The Amazon is being tapped to counter illegal deforestation. An NGO uses artificial intelligence to detect sounds that signal threats to forest ecosystems.
In the state of Para, in the northeast of Brazil, the Tembé indigenous population has been waging a fight for years against the repeated assaults of illegal activities. In this battle, it has been supported since 2014 by Rainforest Connection, which has deployed a hearing monitoring system in the area. The beauty of acoustics is that it can, with a very small, very non-intrusive device, record the entire environment at 360 degrees for weeks.