KII Corp., operator of an Internet of Things (IoT) cloud-platform provider, announced recently it is working on an ambitious new “citizen science” conservation project with local fishermen in the Philippines to help monitor and track the dugong population in the region.
In a statement, the Tokyo, Japan-headquartered firm said it has partnered with groups Smart Earth Network (SEN) and Community Centered Conservation (C3) who are managing the project. Kii said it is providing the cloud platform where Filipino fishermen, armed with smartphones, can upload geo-located images of the sea mammals via an Android app.
Known as “sea cows,” dugongs are marine mammals that live in the oceans around East Africa to the Western Pacific, but are now listed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as a species vulnerable to extinction. While legally protected, dugongs face many dangers, largely from local fishing, destruction of habitat and illegal hunting.
“Traditionally, we have had to track these amazing sea creatures from the air, which is expensive and not entirely reliable,” Chris Poonian of nonprofit organization C3, was quoted in a statement as saying. “Using smartphones to monitor endangered species is an innovative and novel approach.”
Poonian added the collaborative project is one of the first initiatives of its kind to employ smartphone technology. “If successful, these approaches could have important applications for surveys of rare species throughout the world.”
He explained “citizen science” as a growing field to monitor endangered species with limited resources.
“The smartphone app we are developing and trialing could potentially be used to monitor any species anywhere in the world, and generate useful scientific data from non-specialist observers.”
Poonian added the project would also allow them to “engage with the local community and involve the fishermen who are the ones out at sea and closest to the dugongs, which is very rewarding.” Around 30 fishermen have already been handed basic smartphones, supplied by local mobile provider Cherry Mobile, as part of a trial in the Busuanga region. Once out at sea, the fishermen photograph any dugongs they spot and then upload the images when they are back on land to a central database hosted on the Kii Cloud, using a simple app developed by SEN. The fishermen, many of whom are unable to read or write, are being trained on how to use the smartphones and provided with local charging facilities, according to Poonian.
Each image will indicate the location of each dugong via GPS, allowing C3 to map the sightings and get a clear idea of the population in the area, timings of sightings, migration patterns, etc., and will enable the team to put together recommendations for future protection areas, he explained. “The plan is to share the data with other conservationists worldwide, and also with the local Council of Development to help C3 lobby the local government.”