A 62,000 hectare private game reserve on the border with Kruger National Park in South Africa has collaborated on a pilot project which reduced poaching by 96%.
Prior to the pilot project, the game reserve had an electric fence, watch towers, and a handful of armed anti-poachers patrolling the reserve. This was the reactive approach.
The pilot project called "Connected Conservation" is a collaboration between 48 private lodge owners, the tech company Cisco, and Dimension Data, a data solutions company. Together they established a high-tech proactive approach to reduce game poachers that regularly kill animals on the reserve, especially the rhinoceros for its horn.
Bruce Watson, group executive for the Cisco alliance at Dimension Data, said the proactive approach was to combine thermal imaging cameras and thumb-print scanners with sniffer dogs, so that the reserve could track the movement of poachers before they get close to endangered animals. The reserve could track poachers trying to cut fences, dropping in by helicopter, or driving in and waiting for the cover of night.
Since the pilot project began in 2015, the upgrades to the game reserve have brought about a 96% reduction in rhino poaching incursions, as well as reducing illegal incursions into the reserve by 68%. Key to the success has been reducing ranger response time from 30 minutes to 7 minutes.
This was how they did it:
1. They built a secure ‘net’ effectively turning the reserve into a 62,000 hectare WiFi zone. By installing RAN, a radio reserve area network system, and LoRa towers (low-power wide area networks) the game reserve team can connect, operate, and power devices in remote areas, over large distances, via a control centre. The towers can operate by themselves due to solar panels with uninterruptible power supply (UPS) batteries that can last for days.
2. They gave rangers portable devices to access live data, track intruders and access the server remotely while they were in the bush. The ability to share live video footage with patrols from across the reserve greatly enhanced the ability to counter incursions.
3. They installed thermal imaging cameras along the fence perimeter and entrances. Thermal imaging can tell the difference between humans and animals, and helps to spot poachers approaching at night.
4. The 72 kilometre electrified fence was equipped with acoustic sensors – and magnetic sensors were installed under the fence to detect guns. While the acoustic sensors will trigger a siren in the control centre as soon as the wires are cut, magnetic sensors can detect guns as they are thrown over the fence.
5. Biometric scanners were introduced at entrances. Using fingerprint scanners and facial recognition systems the team can analyse real-time data from park visitors and vehicles, and cross-reference the information for historic suspicious behaviour.
6. They patrol on foot and with vehicles, use sniffer dogs, and have a helicopter team on standby.
7. Data is collected and analysed on a cloud-stored system. They also plan to use predictive modelling in the future. Humans are creatures of habit, so by using technology the game reserve team have been able to establish poaching trends and pre-empt their strategies. Using predictive modelling, the analytics team can estimate when and where an individual or vehicle is expected to exit the reserve.
8. They collaborate with local police; have a lawyer on standby; and are linked to a national database to identify criminals faster.
According to the team, gathering intelligence outside the reserve is as important as protecting the animals in it.
One thing that didn’t work was the use of drones. The area was too vast for drones to be effective. When every minute counts, the anti-poachers found it was more efficient to send a team via helicopter than to try find poachers with a drone.
https://www.businessinsider.co.za/a-private-reserve-on-the-borders-of-the-kruger-stopped-poaching-in-its-tracks-2018-5
MARTINA NICOLLSis an international aid and development consultant, and the authorof:- Similar But Different in the Animal Kingdom(2017), The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).
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