How it all started…
In 2016, deep in the heart of Laos, Jan-Kees was in a remote hut when he heard a gunshot followed by a boat. His first thought was that it was poachers, and he realised that the local rangers were ill-equipped to detect or catch them, unlike the police forces back home. That moment sparked the idea for Sensing Clues.
Determined to make a difference, Jan-Kees knew he couldn’t do it alone. He needed a strong network with diverse skills. So, he reached out to a few technology companies he knew from his previous work, sharing his vision, even though he had no funding at the time. MarkLogic, PoolParty, and DIKW immediately joined the cause, and together they began developing the platform.
In 2017, the Sensing Clues Foundation was founded, and since then, the journey has grown beyond expectations. Hugo, Geert, and Emil have been part of the team from the beginning, and their dedication continues to drive the foundation forward.
Sensing Clues is now a well-established non-profit foundation with 13 Solution Partners, 5 staff members and some 30 volunteers, supporting over 500 ranger teams in 15 countries on 4 continents as diverse as Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Kenya, South Africa and India. The number of hectares under protection has expanded from 380,000 to nearly 8 million.
About our Founder, Jan-Kees Schakel
Jan-Kees is a nature conservation expert with a Masters in Natural Resources Management. After 15 years of consultancy work and project management across Asia, Africa and Latin America, he worked for a decade with the Dutch national police as a researcher and innovation specialist, focusing on high-risk and fast-response operations. During that period he earned a Master in Business Information Systems and a PhD in Organisation Science. With Sensing Clues and his team, he brings these expertises together to leverage cutting-edge technologies for nature conservation.
