At the current rate of decline, it is estimated that tropical rainforests could be wiped out as functioning ecosystems in less than 100 years.
*Sources: Rainforest Connection, https://rfcx.org/our_work. 22 Mar 2022. The Nature Conservancy, https://www.nature.org/media/aboutus/casestatement_forests.pdf. 22 Mar 2022. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, https://doi.org/10.1002/fee.2420. 23 Mar 2022.
With these images from NASA and Google Earth, anyone can see the rapid transformation that tropical forest land has undergone over the course of the last three decades.
Since 2013, Rainforest Connection has been building solar-powered devices called “Guardians.” Once installed in the tree canopy, Guardians gather the sounds of the forest and alert rangers on the ground when threats are detected. Through a partnership with Hitachi Vantara, data analytics technology is being developed to help detect anomalies that signal when illegal logging is about to happen, allowing for quicker reaction time before it’s too late.
The rainforest has its own soundscape: a baseline bio-acoustic signature of animals, insects and vegetation. When human pressure disrupts the forest, the soundscape is disrupted with it.
Now playing: Bio-acoustic rainforest stream
Now playing: Distant chainsaw
Now playing: Nearby chainsaw
The rainforest has its own soundscape: a baseline bio-acoustic signature of animals, insects and vegetation. When human pressure disrupts the forest, the soundscape is disrupted with it.
Topher White
Founder & Board Member,
Rainforest Connection
Rainforest Connection and Hitachi Vantara are working together to develop algorithms via a breakthrough form of artificial intelligence known as “deep learning” that leverages the rainforest’s own baseline eco-acoustic data to identify anomalies. Listening and comparing the “normal” vs. “anomalous” acoustic signatures, Guardians would then be able to detect and flag changes in the rainforest’s symphony indicative of logging activity.
This year will mark three years of partnership between Hitachi Vantara and Rainforest Connection. We are proud to share the common ideal of social responsibility to the environment.
This year will mark three years of partnership between Hitachi Vantara and Rainforest Connection. We are proud to share the common ideal of social responsibility to the environment.
Gajen Kandiah,
Chief Executive Officer, Hitachi Vantara
Learn how Hitachi Vantara partnerships are building a more sustainable future with data.