The Rainforest Connection Catches Loggers with Phones in Trees
Alexander Lam — June 12, 2013 — Eco
References: rainforestconnection.org & psfk
Non-profit organization Rainforest Connection hopes to use smartphones hung from trees to stop illegal logging. Using a specially designed app, old android phones can detect the sound of chainsaws. Upon hearing a chainsaw the phone can send an alarm to local forest rangers.
In order to stay on perpetually, the phones have solar panels attached to them. The power goes to helping the microphone listen for chainsaws within a 500 meter range. If the phone detects logging, it can send off a message to rangers with the location of the tree poaching.
Currently, the organization is also working to release a smartphone app so that anybody can get alerts. The app will let everybody get the same data that rangers are getting.
In order to stay on perpetually, the phones have solar panels attached to them. The power goes to helping the microphone listen for chainsaws within a 500 meter range. If the phone detects logging, it can send off a message to rangers with the location of the tree poaching.
Currently, the organization is also working to release a smartphone app so that anybody can get alerts. The app will let everybody get the same data that rangers are getting.
Trend Themes
1. Smartphone Tech for Environmental Protection - The use of smartphones for environmental protection purposes highlights the potential for smartphone technology to be used in addressing environmental challenges.
2. Crowdsourced Environmental Protection Apps - The development of apps that allow the general public to contribute to environmental protection efforts creates opportunities for building large-scale, collaborative networks of individuals who can assist in environmental preservation.
3. Solar-powered Technology for Environmental Protection - The use of solar-powered smartphones for environmental monitoring creates opportunities for developing solar-powered technologies that can be used in addressing environmental challenges.
Industry Implications
1. Non-profit/charity - Non-profit or charitable organizations that focus on environmental conservation efforts can leverage the use of smartphone technology as a cost-effective and efficient solution for monitoring illegal activities, such as logging.
2. Forestry and Timber - The forestry and timber industry can leverage the use of smartphone technology to improve their supply chain monitoring and reduce illegal logging, ensuring a sustainable and ethical timber industry.
3. Mobile Phone Manufacturing - Mobile phone manufacturers can innovate by developing solar-powered smartphones that can be used in environmental monitoring while reducing the carbon footprint of their products.
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