The use of AI for biodiversity conservation can help prevent the extinction of plants and animals and thus maintain a stable ecosystem.

The extinction of plants and animals such as Rhynia, Pluchea Glutinosa, Dodo, Great Auk, Tasmanian Tiger, and Western Black Rhinoceros in recent years is a matter of great concern since it adversely affects our ecosystem. Every species of plants and animals is important. Why? The existence of both plants and animals has always been vital to humans. Extinction of organisms disrupts the food chain and hence affects the ecosystem. Therefore, humans are very much dependent on plants and animals for survival. Hence precautionary measures should be taken to maintain the stability of the ecosystem. The traditional biodiversity conservation methods have not shown much impact lately. Thus, the use of technology such as ML or AI for biodiversity conservation can help prevent further extinction of plants and animals.

The use of AI can help prevent the extinction of endangered plants and animals. Let's see how AI can be used for biodiversity conservation:

With the recent development of AI-powered devices for the conservation of animals, we can now prevent wildlife extinction. After the extinction of western African rhinoceros, African elephants are next on the verge of going extinct due to the involvement of extensive poaching. According to a report by HuffPost,African elephants may be extinct by the year 2020.Due to this reason, an American multinational corporation and technology company has taken a step forward to stop poachers attack African elephants. The company has come with an AI-based technology security system that promotes anti-poaching. The AI-based technology system uses a camera that detects poachers planning to attack an animal and subsequently generates an alert to the park rangers in real time. According to the Wild Heart Wildlife Foundation,one elephant is killed every 15 minutes due to illegal hunting.Hence, this AI-based system can prevent illegal hunting of animals to a great extent. TheAI-based system uses a vision processor with neural network algorithms to detects an object and classify images inside the camera.According to the company that has invested in this technology the AI-based system has helped cut down poaching at Serengeti National Park in Africa. The AI-based system hasdetected members from over 20 different poaching gangs within the first 15 months of its installation.Similarly, a number of such AI-based devices are manufactured by technology companies that can greatly help in animal conservation.

Plants are very beneficial for human lives and greatly help in fulfilling our necessities. They help fulfill our basic necessities as they can provide us with food, shelter, and medicine. The more the number of trees present in an environment, the greater is the amount of oxygen produced. Hence, plants greatly help in maintaining the stability of the ecosystem. Based on a report by Mongabay,according to scientists, one in every five plant species are on the verge of being extinct.This clearly implies how important it is to conserve plants.

The California Academy of Sciences and National Geographic Society have jointly developed anAI-based networking platformthat can help in the conservation of plants globally. The AI-based platform allows its users to click and share photos of various species of plants in real time. It also allows the other community members to identify the photos of the specific plant and confirm the plant's presence, whether if such a plant already exists. In this way, the AI-based networking platform can help discover new species of plants worldwide. This technology has proved to be a sigh of relief for scientists. It used to take hundreds of years by scientists for the collection of data about various types of plants and their existence. Now, with the help of this AI-based platform, scientists can collect data much effectively and on a large scale, and thus they can suggest measures to prevent the extinction of plants.

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Conserving Biodiversity with AI - BBN Times

WHO WE ARE

The mission of the International Rescue Committee (IRC) is tohelp people whose lives and livelihoods are shattered by conflictand disaster to survive, recover and gain control of their future.

The IRCs vision is to lead the humanitarian field by implementinghigh-impact, cost effective programs for people affected by crisis,and shape global policy and practice by sharing our learning andexperience with others.

All IRC programs are designed to achieve meaningful change inpeoples health, safety, education, economic wellbeing and ability toinfluence the decisions that affect their lives. The IRC maintainsa dedicated professional Research, Evaluation and Learning(REL) Technical Unit team to ensure that the organization is bothoutcomes driven and evidence based in its approach.

What do we mean by outcomes?

The IRC has made a commitment to focus on the impact wehave on the communities we serve my making measurableimprovements in their lives in five outcome areas: Health,Safety, Education, Economic Wellbeing and Power.

What do we mean by evidence?

Evidence refers to information that is systematically obtainedand analyzed to determine whether, how and why a givenintervention works. The IRC identifies, prioritizes and uses thebest available information from research studies that indicateand explain causal impact. We generate evidence usingrigorous methods that answer the most critical questions foraction.

WHY OUR WORK MATTERS

The IRC is committed to delivering services that achieve resultsfor people we serve by increasing the rigor with which we design,implement and evaluate our programs. In line with the IRCs 2020Strategy, programs are increasingly oriented around achievingspecific priority outcomes and designed based on the bestavailable evidence. In cases where evidence is weak or does notexist, the IRC conducts research to generate evidence.We are rolling out new tools to measure program data and trackthe results of programming. We use cost data to compare theefficiency and effectiveness of different interventions and deliverymodels across contexts with the goal of improving accountabilityand determining the best use of available resources. Theseapproaches enable the organization to help save lives andjumpstart recovery, use our resources most effectively, and achievemore sustainable solutions for the people we serve.

WHAT WE DO

IRC practitioners provide technical assistance to more than 30country programs. Technical advisors are charged with stayingabreast of the best available research and practices in theirrespective fields and sharing these with the IRCs frontline teams.They also lead advocacy strategies to encourage partners andpolicy makers to adopt the interventions proven to be effectivebased on our research and experience.

HOW WE DO IT

The REL Unit team is working to enhance the IRCs effectivenessby gathering and synthesizing the evidence base for what works;generating evidence where scant research exists; orienting theorganization around outcomes; building new tools and systems tosupport measurement; and optimizing our use of resources.

> Evidence Based

Understanding, referencing and applying the best availableresearch evidence to our programs enables the IRC to strengthenits effectiveness and improve the lives of conflict- and disasteraffected people.The IRC recognizes that delivering effective programming requiresbeing clear about outcomes and grounding the choice and designof our interventions in theories of change.

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Research, Evaluation and Learning at the International Rescue Committee - World - ReliefWeb