Spots of hope: Some good news for South Africa's cheetahs

Protected species of animals and plants are illegally sold online mainly due to buyers and sellers having no knowledge of laws or the consequences to the ecosystem. Enforcement Gaps Interface (EGI) is a software which uses machine learning to determine if the animal product is illegal or not.

Despite advancements in technology in most sectors of life leading to an increase to access of information about practically anything, little is still known about the ocean and its behavioral patterns. Liquid Robotics – a Silicon Valley-based company – is trying to change that. Engineers here have created the "Wave Glider," which essentially acts as a router within the ocean powered by wave energy and solar panels. This invention can transmit data on tectonic activity that has the potential to predict tsunamis.

To better position services during and after natural disasters, many nonprofits are turning towards mapping technology. Specifically, Facebook’s Disaster Maps share usage data to indicate movement, such as where people evacuated before Hurricane Florence. Humanity Road is another map source that includes data on infrastructure. Putting this information together, nonprofits such as Direct Relief can more accurately target their emergency response services.

When a people in Playa El Jobo, La Cruz realized that their beaches were home to sea turtle eggs, they took action to protect the species by joining together. What started as a neighborhood effort to patrol the beaches has now turned into a successful NGO that collects data for research purposes and teaches tourists, students and children how to become research assistants.

Using data collection and visualization, apps like SafeCity, HarassMap, and #WalkFreely are crowdsourcing locations where individuals have been sexually harassed or assaulted so that others know to take precautions. Some operate on a global scale, others locally, but what they all offer is a platform for people to share their story and hopefully prevent it from happening again. Such apps have led to action from community members, the media, and officials who have taken notice of the high rates in certain places and taken action.

Squids play an important role in the ecosystem, so scientists are focusing efforts on better understanding how the species adapts to climate change. By creating a "FitBit for squid," scientists have successfully been able to monitor soft-bodied invertebrates.

South Korea has reported a reduction of new coronavirus cases thanks in part to rapid government regulations, widespread testing, and increased transparency. While other countries, such as the United States, have made a practice of only testing those showing symptoms, South Korea's success is linked to broader testing, contact tracing and alerting those who have possibly been in contact with an infected person.

Local Ocean Conservation is in Watamu, Kenya has made approximately 21,000 turtle rescues and "treated more than 650 turtles in its rehabilitation center and clinic" since it's inception in 1997. The group responds to fishermen who have accidentally caught turtles in their nets and then remunerates the fishermen for their "time, effort, and phone calls." This incentive-based relationship combined with a ban on the international tortoiseshell trade has helped decrease the poaching of turles, and the group has now expanded their efforts to include more initiatives to protect the endangered species.

A growing number of governments, companies, and nonprofit organizations are working together with new technology and data to identify fishing vessels that are breaking laws and engaging in human rights violations. Using satellite imagery and tracking signals, for example, a philanthropic company and a nonprofit worked with the UN Office on Drugs and Crime to help the Ghanian navy arrest four vessels for illegal fishing practices. Technology by itself won’t stop forced labor and unregulated ships, but it can be helpful for cash-strapped governments looking to increase oversight of their fisheries.

The nonprofit group Save Giraffes Now, the Kenya Wildlife Service, the Northern Rangelands Trust, and local community members are working together to save the endangered Rothschild’s giraffe species. Rising lake levels and flooding have stranded the animals on its island, so they made a custom-built steel barge to relocate them to a protected wildlife reserve. It’s not easy to move giraffes, but so far they’ve successfully moved three out of nine of them.