Artificial intelligence boosts Kenya’s forestry conservation
In central Kenya, university students are developing AI tools, including microphones and tree cameras, to make wildlife population counts faster and more accurate. Their tools also assess the efficacy of costly, high-stakes reforestation efforts.
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00:00Samuel Guchu is looking for birds.
00:05The ornithologist for Kenya's National Museums heads to the field with his usual tools,
00:11binoculars, a finely tuned ear, and lots of patience.
00:16There's a white-browed robin, Chad, that I'm seeing.
00:30You can hear it calling.
00:33But Samuel is not just here for a walk in the woods.
00:37He's helping to collect the data for the forest census.
00:41He looks for species that can help identify threats to the ecosystem.
00:46Today, he hopes to find a bird called Hatlaup's turaco.
00:51So birds like those are forest dependent because they do rely on indigenous forest systems
00:58for their food and breeding and foraging areas.
01:02So when we lose species like the Hatlaup's turaco,
01:06we know that the forest's health is in decline.
01:09And maybe we'll indicate that we need to do something about that
01:14in terms of maybe reduce interference or plant more indigenous fruiting trees in the area.
01:22But this data collection method takes a long time.
01:26Spectacled weaver.
01:28And that's calling.
01:31And when it comes to deciphering bird calls, even professionals make mistakes.
01:37Luckily, a local university has developed a device that can help researchers like Samuel.
01:43So this is an acoustic sensor that we developed at the Center for Data Science and Artificial Intelligence
01:49for audio data collections with the goal of monitoring ecosystems using sounds.
01:55We have a solar panel to charge the battery.
01:59Samuel is excited about this invention.
02:02He believes it can help him in his work.
02:06Even being out here for a couple of hours now, almost four hours,
02:10and not being able to see the bird itself
02:14can show you how important acoustic monitoring such as these devices,
02:22how important they are to ecological studies.
02:25Because it's not every single time you go to the field that you get a chance to see your study subject.
02:32Actually having acoustic monitoring programs like these that remove the human aspect
02:40can maybe give us a better picture of what the ecosystem looks like without human interference.
02:49Machine learning powers the technology as well as most artificial intelligence.
02:55Recorded audio is converted into visualized data,
02:58which is then analyzed and used to teach the system to recognize bird calls and other acoustic markers.
03:05The recorded and processed audio data from the field helps researchers and ecologists draw conclusions about a forest's health.
03:16This data can be very useful when it comes to environmental decision-making.
03:21When it comes to ecosystems such as forests, birds are a good indicator of forest health.
03:29When we are getting lists submitted from those areas that are seeing decline in reporting rate of this forest-specific species,
03:40we are able to see that although maybe the forest might not be completely destroyed,
03:45we are seeing a decline in that ecosystem health of that area that could probably lead to further destruction.
03:54This can help to launch reforestation projects in areas damaged by human activity.
04:01Like here in Kiyambu County's Kiyeni district, more than 30,000 indigenous trees were planted in a habitat degraded by charcoal production and agricultural encroachment.
04:15The trees are monitored and tracked over time.
04:20But manual monitoring is time-consuming, so this scientist uses a special tool, an AI-powered stereoscope.
04:31And we capture two images of trees, and it is possible from two images to sort of acquire the depth of the points on the scene,
04:39you know, just know how far the points are, how tall they are, how off the ground they are, and such things.
04:45So it gives us sort of a three-dimensional understanding of the scene in front of the camera.
04:49Cedric's machine-learning-based software, TreeVision, automatically measures tree height, width, and other features.
04:57The data collected can then be used to project the amount of carbon that can be stored by a growing patch or forest.
05:04Just like the designs for the bio-acoustic microphone, the code for Cedric's software is open-source,
05:10so other researchers across Africa and beyond can freely adapt it to help keep ecosystems intact.