An alliance between Mashpi Lodge, Fundación Futuro and Rainforest Connection allowed the installation of ten devices that record the sounds of nature.
One “obsolete” mobile phone (which no longer supports updates, but is capable of receiving a signal and recording) is connected to a kind of eight-blade windmill equipped with mini solar panels that give it energy to be on 24 hours a day. The device is placed in the canopy of trees within protected areas and begins to record the sounds of nature and possible environmental crimes such as logging or illegal hunting and mining.
This tool is known as “Forest keeper”. Ten guardians are stationed in the Mashpi private reserve, in the Chocó Andino region considered the seventh biosphere reserve in the world, in the northwest of Quito.
The technology was implemented by a partnership between Mashpi Lodge, Fundación Futuro and Rainforest Connection, in late 2017. These recorders, which can send more than 50,000 one-minute sound files annually, are part of conservation programs for 2,500 hectares of native forest.
These guards were used for just over three years to detect environmental crimes within the reserve. Although they did find logging sounds, these were minimal “because the area is well protected,” says Francisco Dousdebés, manager of corporate responsibility and sustainability at Metropolitan Touring, the company that manages the reserve. This despite the fact that there is illegal mining near the area.
And that is why, since mid-2021, recorders have begun to be used to describe the animals that inhabit the area and, especially, to find new species, says the executive. “Seeing that the sounds of chainsaws were minimal, for example, the entire forest guardians project was rethought and that is why the program undergoes this change and becomes a pillar of scientific study for the discovery of new species“, Add.
The groups of animals that have mostly been detected are birds, amphibians and mammals. The sounds of the species enter an algorithmic database that is then analyzed by scientists specialized in bioacoustics (study of audio for biological purposes).
“Scientists from Rainforest Connection and our Mashpi research group are dedicated to analyzing these audiograms and it is because of the differences in the frequency ranges that different species are identified.”, Indicates Dousdebés.
Among the birds, the migratory ones are analyzed in particular, since this demonstrates the need to conserve these “tropical islands” of vegetation that allow species of birds from the north and south of the continent to have these feeding oases during their migrations of winter.
Meanwhile, in the group of mammals, 53 species of bats have been detected, a high number. Howler monkeys have also been recorded, which are in danger of extinction due to the fragmentation of their ecosystem.
The Rainforest Connection has projects in 22 countries where it uses technology and big data to enable partners on the ground to conserve the world’s most threatened rainforests and habitats. “Saving rainforests is not only the key to stopping climate change, it is also vital to supporting many of the poorest communities in the world that depend on rainforests for food, shelter and a living,” says the organization.
The research promoted by this organization has been published in high-impact scientific journals. In Ecuador it has also participated in projects in reserves such as Cerro Blanco.
Guardians need maintenance from time to time and specialized personnel dedicated to it. It takes experts to climb the treetops to change phone chips. In addition, it is required to replace, sometimes, implements that are damaged by animals such as squirrels. In Mashpi they seek to expand the number of guardians, but this is tied to the funds that can be generated.
“Running a forest ranger with maintenance, equipment and a solar panel costs between $ 1,500 and $ 2,000. Our challenge is to be able to transmit this scientific knowledge in bioacoustics to the tourists who stay at Mashpi Lodge and the importance of conserving the place.”Says Dousdebés. (I)
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