Human-Wildlife Conflict Mitigation in Tanzania

As of March this year, PAMS foundation will be using Cluey when inspecting their chili fences. These fences support farmers living adjacent to wildlife areas to mitigate human-wildlife conflicts, as elephants avoid these fences.

PAMS uses both Cluey and the analytical Focus application to better protect the enormous biodiversity in the remote southern areas of Tanzania.

training and support in Burkina Faso

Since a few months, Sensing Clues has partnered up with Chengeta Wildlife and the CWTI to tackle incredibly hard wildlife conservation problems in an area rigged by conflicts.

Read more about Chengeta Wildlife and CWTI in a blog post from ESRI, another valued partner of ours.

“When we deal with a problem in a given area, analytics and actionable intelligence inform our planning, coordination, and execution of missions,” Young said. “Improving the technology allows for improved command and control.”

Services that Sensing Clues is providing include:

• Conducting Foundational Analysis to provide Anti-Poaching Units with a head-start

• Training and mentoring analysts to conduct such analytics on their own

• Training and mentoring law enforcement and criminal investigations principles and (judicial) processes

• Training APU-members and analysts in data collection methods and tools

• Supporting them with the tools to conduct their work efficiently and effectively

Sensing Clues goes to Nepal!

After a summer of hardcore development, Sensing Clues is ready for the next step. Together with the Himalayan Tiger Foundation we’ll travel to Nepal to examine and demonstrate the potential of our sensor and real-time intelligence tools. Think of:

• passage detection,

• lingering detection,

• group size detection,

• first-time seen detection,

• light-beam detection,

and many other profiles which can be used to inform rangers of alarming occurrences in protected areas. Following is a short summary of what we did this summer.

The Trespasser, a sensor designed to detect electronic devices, has reached it next level of maturity. In a pilot study conducted with the Dutch National Forestry Department we were able to detect the difference between hikers passing a nest of a protected hawk and people lingering near the nest. Based on the number of devices we could estimate the number of persons at the scene. This is an important feat, as “big-5 poachers” often work in groups of 3 to 4 persons. Recognizing the number of people lingering near a waterhole or other critical spots thus gives rangers an early warning of a threatening situation.

Our new Serval-soundscape sensor has passed its first milestones. Data acquisition, a tech-word for recording and storing the sounds in a ready-to-process format, is ready. So is the store-in-memory function that ensures that sounds do not get wasted when connectivity is lost for a while. The next step is to incorporate the recognition algorithms and to establish connectivity. Both are within reach. As soon as time and funds permit we will start field-testing.

Power supply is a critical issue when working in remote areas. As there is no off-the-shelf solar solution that meets our tough outdoor requirements, which includes proper camouflaging to avoid detection by poachers, we needed to develop a tailor-made solution. The good news is: we did. The first results are promising. In two days time the solar panel is able to load a car battery that keeps the sensor alive and kicking for over 6 weeks. Hence, protection operations of 3 to 6 months have become within reach.

In the mean time we experimented with the setup of a LoRa-network. Such networks are comparatively cheap and can be deployed where cellphone coverage is lacking. As with all technology, the road to full-scale use is bumpy. If not properly configured, reaching a proper range is troublesome. Knowing the problem is half the solution. So we are now working on the second half.

All that being said, most of our time was spent on the development of Cluey, our fast-response coordination app, and its backend, which in fact constitutes an affordable sensing-and real-time analytics platform and intelligence tools. Our platform constitutes a dozen servers, software packages, has very high security standards, and is maintained by our engineers. Regularly, such systems are prohibitively expensive for a single park or NGO. By offering the platform as a service, however, we bring it within reach of even the most modest NGO.

Ps. local governmental organisations in the Netherlands have shown an interest in these tools also, which accelerates their development!

Our hawks have left their nest – mission completed!

Mission completed! This weekend the young hawks stretched their wings and made their first flight.

For almost two months the rangers in the Southern Netherlands have been on the alert for poachers, as the nest has been robbed for several successive years. Local bird lovers complained, but the problem was difficult to tackle. Attempts to catch the poachers through camera traps failed, as the cameras were stolen.

This year a Trespasser was hidden near the birds-nest to notify the rangers when people would come near. The sensor triggered 16 times. Based on a smart algorithm we are able to determine whether a detected person is bypassing or lingering at the scene. We were especially interested in the latter, which happened twice. The first time was on the first of June, when the young were still very small. Great was our relieve when it proved to be one of our rangers checking whether the birds were still safe. The second time foresters were busy marking trees near the nest.

Now the birds have left their nest on their own – the first time since years. We are so happy about it! A pity that we didn’t catch a poacher, but so be it. The sensor operated well and unattendedly for over 6 weeks. The rangers are enthusiastic about them as the sensors can distinguish between people and other moving targets and can be placed completely out of sight (see photo below – just try to find it 

Time to celebrate and move on to the next project!

Kasigau: poachers detected!

Tsavo East, Tsavo West, and the Kasigau Wildlife Corridor which connects them form the largest natural reserve in Kenya. Elephants, lions, giraffe, and many other species roam the area freely. It’s a lust for the eye. A treasure to cherish!

A real threat to this paradise is poaching. Not only to the animals, but also to the (unarmed) rangers that protect them. Two years ago two of them were shot by poachers. One ranger was killed. The other survived, but has a prosthetic shoulder since. This hero is still a ranger.

To help the rangers to stop poaching, SensingClues joined Tech-For-Tusks, a  project in which Wildlife Works, ShadowView, ProTrek, Microflown, NCSR, and SensingClues collaborate to protect elephants. After months of hard work, this was a very exciting opportunity to test our newly developed early warning system.

With baboons looking over our shoulders, long days and nights were spend to test, improve, and re-test our sensors. Until we were satisfied. Since this weekend our camouflaged sensors are on the alert for poaching activities. Tireless. Relentless. Once a poacher is detected, an alert is send to the patrolling rangers, directing them straight away to the actual threat.

Last Wednesday, only days after the sensors had been placed, the first alert came through. Human behaviour had been detected near a pond which elephants regularly visit. Being a restricted area, no people are allowed there. Verification learned that it was not a ranger. Hence, this was an all hands on deck situation!

A short while later we learned our poacher was actually a lost soul, taking her father on a safari. Although we were a bit disappointed with this outcome, the system had proven its strength. We’ve been able to detect human activity and alert the rangers in real-time!

It’s a really nice feeling to put the rangers on the right track. It’s good to know they are on the alert and ready to respond..

SensingClues is going to protect Nguvu!

Last week was a fantastic week!

• for Nguvu, because our early warning and fast-response systems are going to help rangers to keep him and his family safe;

• for SensingClues, because we gained our first contract!

SensingClues is partnering with Wildlife Works, ShadowView, Protrek and NSCR in the Tech for Tusks project. The project aims at developing and testing hi-tech systems to protect elephants in the Kasigau Wildlife Corridor, Kenya. We bring in our expertise and early warning and fast-response technologies.

The last few months we have been working hard to make our technologies ready. We’ve tested and demonstrated them in the Netherlands. Our potential customers and techno team were satisfied. So, now it’s time to test them in the harsh conditions of the African bush! Recent incidents, including ones that made the world-wide press, urge us to wast no more time.

The project is starting mid October. The tests will take about one month. We’ll keep you posted through  Twitter and this blog!