Software and mobile applications are equally as important to conservation technology as the hardware used in the field. Increasingly developed specifically for #tech4wildlife needs, there are mobile apps and software options designed to help with protected area management, wildlife crime reporting, and anti-poaching patrol planning, data analysis, community science, data visualization and GIS mapping, outreach and engagement, and even conservation storytelling.
Likewise, mobile games have opened up new avenues for engaging the public in conservation efforts, allowing for immersive storytelling and interactive experiences. By combining cutting-edge technology and important conservation information with a media form already familiar to the public, conservationists are finding exciting ways to make audiences feel personally invested in critical species and habitats.
Whether you're looking for software and mobile app developers to help you with your own conservation tech needs, you have questions about development, you're looking for resources, or you'd like to share your own app, software, or gaming tools, this is the group for you!
Header photo: Trevor Hebert
Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB)
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Researcher at Forest Research Institute Baden-Wuerttemberg, Passive acoustic monitoring of woodcock
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I am a GIS analyst in the field of conservation
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Ol Pejeta Conservancy
Deputy Technology Manager
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An environmentalist and biologist who has been working to inspire and prepare the next generation of conservationists through an inclusive and engaging learning environment.
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Senior Insights Manager for the GSMA ClimateTech programme
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Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
Postdoctoral researcher at Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
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University of British Columbia
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Description | Activity | Replies | Groups | Updated |
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Thank you Carly, I will definitely take a look. |
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Acoustics, Biologging, Climate Change, Conservation Tech Training and Education, Data management and processing tools, Remote Sensing & GIS, Software and Mobile Apps | 1 week 1 day ago | |
Hello Friends,Its amazing to see the growing number of organisations working in biodiversity conservation.Biodiversity stories can have a... |
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Data management and processing tools, Software and Mobile Apps | 2 weeks 1 day ago | |
We will be conducting in-person demos of our cutting-edge drone technology in the US this year! 🇺🇸 If you're interested in experiencing... |
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Biologging, Drones, Remote Sensing & GIS, Software and Mobile Apps | 1 month 2 weeks ago | |
Hi Danilo. you seem very passionate about this initiative which is a good start.It is an interesting coincidence that I am starting another project for the coral reefs in the... |
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Acoustics, AI for Conservation, Biologging, Camera Traps, Citizen Science, Climate Change, Community Base, Connectivity, Drones, Emerging Tech, Human-Wildlife Conflict, Open Source Solutions, Sensors, Software and Mobile Apps, Wildlife Crime | 1 month 3 weeks ago | |
Hi!I would take a look at Although developed for camera trap imagery, it is by no means restricted to such.Cheers,Lars |
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Camera Traps, Community Base, Data management and processing tools, Drones, Emerging Tech, Remote Sensing & GIS, Software and Mobile Apps | 2 months ago | |
I'm also here for this. This is my first comment... I've been lurking for a while.I have 20 years of professional knowledge in design, with the bulk of that being software design... |
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AI for Conservation, Camera Traps, Data management and processing tools, Software and Mobile Apps | 2 months 1 week ago | |
Trying to make sense of this brick product, the link provided is a bit vague. The front page talks about SIP trunking, so that implies it's all about telephone connectivity. And... |
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Software and Mobile Apps | 2 months 2 weeks ago | |
Hi folks! Happy 2024 and thanks in advance for your patience in case I over-used tags. If you’re using any form of natural language... |
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AI for Conservation, Citizen Science, Climate Change, Conservation Tech Training and Education, Data management and processing tools, Early Career, East Africa Community, Emerging Tech, Ending Wildlife Trafficking Online, Ethics of Conservation Tech, Human-Wildlife Conflict, Open Source Solutions, Software and Mobile Apps, Wildlife Crime, Women in Conservation Tech Programme (WiCT) | 2 months 2 weeks ago | |
camtrapR has a function that does what you want. i have not used it myself but it seems straightforward to use and it can run across directories of images:https://jniedballa.... |
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Camera Traps, Data management and processing tools, Open Source Solutions, Software and Mobile Apps | 3 months 3 weeks ago | |
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Software and Mobile Apps | 3 months 3 weeks ago | |
I'm registered with the TWS2023 app, so feel free to nudge me there as well |
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Biologging, Remote Sensing & GIS, Software and Mobile Apps | 4 months 3 weeks ago | |
Thanks Arky! |
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Software and Mobile Apps | 4 months 3 weeks ago |
Looking for a front-end developer for the AI for Earth call for project
14 September 2018 2:32pm
Ocean Hack: San Francisco, 10-11th September, 2018
20 August 2018 12:00am
Wildlife monitoring using Smart-Cities tech
14 June 2018 10:49am
2 August 2018 1:36pm
@simulsys Thanks Andrew. Indeed we're looking into LoRa technologies.
8 August 2018 11:18am
Both initiatives are very interesting. I love the one about the elephants that @nilaksha comments.
There are currently several projects that are using artificial intelligence (in fact, Microsoft is looking for interested parties for possible funding https://www2.fundsforngos.org/environment-conservation-climate-change-and-ecology/ai-for-earth-program-seeking-proposals-from-all-over-the-world/). But its main objective is to identify the species thanks to techniques such as deep learning and I do not know if it would be applicable in the present case.
Regards,
Judit
Wildlife Crime App Development
19 August 2016 11:53pm
12 July 2018 9:45pm
Hi Rosemary,
I know this is from quite a while ago, but I'd be interested in hearing how this moved forward and connecting with you. Please feel free to reach out directly - my email is [email protected].
Best, Maya
7 August 2018 9:21pm
Hi Maya,
We were able to get a website developed (www.safesouvenirs.com) but are now waiting on possible grant funding. In order to move forward, we would like to some work on uploading to our database and also getting into airports to advertise. So, fingers crossed that we are successful with the grant. Either way - I think it would be great to connect. I'll follow-up with a direct email.
Best, Rosemary
8 August 2018 11:05am
Hi Rosemary,
Do you know this website that gathers grants and resources for sustainability?
https://www2.fundsforngos.org/category/environment-conservation-climate-change-and-ecology/
Regards,
Judit
2-Way SMS solution for communication between Park management and Communities
17 May 2018 8:09am
25 May 2018 2:16pm
Hello Drue,
Thank you for your feedback. This is very helpful. I'll do my research on the signal application to see if it can be of help to us. I already am thinking of developing an application for the same. What are your thoughts? Is there a community of guys who can assist me in building this?
If you happen to get any more ideas, I will apreciate. You can reach me on the below email address.
Regards,
Damian
26 May 2018 6:07pm
Hi Damian,
Just sent you an e-mail with some other thoughts.
Good luck!
Drue
17 July 2018 5:29am
Hi Damian,
You could use a SMS gateway, which acts as a link between two mobile devices in order to send SMSes. As Drue stated out Whatsapp or other applications might be better given the added functionality they provide.
What's your favorite wildlife/nature game?
2 March 2018 1:27pm
26 June 2018 10:36am
just wanted to bring our game to your attention, Serengeti: A Race For Life
https://serengeti.store/serengeti-hal001
The game is a joint venture between myself and my partner, who is responsible for the art direction.
If your article is still pending, we would be more than happy to provide a review copy for you, and make ourselves available for any questions you may have.
Thank you for providing a much-needed space to discuss games that aim to educate and raise awareness to the challenges of conservation.
28 June 2018 7:56am
Thanks Richard. Welcome to the (silent) community. We actually already wrote the article, but thanks for the reminder that I should post a link!!! https://www.internetofelephants.com/news/2018/4/25/five-games-apps-for-conservation
We'll be happy to take a closer look at Serengeti: A Race for Life
Gautam!
Using app-building tools for conservation monitoring
1 February 2018 5:19pm
15 March 2018 1:19am
I've just started looking at an app called ProofSafe, which will probably do what you want.
16 May 2018 5:42am
Hi @djscrazyhorse
I've been looking at a similar thing. I actually decided against it in the end, and instead to take a tack of developing a solution for a particular niche.
I just published an article about the thought process here:
https://medium.com/mdes-environmental-social-impact/photo-monitoring-for-the-flax-roots-557749cdb6f3
Would love to hear your thoughts.
Any reason you went with those particular App Builder solutions, out of interest?
Photopoint Monitoring Solutions?
2 May 2017 1:29am
19 May 2017 11:12am
Hi Sam!
Some weeks ago I analyzed in my website an app called GrowApp (https://www.greenappsandweb.com/en/android-en/four-seasons-of-the-year-timelapses-growapp/) that allows you to create timelapses relate with the phenology of the plants, to study how they are adapting to the climate change. I don't know if something like this could be useful to you
Judit
8 September 2017 5:24am
Thanks for sharing this Judit. I've had a play with GrowApp now, and my reflections are:
- the map centric view is probably really useful for people who are monitoring a series of trees / plants, but it doesn't serve as a particularly helpful presentation method for conservation groups in my opinion. Most groups have to upload a series of static images to a web form / send by email, to funders. Sending a link to the map would probably get them a nod of approval, but it wouldn't help them comply with their funding contract.
- I really like the way the photostitching is fully automated. Just take more than one photo and you get a little rolling timelapse.
- They also executed the 50% opacity overlay in a really nice simple way, which makes it easier to line up, though I think there could be a little more automation of the moment of capture (a la Google Photoscan) to make sure they really line up.
So overall, definitely an interesting example, but it's definitely made for another use (low friction citizen science) as it's primary flow and interface.
16 May 2018 3:49am
Hi everyone,
I decided at the end of last year, that it wasn't good enough that there's no good Photo Monitoring Apps on the market, and started to design my own.
Here's a blog post about that process:
Photo Monitoring For The Flax Roots
SMART 2017 Annual Report
15 May 2018 5:39pm
New Mobile App for Reporting Illegal Ivory
31 January 2018 1:52am
31 January 2018 9:00pm
Congratulations on the release of your app, @SueOrloff . Crowd-sourcing reporting of suspected illegal ivory in retail by members of the public, is a great concept (keeping verification and security considerations in mind). Given that there are many elephant ivory look-alikes on the market, including in online trade, it's important to ensure proper identification when users submit reports. TRAFFIC and WWF put together a visual ID guide many years ago, which can be downloaded here: http://www.traffic.org/publications/identification-guide-for-ivory-substitutes.html and the US Fish & Wildlife Service has an online guide to visual identification here: https://www.fws.gov/lab/ivory_natural.php.
13 February 2018 7:46pm
Do federal laws against illegally selling ivory only apply when there is an interstate commerce element? If so, how is that typically proven?
Thanks
21 February 2018 2:26am
I did some research and here is what I found. Basically, federal laws prohibit the intrastate sale of ivory if it was imported after 1990 (CITES) and the interstate sale of ivory if it's under a 100 yrs old (considered an antique).
Landsense Innovation Challenge
19 February 2018 12:00am
Call for papers/participation: Workshop on lessons learned from volunteers’ interactions with geographic citizen science applications, 27 April 2018, London
29 January 2018 10:46am
Species names API feedback
25 January 2018 11:19am
Technology Empowered Conservation Lecture Series
18 January 2018 12:00am
Congratulations to Zoohackathon winners, team ODINN!
6 December 2017 12:00am
FIT Cheetahs
4 December 2017 12:00am
Finding Souvenir Data
9 November 2017 5:31am
9 November 2017 6:18pm
Hi Rosemary,
Great idea!
Just thinking outloud here, but is it wise to tell people where to find unsafe souvenirs? Wouldn't this be helping people who want to find ivory, fur, medicinal animal products, etc. more easily find sources? You might want to create a "blacklist" without being overly specific as to the types of procucts they are selling, and give a "seal of approval" for souvenir stores that are not selling illegal wildlife products and use this as a "carrot" to attract consciencious customers to the better stores.
Regards,
Drue
Has anyone tried out the Forest Watcher Mobile App?
27 October 2017 7:57pm
1 November 2017 11:16am
Hi Liz - Steph encouraged me to have a play for our project in South Sudan. I was surprised the reference area allowed when setting up the app was fairly small but presume this is because it encourages local snapshots rather than a large scale overview. However I don't think there should be a problem with covering a larger reference area that can be zoomed into unless it makes the usability worse. For any sizeable PAs you'd have to create multiple 'areas' and this is quite tricky to do as the PAs didn't show up automatically on the reference map. Great innovative app though and I am happy to be a guinea pig. Rob
HWC Tech Challenge Update: Meet the Judges
20 October 2017 12:00am
What tech challenges do you have?
27 September 2017 2:36pm
4 October 2017 9:31am
Hello John
This is a very generous offer, thank you.
Camera trapping as a tool for researching animal behaviour and ecology is rapidly spreading and growing, but with the exception of the specialist Pantheracams which only take full colour still shots, the cameras are designed for a recreational market, mainly of deer hunters in cold and temperate areas. Consequently, in research applications, the performance of the cameras is often disappointing, and hugely elaborate statistical modelling is used to overcome their deficiencies.
A research grade camera trap at an affordable price, that can do more than a Pantheracam, would be a great tool.
If you want to focus on one component then the passive infrared triggers need a complete re-work.
Peter Apps
4 October 2017 3:50pm
Thanks Peter! And is that something you'd be interested in working on as part of the Botswana Predator Conservation Trust?
4 October 2017 5:58pm
Certainly, John; camera trapping is one of our main tools, especially for work on chemical communication.
Peter
Kids, Drones & Science At The Water’s Edge
4 October 2017 12:00am
DAS: A Scaleable Solution For Protected Area Management
26 September 2017 12:00am
How to track and count Scarlet Macaws
15 August 2017 6:36pm
27 August 2017 9:20pm
I recomended cybertracker. Is easy and flexible app for android and works without cellphone coverage.
8 September 2017 6:21am
It might be worth looking at this NZ based participatory bird count - https://www.greatkererucount.nz/
I believe they based it on iNaturalist - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.inaturalist.android
8 September 2017 6:23pm
Hi, thanks jval and smarye for your ideas, I will look into it.
Anonymous SMS
3 April 2017 7:38am
13 April 2017 2:42pm
Hi Will,
We are collaborating with WCS, San Diago zoo and the Wildtrack team from last year's zoohackathon to build a similar solution to the one you describe. The solution uses Twilio and you get a full overview of the work already built here: https://devpost.com/software/wildtrack
It would be good to share requirements and see if there is a way the Wildtrack solution can work for your needs. We would love to work with you to understand your full set of requirements and see if these can be accommodated.
If this is of interest please do drop me an email at [email protected]. I will also be out in Kenya from 25th April for two weeks, so if you'd like to meet we can hopefully do this face to face.
Sophie
15 August 2017 4:50pm
Hi all
I'd be interested to hear if there were any updates on the discussion above. We @marianneteoh are looking at establishing informant networks for reporting illegal fishing and marine wildlife trade and a means of anonymous reporting would be incredibly useful.
Thanks in advance,
Kate
29 August 2017 5:27pm
Hi Kate,
At ZSL, we're continuing to work with the WildTrack team on their solution - now named SmartSkout. We've just had an article published on the Guardian about the project https://www.theguardian.com/vulcan-partner-zone/2017/aug/22/new-app-enable-citizens-report-poaching-real-time
We're currently focussed on producing the MVP for terrestrial SMART sites but we'd be very interested to hear more about your work establishing informant networks to see what potential there is for broader applications of the technology in the future. Feel free to connect with me at [email protected]
Best
Rachael
Wildlife Crime Tech Challenge: Protecting songbirds with the power of citizen science
17 August 2017 12:00am
SMART at IMPAC4 in Chile - September 4-8, 2017
15 August 2017 7:30pm
Operation Ferdinand - a Predator and Livestock Conflict Prevention Video Game!
23 June 2017 7:07pm
18 July 2017 11:29am
HI Gabriela - I'm sorry I missed this. I'm excited to try it out and so awesome to see others making games for conservation.
Gautam!
11 August 2017 1:42am
Hi Gabriela, i`ll check the game. Very interesting!!
11 August 2017 9:04am
Thanks for all the interest everyone! My colleague Jaymie and I are so excited that people are checking out our game. Let us know if you have any questions or suggestions!
Bird identification app needed
13 July 2017 5:52pm
19 July 2017 10:29pm
Have you already tried the Merlin Bird ID App (http://merlin.allaboutbirds.org/)? The photo ID works pretty well. You just need to take a picture of the the whole bird. For offline mode, you can download a regional "Bird Pack", such as "US: Southeast".
Regards, Ed
20 July 2017 9:06am
Dear Ed,
Excellent suggestion, thank you. We indeed need something as user-friendly as this. Right now they do not have all the right species for us (Eastern Europe/Middle East) but we could talk to them to see what is possible. Thanks again!
Fleur
20 July 2017 5:09pm
Hi Fleur,
I see now that the Merlin App bird packs are limited to North America. You could certainly contact the Cornell University Lab of Ornitology (http://www.birds.cornell.edu/) who develop the app. They may be interested in helping with such a problem.
Another option may be iNaturalist (http://www.inaturalist.org/). They have an app for logging nature observations. It is not limited to bird, but includes plants, animals, etc. They are currently adding a deep learning system to help automatically identify species from photos (currently around 10,000 species can be identified). I believe they give a top 10 possibilities. They use GPS location data from the proto or phone to provide localized suggestions. There's a demo web page here:
https://www.inaturalist.org/computer_vision_demo
According to their blog (https://www.inaturalist.org/pages/computer_vision_demo), they have integrated the computer vision module with their iPhone app. I don't think they have added it to their Android app yet. I have Android, so I have not tried the computer vision component from my app.
They may also have limited species for your area, however, the great thing about iNaturalist is that anyone can upload observations. I believe for the computer vision to be effective, they want to have at least 20 verified observations of a species by 20 different people before they add it to their model. The app is from the California Academy of Science. You may want to contact them to see if you can accelerate the process.
Best of luck!
Ed
Rhino Carpentry: The Making of Lola the Rhino in Augmented Reality
19 July 2017 12:00am
SMART 2016 Annual Report
5 July 2017 7:26pm
18 July 2017 1:10pm
Thanks for sharing this, Drew! We have a number of SMART focused case studies and articles in our Resources area that might also be worth checking out if you're considering using SMART in your work:
- The Spatial Monitoring and Reporting Tool (SMART) - Alexa Montefiore gave a nice introduction to SMART in this first overview article
- Video: Discover the SMART Approach - recorded in June 2016, this talk was presented by Barney Long (@Barney_Long ), Emma Stokes (@estokes ) , Jonathan Palmer (@jpalmer ) and Alexa Montefiore, this talk explains the origins of SMART, offers case studies of successful applications and outlines future development plans for the methodology. The session concludes with an interactive Q&A session, which offered the opportunity to delve deeper into the practicalities of implementing SMART.
- Getting SMART in Cambodia - In this talk, Kate West (@katewest ), Manager of our Marine Conservation Group, shares her key lessons learnt from implementing SMART in a marine context and dives deep into the limitations and considerations that need to be taken into account when implementing the SMART approach. This is a valuable talk for any team considering deploying SMART in a marine context.
2 August 2018 1:23pm
Hi Nilaksha!
Thanks for your comments and interest in our project. I read your project profile and would like to suggest that you take a look at using LoRaWAN for low levels of communications traffic? We are looking and testing kit for use with the www.thethingsnetwork.org It might use less power than cellular or wifi networks?
I hope this helps,