Projects

South Africa - pilot project

In 2015, Connected Conservation was developed - an initiative to help protect and stop the poaching of rhinos and other species through smart technological solutions. The project began with the pilot in a private game reserve adjacent to the Kruger National Park in South Africa and reduced poaching by 96% in the first 2 years of installation. The project was first-of-its kind as it was proactive and tracked the movement of people, leaving the animals to roam freely in their natural habitat.

Watch the video to find out more detail about the pilot project in South Africa.

Challenge

The reserve stretches 62,000 hectares and has perimeter fencing along 72 kilometres. There are no fences between Kruger National Park and the private game reserve. Rhino populations were being decimated and animals were being poached for bush meat. Before the project was implemented, the private game reserve was losing at least one rhino per week. Response times were over 30 minutes and by the time the response teams got to the location, the poachers had killed the animal and had taken the horns. Rangers on the ground were doing their best but the constant rate of poaching diluted their resources and prevented them from stopping illegal people from entering the reserve and causing harm.

How

The pilot solution was designed and is operated as a managed service on-site, using cloud for data analytics and backup. A point-to-multi-point radio area network provides a high-security ‘net’ over the entire reserve. Strong and reliable communications facilitate alerts and warnings, providing the ability to share live footage across the park. A refreshed and updated IT infrastructure improves bandwidth, connecting Wi-Fi and local area networks at each gate.

Increasing security at each entry point is critical via biometrics and CCTV cameras. Newly installed systems scan passports, identity cards, and capture vehicle registration plates on arrival. Connection between the reseve and the national database offers immediate analysis and comparison of vehicle licensing, ownership, and historical entry and exit data.

Thermal cameras along the fenceline and magnetic sensors buried along the park’s perimeter detect any movement as far as 1.8 kilometres away. Low range wide area network use unlicensed radio spectrum, enabling communication between remote sensors and gateways connected to the network. In the event of a breach, helicopter availability ensures prompt response to identified threats. The online software tool, Earthranger is used to collect, integrate and display all historical and real-time data available from the reserve.

Now, after 5 years, the technology is still at the centre of daily operations with local teams trained and providing independent technical support.

Zambia

Challenge

The Government allows local people to purchase fishing permits in order for them to fish in the lake in order to feed their families. Poachers pose as fisherman and come into the reserve to poach elephants and to get bush meat.

How

A newly constructed joint operations centre acts as a base and connects multiple radio masts along the water’s edge to create a permanent network barrier around the lake. The masts have fixed pan, tilt and zoom thermal cameras on them to detect any unusual activity across the lake as well as direct intercept operations of the speedboats to stop the activity. The use of CCTV, thermal and handheld cameras tracks fisherman and watches for movement during the night, coupled with a powerboat to patrol the lake and reduce response times. There are no other speed boats in operation across the lake.

The CCTV camera analytics create a virtual tripline to auto detect fishermen crossing the lake and alert the operator on night time movement across the barrier. A newly installed Wi-Fi and local area network connect technology and staff and allow handheld devices to be shared and thermal cameras to be viewed, without any interception.

An online software tool Earthranger, collects and analyzes data, including both historical and real-time that is available from the reserve.

Kenya

Watch the video to find out about the project in Northern Kenya

Challenge

In Northern Kenya, there are rarely fences that separate reserves and homeland. Often, issues arise between humans and animals, which results in conflict and killing the animals or people getting injured. There are also public roads that run through conservancies and many poachers enter the reserve in this way to get bush meat mainly.

How

A point-to-point reserve area network connects the key sites across six conservancies. Strategic digital radio masts connect and ensure constant communication. Implementation of remote camera deployments enable mobile IP connectivity from masts.

Thermal cameras are positioned at waterholes to monitor the health of the animals and to detect any possible threats. A number of low range wide area network gateways support the reintroduction of rhinos and monitor their adaptation and rehabilitation process. This technology is also used to monitor the flow to water holes and ensure adequate drinking water for animals.

Infrastructure for reliable solar power, masts and enclosures in remote areas are installed throughout the conservancies. Online software tool Earthranger collects, integrates and displays all historical and real-time data available from the reserve.
A new server room, equipped with the relevant compute, storage, and virtualisation provides detailed analysis including alerts for fire suppression, biometric access control and in-room CCTV cameras. The online software tool Earthranger to collect, integrate and display all historical and real-time data available from the reserve.