Mongabay, RESOLVE’s Biodiversity and Wildlife Solutions program, and the World Resources Institute (WRI) have joined forces to develop an online platform to spark and share innovative, technology-driven solutions to address the alarming decline of Earth’s biodiversity.
As readers of Mongabay know, biodiversity – the variety of life on Earth – is under increasing threat from deforestation, forest degradation, illegal logging, habitat fragmentation, unsustainable harvesting of natural resources, and wildlife trafficking, among others. Resource managers and conservationists working against these threats are eager to improve their capabilities, and tech developers and engineers seek opportunities to apply their innovative skills and products. However, infrequent communication, steep learning curves, and high development costs lead to a slow uptake of rapidly evolving technology in the field.
The new wildtech.mongabay.com site intends to help close these gaps and accelerate the flow of information between these groups as well as allow users to express their challenges to innovators who possess the capacity to respond with potential solutions. The hub will highlight use of emerging and existing technologies around the world and facilitate the interaction of these groups to solve forest and wildlife conservation challenges through news, stories from the field, and a discussion area to interact and form collaborations. These features will be integrated with regular technology gatherings, including WRI’s upcoming event on innovative technologies for detecting and preventing illegal logging.
We hope to create a dynamic and informed online community where stories can be shared about successes, failures, and areas of great potential—a place where conservationists and technologists can interact and learn about each other’s needs, skills, and products. These dialogues can catalyze rapid field-testing and adaptation of technologies, bringing the most promising solutions to scale.
We invite you to engage in our effort to improve the status of global biodiversity by joining in this new initiative.
Media contact: Inquiries can be directed to wildtech@mongabay.com. Please mention Media in the subject line.