14 DAY TRIAL // A new project aims at providing indigenous people with smartphones and at teaching them to use these gadgets as an efficient tool for monitoring what is happening to the forests and the biodiversity near them.
More precisely, especially designed apps could be developed and implemented, the end goal being that of collecting data and photographs.
As explained in a new report released by the Global Canopy Program, the end goal would be that of accurately monitoring just how well our remaining ecosystems are doing, since the data collected in this manner is unlikely to being influenced by biased viewpoints and opinions.
Later on, said data is to be incorporated in national and international reports.
Mongabay informs us that, throughout the past few years, there has been a growing interest in allowing and enabling locals to manage the forests on which their livelihoods depend, as they are the ones directly interested in keeping them safe and sound.
More precisely, such projects are aimed at making the most out of something generally referred to as 'local knowledge' (i.e. what indigenous communities know about their surrounding environment as a result of hands-on experience).
According to the same source, such forest management projects are presently carried out in Brazil, Guyana and Cameroon.
Thus, some of the people here were trained by the Coordinator of Indigenous Organizations of the Amazon Basin to use smartphones for the purpose of keeping a close eye on the natural resources they have at their disposal.
Moreover, they are teaching other members of their community to do the same.
Mandar Trivedi from the Global Canopy Program makes a case of how “With a bit of training, the community monitors were as good as, if not better than, external 'experts'.”
Although only time will tell if such programs will live up to the expectations environmentalists have with respect to their efficiency, it is our opinion that using smartphones and apps to keep deforestation patterns under intense scrutiny is indeed a very good idea.