforest Connection created a device; able to fit in the palm of a hand, about a decade ago. The Guardian, plays a crucial role in protecting the rainforests across the globe. Powered by solar energy, these real-time monitoring systems are placed high on canopies to protect forests from illegal logging and poaching. At the same time, these devices offer new ways to monitor biodiversity and track conservation efforts.
In 2011, software engineer and physicist, Topher White was working for a French fusion laboratory when he decided to volunteer at a gibbon reserve in Sumatra in Indonesia. While volunteering with the conservation group, Kalaweit, to help the diminishing gibbon population, the idea of saving rainforests struck him. «That was when I saw what the people who were protecting the forests were doing», White says. «Protecting the forest is hard. I realized I could build something to help these people».
The inception of Rainforest Connection
The original concept was to aid the conservation group in Indonesian Borneo. Once he saw the results and realized how the technology could transform, he up-scaled and started Rainforest Connection. It would take him approximately a year and a half to build the first version of the Guardian from upcycled cellphones; before launching Rainforest Connection in 2013, becoming an official nonprofit in 2014.
The company now uses its own acoustic device system made of custom logic boards in a weatherproof box fitted with solar panels, an antenna, and a microphone. Today, the organization offers threat detection tools, biodiversity analysis tools, and a host of hardware to aid conservation management. Its RFCx system functions as ears to the forests, capturing sounds constantly, and remotely analyzing them using AI. Over 500 Guardians have monitored more than 144,900 hectares in 37 protected reserves, across 22 countries. By stopping deforestation, Rainforest Connection is fighting the climate crisis.
Deforestation’s role in climate change
Trees absorb carbon dioxide during photosynthesis – they store the excess carbon in biomass (trunks, roots, and branches) through a process called sequestration. Research suggests that the world’s forests store about 861 gigatonnes of carbon. When forests are destroyed, however, the majority of this stored carbon is released into the air as carbon dioxide.
«There is no way to offset or avoid the most drastic effects of climate change without protecting existing forests», says White. «New forests and regrowing them is a great way to sequester carbon. But there’s so much carbon stored in existing forests and their ability to continue to accumulate it that just the amount of carbon stored in the forests would lead to the most catastrophic effects of climate change».
This is made worse by the alarming rates of deforestation every year. Forests, especially tropical rainforests, are increasingly felled for agricultural land use. Mining, infrastructure projects, poor forest management, and uncontrolled forest fires add to the problem. An estimated 10 million hectares were deforested each year between 2015 and 2020; according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
Deforestation and global carbon dioxide emissions
As the second largest anthropogenic source of greenhouse gas emissions, deforestation is responsible for 10% of global carbon dioxide emissions. Worse still, recent studies show that carbon emissions from tropical deforestation have doubled in the last two decades. Illegal logging constitutes almost 50% of all tropical deforestation.
Worth approximately $51–$152 billion yearly, the illegal timber industry not only contributes to climate change. It threatens the biodiversity of the region as well as the lives of around 1.6 billion people who rely on forests for their livelihood. Stopping illegal logging and the rampant destruction of the forest; White adds, «could be the fastest, cheapest way for us to fight climate change».
Rainforest Connection focusing on bioacoustics
While satellite imagery has been crucial in understanding the state of deforestation, there are obstacles such as cloud cover and the frequency of updates. «Satellites only pass over every once in a while», White says. «You’re not going to be able to quickly tell the individual things happening on the ground». He adds that «Drones can solve that, but in rainforests you can lose it. Camera traps are sufficient, but you only see what’s in front of you».
Rather than using visual-based detection methods, Rainforest Connection focuses on bioacoustics — documenting forest soundscapes to detect minor changes. «Bioacoustics work in the forest since you can’t see more than 5 to 10 meters in front of you because of the trees, but sound travels», he explains. «Sound stretches for a kilometer and a half to two kilometers in every direction. A device can monitor an amount of forest which otherwise you won’t be able to see through a few meters». In essence, the RFCx Guardian system has two primary functions: threat detection and biodiversity monitoring.
Threat detection
This data collected is streamed to the cloud via GSM or satellite and analyzed for threats such as chainsaws, vehicles, gunshots, human voices, and more. On the ground, Rainforest Connection’s local partners respond to threats. These partners vary from place to place and can be NGOs, local governments, or indigenous tribes.
«We have a whole suite of software and alert systems that were built for people on the ground. They get alerts. They review them; understand the information; coordinate with our team and theirs, and do a safe and coordinated response». Usually, their phones are equipped with an app that can receive alerts in real-time.
Rainforest Connection’s proprietary technology
Confronting illegal loggers and poachers is laden with risks. In Northern Brazil, there have been cases where the local partners were met with gunfire, some even losing their lives. «The faster you can get to an area, the lower the risk. Once logs have been cut, once it’s on a truck and it’s leaving, that’s when the stakes are high».
Over the years, Rainforest Connection’s proprietary technology has had impacts across countries. White says that one of their impacts has been in Brazil, where they continue to work with the Tembé indigenous tribe. On similar lines, in partnership with the West Sumatra Forestry Agency, the organization helped stop illegal mining and logging operations in Western Sumatra; two examples of their work in 32 countries, including Cameroon, South Africa, Malaysia, and Canada.
Monitoring biodiversity
With the guardian there is a chance for scientists and ecologists to understand rainforests like never before, by monitoring and measuring biodiversity. A part of Rainforest Connection’s work revolves around documenting biodiversity. It analyses the data to offer insights into species richness; activity; and population dynamics; helping partners to make informed conservation efforts.
In Ecuador, the organization helped monitor two endangered species of parrots that were re-introduced to a reserve. This can help ecologists improve the results of re-introduction of a valuable species into the wild. In a recent project in Colombia’s Magdalena Valley, the team is aiding the study of species such as the blue-billed curassow, jaguar, South American tapir, and spider monkeys. The organization has set up automatic species detectors across Sumatra, the Amazon, Malaysia, Puerto Rico, Panama, and parts of Europe. They urge scientists to upload their bioacoustic recordings to the platform. To date, they have collected over 75 million one-minute recordings, classifying close to 2,800 species, including over 100 endangered species. Recently made public, anyone can listen to these recordings — even live — through the app.
«It is key for us to capture as much about this moment as possible, because there’s so much stress from climate change and habitat loss on these species, that many of them are reacting in novel ways, ways that change our understanding of that species».
Blending with artificial intelligence
The Guardians’ algorithm was originally designed for only detecting chainsaws. Late 2015 AI and ML were accessible to the team and they started building an ML algorithm for capturing sounds. AI integration assisted in identifying individual species. Hitachi Vantara, a collaborator, built AI-based predictive models that can predict logging before it happens. The acoustic data from the rainforests assists AI models to detect anomalies and disturbances.
«If the soundscape of forests changes in a certain way, we can predict if a person is sneaking through the forest. We can use predictive analytics and AI to hear things that don’t make noise». The aim is to help the on-the-ground partners to be more prepared and with a longer time to take action. By the same token, he adds, it is possible to combine predictive analytics with other techniques to pick out unrecognizable sounds, opening up the possibility to discover new species.
White predicts that AI and ML will evolve in the conservation sector. «We have data down to the second, we should be able to get to the point where we can figure out how the animals are feeling. What they think about each other, which ones interact, and potentially use the same tools to pick out what animals are saying to each other». Beyond this, he adds, it would be a milestone for humans to communicate with animals. Technologists may be able to «train an algorithm; to find the strategies for adapting to climate change that animals themselves are taking on their own».
«It’s a constant arms race with nature»
On-the-ground humane threats aside, it is no small feat to install hardware that can brave the changing environmental conditions in the thick of the forest. There are animals, rising temperatures, water, insects, and all kinds of natural elements to grapple with. «One of the challenges in terms of installing hardware in the forest involves just how terrible the environment is», White says. «There are constant threats from just the biome or the forest itself».
The main threat is «ants and termites, who will come and take apart everything that’s rubber. When you’re in the rainforest, the insects are the absolute ones in charge». The trees also change — they may grow over the device. Branches may break, or a number of other unpredictable things can happen. «In a way, it’s a constant arms race with nature», the conservation technologist notes. The team removed any rubber and soft plastic from the devices that termites can nibble on. «One of the things we discovered is that termites are somewhat attracted to some of the electromagnetic radiation; coming out of the transmission of signals.They build nests around the device. We managed to raise the solar panels above that. If they end up building a nest, it doesn’t hurt the device — it is sort of embedded inside their nest. Then the solar panels can be above it».
The process of installing the Guardians
The organization has been attempting to make the process of installing the Guardians simpler. It’s not easy to walk long stretches in the forest, climb 50 — 60 meters up a tree, install the device, and return. White hopes to lower the bar so that locals can install the device hassle-free. «We have to do our absolute best to protect biodiversity on a global scale», White adds. «Climate change, for all the threats that it represents, is reversible over an extended period of time. Biodiversity loss is not reversible, except over hundreds of millions of years. It’s key for us to recognize the value of this moment in capturing life on earth, for ourselves and posterity».
Going forward, the organization will also focus on non-acoustic sensors to expand the abilities of the device, such as detecting fires or measuring carbon. White hopes to expand beyond the forests, to be able to measure biodiversity on a global scale. «A lot of what we’re attempting to do over the next six-seven months is to get these tools into the hands of people. So they can be a part of appreciating and loving biodiversity in their own backyards. Appreciating all the ways that nature can tell them about themselves».
Rainforest Connection
Rainforest Connection is a nonprofit Conservation Technology startup based in San Francisco. Its proprietary technology has helped create a global acoustic network. Monitoring system to detect environmental threats such as illegal logging and poaching, and monitor and protect biodiversity. Rainforest Connection’s systems rely on acoustic sensors that collect acoustic data and monitor the ecosystem soundscape year-round.
