Overview

Protected areas are critical to global efforts to protect wildlife. However, evidence suggests that less than 24% of protected areas globally are effectively managed and in many countries, the capacity to effectively protect vast protected area networks exceeds the resources available. There is an urgent need to improve the performance of protected areas and optimize the use of limited resources at scale.

The Spatial Monitoring and Reporting Tool (SMART) was developed by the SMART partnership to address this need. It is now the leading tool globally for wildlife law enforcement and protected area monitoring implemented in more than 800 sites across 60 countries, with national government adoption in 15 countries. This session will provide a brief overview of current SMART functionality, highlight case studies across of large-scale/innovative SMART deployments, and detail how SMART is embracing and leveraging new technologies (e.g., cloud connectivity, artificial intelligence, and machine learning) to protect wildlife and support frontline law enforcement at a global scale.

This virtual event is a part of a monthly series of webinars hosted by the Global Wildlife Program (GWP), a seven-year Global Environment Facility (GEF) funded program developed as a response to the growing crisis of illicit wildlife trade.

People

Chair: Valerie Hickey, Practice Manager, World Bank Group

Speakers:

• Richard Bergl, Director of Conservation, Education and Science, North Carolina Zoological Park
• Efrain Laureano, Senior Vice President, Asia, Chemonics
• Padu Franco, Country Director, WCS Colombia
• Claire Lewis, Technical Advisor to the North Luangwa Conservation Project, Frankfurt Zoological Society

Discussants:

• Jonathan Palmer, Executive Director, Office of Strategic Technology, Wildlife Conservation Society

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