With smartphones and satellite data against the deforestation of the Amazon

According to the latest Rainforest Foundation analysis, human activity has destroyed or degraded nearly two-thirds of tropical rainforests. The first step to reverse the trend is to stop deforestation of the world’s largest green lung, the Amazon rainforest, which covers 40% of South America. Over the past 40 years, both governments and NGOs have invested in the use of satellite technologies to monitor deforestation, but with mixed effects. The intuition of the Rainforest foundation, in collaboration with New York and Johns Hopkins University, was to coordinate with indigenous peoples through the intermediation of the Indigenous People’s Organization of Eastern Amazon. Together, they involved the Indigenous Peruvian Shipibo communities of Patria Nueva and Nueva Saposoa, teaching three members per village to use the technologies required to effectively patrol the territory. Armed with smartphones and equipped with satellite data provided by the Peruvian satellite Sat-1, launched in 2016, the indigenous peoples inhabiting the Peruvian Amazon rainforest were enabled to download the coordinates of suspicious activities on a specially created app that guided them from time to time. in time on the place of the survey. Patrolmen were also paid $ 8 for monthly control outings along the river. Once the illegal activity was established, a tribal council was called to decide the best course of action. In case of petty offenses, the natives intervened directly to remove the guilty. In other situations, such as in the case of drug traffickers intent on cutting down trees to make room for cocaine plantations, they have activated a direct line with the police. They were thus able to drastically reduce illegal deforestation. Researchers noted a 52% decline in the first year of studies, and a 21% decline in the second in the areas of villages that were assigned the equipment accompanied by training to use it.Over a third of the Amazon rainforest is located on the territory. of about 3 thousand recognized indigenous communities. Collaboration with local populations could prove to be the key to overcoming traditional top-down monitoring methods, creating a virtuous circle of co-responsibility. “Indigenous peoples are the best guardians of the natural kingdom” commented Fiore Longo, head of Survival International, announcing the first international “counter-congress” on conservation for 2 September 2021, led by indigenous speakers and representatives from 18 countries. The congress aims to shed light on the problems of top-down conservation programs, pushing for direct involvement of local communities. In Peru, indigenous communities make up 26% of the population, and they supported the election of the socialist presidential candidate Pedro Castillo in the disputed – but fair – elections on 6 June. Coming from a rural community and with a political background in the Ronda Campesinas in the 1980s, Castillo could bring that part of the population hitherto marginalized to the political stage, encouraging collaboration from below for the protection of the territory.