IBM and WWF Germany are joining forces in the fight to save African forest elephants from extinction. Their populations have declined by more than 80 percent as a result of habitat loss and poaching, bringing them to the brink of extinction and necessitating immediate conservation actions. The partnership will track and protect these elephants using the latest in AI technology with a broader goal of enhancing conservation efforts by means of better data and specific knowledge of the species’ effect on the environment.
It is of great importance that African forest elephants are key actors in their ecosystems; hence, they often have the reputation of being “ecosystem engineers” for their forest habitats. Such activities make sure that there is enhanced carbon storage, making their conservation not an issue of conserving a species but of an important component in controlling climate change. Understanding and quantifying the ecological services provided by these elephants may help create new means of funding and sustainable investment in conservation.
Right at the heart of this project is the use of artificial intelligence in analyzing photographs taken with camera traps in their core habitats. The AI technology is trained to recognize individual elephants, therefore enabling scientists to track their populations, movement, and behaviors over some time. This approach shall overcome the current challenges associated with counting and tracking African forest elephants, something that is very costly and logistically complex. Using AI, the project aims to gain more accurate population estimates that are quite important for effective conservation strategies.
The project will explore further into the broader ecological impact caused by the elephants. IBM technology will track the growth of plants and carbon levels around areas inhabited by elephants to understand how these animals affect their ecosystem. This value, when considering the role of elephants in carbon storage, can be quantified by calculating their carbon storage capacities in such habitats. It is with this kind of information that new financial mechanisms would be justified, like the emergence of wildlife credits, which attaches a real economic value to such ecological contributions by the elephant and thus supports its conservation.
The collaboration of IBM and WWF showcases how technology can be used to drive further conservation. Bringing together artificial intelligence with environmental science, the project hopes to return data useful for both conservation policies and sustainable business practices. This is a trend that is increasingly setting an example: technology being used to solve environmental problems, potentially leading the way for future conservation projects.
This cooperation of IBM and WWF Germany is really large in applying technology to wildlife conservation. The focus is on the African forest elephant, whereby the project saves a critically endangered species and contributes to global carbon sequestration. The data produced by this project could give rise to new models of funding for conservation so that Elephants and their habitats are conserved for future generations.
Source: IBM