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www.frontiersinecology.org The Ecological Society of America

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Old phones fend off illegalloggers Adrian BurtonRecycled smartphones powered by asmall solar array might soon be fixedto trees all over equatorial rainforests,protecting them from illegal loggersand saving their non-human inhabi-tants from poachers. The idea brainchild of Topher White, whosetech start-up Rainforest Connection(RFCx; San Francisco, CA) is pro-ducing the devices is remarkablysimple. Discarded smartphones pro-tected from the elements by a water-proof case and powered by a solararray designed to capture dappled for-est light (during the night the phoneswork on their daily charged batteries) are hidden high up on tree trunks.Sensitive microphones attached tothe phones then listen for noisesassociated with chainsaws or gun-shots; each can cover about 2.5 squarekm of rainforest. Every 5 minutes, thephones send data packets to a cloud-based server, telling it what they have

detected. The server analyzes the sub-mitted signatures, and when onematches a chainsaw, for example, itsends a message to the phones of localrangers. In just minutes, boots couldbe on the ground within a few hun-dred meters of the crime scene, pro-viding the first real promise of catch-ing ecocriminals red-handed.

Currently, the monitoring of illegaltree-felling largely relies on aerial orsatellite images but these mightcome days apart, by which time thebad guys are long gone. The phone billfor running a network of deviceswould vary between countries, butcould be as low as a few dollars per

device per month very low com-pared with the cost of losing trees orrhinos worth hundreds of thousands ofdollars. Five years ago, this may nothave been possible, says White, butnow, old smartphones are powerfulenough to reliably do this kind of sur-veillance, and these days cell phonecoverage has been extended far intorainforests. In the near future, if wecan find the resources, we plan toexpand the system to monitor forsmoke and pollutants.

The success of initial trials held inthe forests of western Sumatra in 2013led to the Zoological Society ofLondon becoming involved in theproject and to propose new trials inCameroon later this year. RFCx is agood example of using existing tech-nology in ways never envisagedbefore, comments Harald Haas,Professor of Mobile Communicationsat the University of Edinburgh (UK).Its fascinating to see that mobilecommunication technology changesnot only the way we live, but also theway we protect our planet. !

New Ganges plan raisesconcerns Dinesh C Sharma

Ecological degradation of IndiasGanges River has been the source ofmuch debate recently. The devasta-tion caused by the flooding andlandslides in Uttarakhand in June2013 brought into focus regionalenvironmental impacts of hydro-power projects and unregulateddevelopment activity, while thedumping of untreated wastewaterinto the Ganges as it flows throughurban areas was highlighted duringthe 2014 national election.

During his campaign, Indias newPrime Minister, Narendra Modi,had vowed if elected to ini-tiate cleanup projects, but plansannounced in July by his govern-ment have disappointed both envi-ronmentalists and scientists. TheMinistry of Tourism, for instance,proposes promoting the Ganges as

a major tourist destination, whilethe Ministry of Shipping plans todredge the river at several locationsto facilitate commercial ship navi-gation. In addition, barrages (spe-cialized dams) are to be con-structed at 100-km intervals alongthe length of the river, despiteclaims by the Minister responsiblefor Ganga rejuvenation, Uma Bharti,that the government is committedto ensure [the rivers] continuousand uninterrupted flow.

Commercial exploitation of theriver will add to the existing pollu-tion load and further degrade river-ine ecology, says VishwambharNath Mishra, President of theVaranasi-based Sankat MochanFoundation. Construction of bar-rages, he predicts, will restrict riverflow and turn the Ganges into aseries of lakes solely for recreationby tourists, while dredging andshipping will adversely affectaquatic biodiversity, including the

endangered Ganges river dolphin(Platanista gangetica). HemantDhyani, a member of the expertpanel established to study the roleof hydropower projects in theUttarakhand landslides, said reju-venation strategies should startby implementing existing planssuch as the previous governmentsintention to preserve areas aroundthe headwaters of the Ganges as aneco-sensitive zone where develop-ment activity would be regulated.

The Indian Government hasbeen grappling with how toaddress the deterioration of theGanges for at least 30 years. Anyriver rejuvenation exercise shouldbegin with an attempt to under-stand why efforts to clean up riverssince 1974, when the water pollu-tion law was enacted, have failed,notes Himanshu Thakkar, coordi-nator of South Asia Network onDams, Rivers and People (NewDelhi, India). !

Smartphones would actually be installedin the canopy.

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