{"id":1481,"date":"2024-04-21T12:52:11","date_gmt":"2024-04-21T16:52:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/students.bowdoin.edu\/bowdoin-science-journal\/?p=1481"},"modified":"2024-04-21T12:52:11","modified_gmt":"2024-04-21T16:52:11","slug":"smart-conservation-software-aids-wildlife-management-teams-in-conservation-efforts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/students.bowdoin.edu\/bowdoin-science-journal\/science\/smart-conservation-software-aids-wildlife-management-teams-in-conservation-efforts\/","title":{"rendered":"SMART Conservation Software aids wildlife management teams in conservation efforts"},"content":{"rendered":"

Those who work in the field of wildlife management aim to protect the biodiversity of ecosystems, which is critical in maintaining the health of the environment. But wildlife management workers around the world frequently experience serious challenges such as poaching, logging, illegal farming, forest fires, and insufficient resources. For example, poachers use snare loops (wire traps that tighten around the necks of animals) to catch protected species. In 2014, tiger poachers in the Sundarbans Reserved Forest of Bangladesh placed <\/span>thousands<\/span><\/i> of these snare loops across the entire reserve, in locations too far from guard posts to be monitored full time (Abdul Aziz et al., 2017). In most conservation groups, there are not enough funds, employees, or volunteers to efficiently manage wildlife and simultaneously prevent poachers from killing protected animals. Thus, wildlife management teams are calling for improved tools that will better protect endangered animals from further harm.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Figure 1. Snare loop around a lion\u2019s neck. Loops can tighten around any part of the body, holding the animal in place until poachers arrive or weakening it until it dies of its injuries.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Companies such as <\/span>SMART<\/span><\/i>, <\/span>Re:Wild<\/span><\/i>, and the <\/span>World Wildlife Fund<\/span><\/i> developed <\/span>SMART Conservation Software<\/span><\/i> in 2011 to better support wildlife conservation groups. <\/span>SMART<\/span><\/i> is short for Spatial Monitoring and Reporting Tool, and it is a digital platform capable of collecting and evaluating data on wildlife management sites. Workers within the same management system can input data as they come across new information, allowing the platform to record what they find in real time like where animals are mating, as well as where and when poacher traps are found <\/span>(https:\/\/smartconservationtools.org\/<\/span>). Using these inputs, <\/span>SMART<\/span><\/i> plots a management team\u2019s efforts, impacts, and shortcomings over time, highlighting areas that need improvement. Once those improvements are made, management groups are better able to conserve biodiversity, enforce the law, encourage and oversee tourism, and use natural resources properly.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Figure 2. Wildlife management employees use SMART device to log important conservation information.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Companies such as <\/span>SMART<\/span><\/i>, <\/span>Re:Wild<\/span><\/i>, and the <\/span>World Wildlife Fund<\/span><\/i> developed <\/span>SMART Conservation Software<\/span><\/i> in 2011 to better support wildlife conservation groups. <\/span>SMART<\/span><\/i> is short for Spatial Monitoring and Reporting Tool, and it is a digital platform capable of collecting and evaluating data on wildlife management sites. Workers within the same management system can input data as they come across new information, allowing the platform to record what they find in real time like where animals are mating, as well as where and when poacher traps are found <\/span>(https:\/\/smartconservationtools.org\/<\/span>). Using these inputs, <\/span>SMART<\/span><\/i> plots a management team\u2019s efforts, impacts, and shortcomings over time, highlighting areas that need improvement. Once those improvements are made, management groups are better able to conserve biodiversity, enforce the law, encourage and oversee tourism, and use natural resources properly.<\/span><\/p>\n

SMART<\/span><\/i> is used by conservation organizations around the world, one example being the Chirrip\u00f3 National Park in the Talamanca Mountain Range of Costa Rica. For years, the Chirrip\u00f3 management team had been struggling to precisely locate and record the illegal activities taking place on protected land, making it impossible to remove offenders or convince authorities that their ongoing complaints were valid (Madrigal). But <\/span>SMART<\/span><\/i> software can be downloaded on personal devices, so when the park introduced SMART to their employees and surrounding members of the community, citizens who were not involved in full-time park conservation were still able to contribute (Madrigal). This added many more eyes, ears, and hands to the conservation effort, and within one year, Chirrip\u00f3 was able to report the exact dates and locations of 44 cases of illegal activity across the park to law enforcement (Madrigal). Once law enforcement gained access to this concrete information, they were able to operate efficiently, driving down the crime rate. More importantly to Chirrip\u00f3 National Park, the added coverage helped protected species such as the Baird\u2019s tapir, the spider monkey, the puma, the agouti, and the jaguar (Madrigal). Chirrip\u00f3\u2019s experience with <\/span>SMART<\/span><\/i> demonstrates how useful this technology is for organizing and communicating the issues conservationists face on a daily basis.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Figure 3. SMART conservation software helps Chirrip\u00f3 National Park to protect animals like the Baird\u2019s tapir pictured above.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Like most technology, <\/span>SMART<\/span><\/i> software is exciting, innovative, and solves modern day problems \u2013 but it also comes with some challenges. The Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (ZPWMA), an organization that works to protect lions, elephants, leopards, and buffalo across all of Zimbabwe, points out that implementing <\/span>SMART<\/span><\/i> conservation technology can present capacity and resource issues for conservation management employees (Kavhu et al, 2021). Many workers were unfamiliar and uncomfortable with the technology, there were not enough electronic devices such as computers to collect all field data, and many of the patrol routes were without internet access (Kavhu et al, 2021). While it is possible that technological innovation is not a priority for Zimbabwe, it is also important to remember that Zimbabwe\u2019s history is one marred by British colonialism, and the country only gained its independence in the late 1970\u2019s (Ingham et al., 2023). These setbacks help to explain why Zimbabwe has been unable to progress as in the world of electronic technology, even if the progress is desired. These issues of technological access can be applied to other countries that do not yet have a strong electronic infrastructure, meaning that <\/span>SMART<\/span><\/i> works best in more electronically informed countries and falls short in countries that have not expanded their electronic bandwidth.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Figure 4. Parks in Zimbabwe aim to protect their buffalo populations.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

There are some solutions to these technological problems. For example, building a strong implementation plan, motivating the discouraged workers, following the example of other institutions that have implemented <\/span>SMART<\/span><\/i> technology, and, most importantly, raising funds to buy more computers would make the use of <\/span>SMART<\/span><\/i> technology easier in Zimbabwe parks (Kavhu et al, 2021). Adding more volunteers to the conservation effort is also a great solution. If ZPWMA advertised volunteer opportunities in their communities using layperson terms, supporters of the conservation effort would be more likely to help manage the wildlife in Zimbabwe\u2019s parks. Of course, volunteers would need to be trained so that they are able to properly identify notable occurrences in the parks, but their contributions have the potential to greatly strengthen the conservation effort.<\/span><\/p>\n

SMART Conservation Software<\/span><\/i> is off to a great start in helping to better manage parks around the world. Though<\/span> SMART<\/span><\/i> does find its faults in countries unaccustomed to the devices needed for software implementation, this problem will only grow smaller as the world continues to progress in the realm of personal electronic devices (given that countries like Zimbabwe <\/span>want<\/span><\/i> to prioritize electronic familiarity moving forward). Its ability to collect, organize, and present data across long distances and multiple devices allows wildlife management teams to care for protected species much more efficiently, making <\/span>SMART<\/span><\/i> a tool that revolutionizes the realm of conservation. <\/span><\/p>\n

Works Cited<\/strong><\/p>\n

Abdul Aziz, M. et al. <\/span>Investigating patterns of tiger and prey poaching in the Bangladesh Sundarbans: Implications for improved management.<\/span><\/i> ScienceDirect, vol. 9, 2017, pp. 70-81.<\/span><\/p>\n

Barrantes Madrigal, Jimmy. \u201cCommunity-based SMART patrolling in one of the Great Five Forests of Mesoamerica: the Talamanca Highlands.\u201d<\/span> SMART<\/span><\/i>, <\/span>https:\/\/smartconservationtools.org\/en-us\/SMART-Community\/Your-stories\/Case-Study?CaseStudyID=27<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Ingham, Kenneth, et al. “History of Zimbabwe”. <\/span>Encyclopedia Britannica<\/span><\/i>, 12 Dec. 2023, <\/span>https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/history-of-Zimbabwe<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Jones, J.J.. \u201cSnared Lioness in Kruger National Park.\u201d <\/span>Wildestofficial.com, <\/span><\/i>20 September 2019, <\/span>https:\/\/wildestofficial.com\/news\/snare-poaching-increasing-in-kruger-national-park\/<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Kavhu, Blessing, et al.<\/span> Spatial Monitoring and Reporting Tool (SMART) in Mid\u2010Zambezi Valley, Zimbabwe: Implementation challenges and practices. <\/span><\/i>ProQuest, vol. 3, 2021.<\/span><\/p>\n

San Diego Zoo. Baby Baird\u2019s Tapir. <\/span>animals.SandiegoZoo.com, <\/span><\/i>https:\/\/animals.sandiegozoo.org\/animals\/tapir<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Slade, James. Conservationists operating <\/span>SMART<\/span><\/i> device. <\/span>Smartconservationtools.com<\/span><\/i>, <\/span>https:\/\/smartconservationtools.org\/en-us\/SMART-in-Practice\/How-we-use-SMART<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

SMART. \u201cAbout Us.\u201d <\/span>SMART, <\/span><\/i>https:\/\/smartconservationtools.org\/en-us\/About\/About-us<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span>The Great Projects. Buffalo in Zimbabwe. <\/span>thegreatprojects.com<\/span><\/i>, <\/span>https:\/\/www.thegreatprojects.com\/volunteer-in-zimbabwe<\/span><\/a>. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Those who work in the field of wildlife management aim to protect the biodiversity of ecosystems, which is critical in maintaining the health of the environment. But wildlife management workers around the world frequently experience serious challenges such as poaching, logging, illegal farming, forest fires, and insufficient resources. For example, poachers use snare loops (wire […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":686,"featured_media":1487,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[63,66,1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1481","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-biology","8":"category-es-eos","9":"category-science","10":"entry"},"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/students.bowdoin.edu\/bowdoin-science-journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/35\/2024\/04\/Screenshot-2024-04-21-at-12.50.20\u202fPM.png","featured_image_src_square":"https:\/\/students.bowdoin.edu\/bowdoin-science-journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/35\/2024\/04\/Screenshot-2024-04-21-at-12.50.20\u202fPM.png","author_info":{"display_name":"Layla Silva '27","author_link":"https:\/\/students.bowdoin.edu\/bowdoin-science-journal\/author\/lsilva\/"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/students.bowdoin.edu\/bowdoin-science-journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1481","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/students.bowdoin.edu\/bowdoin-science-journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/students.bowdoin.edu\/bowdoin-science-journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/students.bowdoin.edu\/bowdoin-science-journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/686"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/students.bowdoin.edu\/bowdoin-science-journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1481"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/students.bowdoin.edu\/bowdoin-science-journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1481\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/students.bowdoin.edu\/bowdoin-science-journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1487"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/students.bowdoin.edu\/bowdoin-science-journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1481"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/students.bowdoin.edu\/bowdoin-science-journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1481"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/students.bowdoin.edu\/bowdoin-science-journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1481"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}