How technology is being used to help support environmental conservation

A new study in the scientific journal Science shows that environmental conservation is needed to help slow and potentially reverse biodiversity loss, “They found that more than half of the time, conservation actions had a net positive effect but did not necessarily stop biodiversity decline. This work shows that multiple types of conservation actions are usually beneficial and are needed to curb the loss of biodiversity.” 

World Nature Conservation Day offers a moment to reflect on our role in fostering a deeper appreciation for our planet’s biodiversity and supporting the stability of ecosystems. At Cisco, investing in resilient ecosystems is one of the three key priorities of The Plan for Possible, our next-generation environmental sustainability strategy. We invite you to learn more about the impactful work that some of our nonprofit partners are doing in this area. These remarkable organizations remind us that every action counts, and that collaboration is essential to enhance the health of our planet.  

Reconnecting Northland  

Reconnecting Northland, a non-governmental organization (NGO) based in Te Tai Tokerau (Northland, New Zealand), brings communities, agencies, and resources together to support thriving ecosystems and revitalize biodiversity on behalf of nature and future generations. In response to environmental degradation, community taiao (environment) groups are responding by taking action to protect biodiversity and improve ecosystem health by removing pest and weed species, planting native vegetation, installing fencing, wetland restoration and more. These groups often face significant challenges in acquiring the funding, expert advice, skills, administrative support, and other resources necessary to undertake complex restoration projects. Responses are also often disconnected, leaving well-intended agencies and local communities struggling to achieve desired outcomes. 

Reconnecting Northland designed their central program: Te Kete Hononga (The Basket of Connections) to support and grow the capabilities of community and Indigenous groups as they work toward socio-ecological regeneration across the region with benefits for climate, freshwater, and biodiversity. The Cisco Foundation supports Reconnecting Northland’s Te Kete program to build local capacity and agency for communities to create, deliver and measure their own ecological solutions. To do so, the program provides tools (monitoring, project management, and story mapping) and services (business development, leadership training, communications, and research) to communities across the region. Reconnecting Northland found the program led to increased collaboration between diverse community groups, agencies and iwi (Māori tribes); deeper government involvement and funding in community-led initiatives; increased knowledge exchanges; and the growth of more sustainable systems and practices at the community level.  

Pettania Hohaia – a Te Kete Hononga Kairaranga (Community Weaver) for the Waimamaku area shared her powerful personal account: “You supported us as katiaki (guardians) to become resilient and self-sustaining. And you’ve done it by allowing us to lead and make decisions.”

NetHope’s Climate Intersections Grant program 

NetHope’s Climate Intersections Grant program – part of NetHope (an NGO) and Cisco’s joint Digital Breakthrough Initiative – aims to advance digital solutions for climate adaptation and resilience. NetHope member and Climate Intersections partner, Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), is harnessing digital innovation to advance global conservation efforts. 

WCS collaborates with Birdlife International and World Wildlife Fund in the Trillion Trees program, dedicated to protecting and restoring forests globally. Central to their efforts is FORMAPP, a sophisticated monitoring system developed by WCS’s Conservation Technology team on behalf of the Trillion Trees partnership to track reforestation projects effectively by improving data management efficiency and making relevant resources more accessible. Comprising a smartphone app, database, and online portal, FORMAPP streamlines data collection, storage, and reporting, utilizing ConSoSci‘s toolkit. 

Thanks to the grant, Trillion Trees upgraded the data integration technology supporting FORMAPP and translated all materials—website, training resources, video tutorials, and forms—into French and Spanish. Field data remains the fundamental building block on which the climate and biodiversity benefits of restoration efforts can be measured.  

Through strategic partnerships and technological innovation, WCS and its partners continue to empower communities and drive meaningful change in conservation efforts worldwide. The integration of digital solutions not only amplifies their impact but also strengthens resilience in the face of climate challenges, demonstrating the transformative potential of collaborative initiatives like the NetHope Climate Intersections Grant Program. 

Farmers for Forests  

A 2023 deforestation report indicated that India has the second highest rate of deforestation after losing 668,400 hectares of forest cover in the last 30 years. A more recent article indicates a significant decline in large farmland trees in India over the past decade. Climate change and deforestation are closely interlinked phenomena that have a bidirectional relationship where changes in one impact the other. Wildfires, disruption of water cycles, extreme weather events and changes to habitat are some of the outcomes of such imbalances. 

The Cisco India Cash Grant program worked with Climatesense Pvt Limited (branded as Farmers for Forests), through an accelerator with Villgro. Farmers for Forests/F4F, is a nonprofit organization that is on a mission to combat the impact of climate change on environmental and human well-being by increasing India’s natural and biodiverse forest and tree cover. By leveraging the immense advances in geospatial and drone technology, they are implementing and monitoring agroforestry projects. With the use of drones, satellite data, and modifying open source artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms the team quantifies carbon sequestered, biodiversity levels, and water savings of the forests and agroforestry plantations which helps to put an accurate price on the ecosystem services that are being provided.   

The accelerator enabled the organization to develop a technology powered  tree detection platform that identifies various parameter of trees such as species, count and tree height that helps in informed digital monitoring, reporting and verification process of carbon projects for the 2500+ acres of land under ecological restoration that they currently manage and more that will be added as they grow.  

Yayasan Konservasi Alam Nusantara  

Yayasan Konservasi Alam Nusantara (YKAN) is a nonprofit organization that works in 14 provinces across Indonesia to protect nature and preserve the biodiversity of a vast archipelago comprising 17,500 islands, stretching 5,000 km from east to west. This high marine biodiversity is reflected in Indonesia’s fisheries. Fishing is an important part of the culture of Indonesia’s coastal people, and market surveys show that Indonesia’s fisheries include over 873 species of bony fish and over 137 species of sharks, rays, and chimeras. Unfortunately, many of these fisheries are over-exploited, while others lack any data on their status and life-history—some of the traded fishes are even new to science. With grant support from the Cisco Foundation, YKAN is leveraging the innovative software application called FishFace (Fish Facial Identification Technology) to help the government and fishing communities understand the status of fish stocks in the area and to design solutions to manage these fisheries for the benefit of people and nature.  

Working in close partnership with Geeks Without Frontiers and PT Intelion, YKAN is designing a new approach to overcome this challenge. Initial trials have shown that a FishFace system, which utilizes AI, outperforms trained observers, achieving 99% accuracy. Coupled with software that automatically grabs a picture of a fish as the crew moves it through the field of vision of a digital camera, a FishFace system can revolutionize fisheries research and management in Indonesia with real-time data collection and can provide a more accurate dataset on the status of Indonesia’s fish stocks and insights for local fishery regulations that will preserve nature and the biodiversity of the region. 

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Thank you to the organizations that shared their stories with us. As we continue to navigate the challenges of climate change, embracing innovative solutions and fostering global partnerships can help us protect our ecosystems and create a more sustainable future.