There’s a reason we’ve been called “one of the most serially successful wildlife organizations on Earth.” “Conservation” may be in the name, but when it comes to embracing new technology to holistically restore islands around the world, our benefits go beyond protecting species.  

The specific, targeted work we do to restore island ecosystems already yields the best return on investment of almost any environmental intervention, but our innovative approaches really set us apart. We’ve been in the conservation game for 30 years, and in that time, we’ve established ourselves as true leaders.

Our ambitious, agile team believes in harnessing modern technologies to advance conservation efforts, and as a result we’ve been early adopters of some of the most advanced tech available for monitoring, mapping, measuring, tracking, and all the essential functions of environmental work that were once the sole domain of human beings trekking over difficult terrain.

Our drone program, the pride of our Innovation Team, has spelled exponential gains for island ecosystems and communities around the world. Because they’re so remote, getting personnel out to cover an island’s terrain can be expensive, time-consuming, and dangerous. For decades, the only other option was using helicopters—which is also costly, and the expertise of helicopter pilots does not stay in the communities they support when they go home at the end of the project. 

Drones have turned the tide. Training indigenous islanders in drones use has only gotten easier over time, as UAV platforms become more accessible and affordable.  We’ve also been on the ground floor of the development of new platforms with higher payload capacities and better battery life. 

We’re also on the cutting edge of remote sensing, which helps our monitoring get even more specific and granular. We’re partnering with NASA to use satellite imagery and LiDAR to measure the effects of restoration on plant biomass and tree cover. Recently, our Innovation Team published a paper on hyperspectral sensing, a brand-new method that lets us identify an animal even when most of its body is obscured. With more data gathered remotely, we can improve decision-making time and make key interventions to protect ecosystems faster and more efficiently. 

No innovation program is complete without artificial intelligence and machine learning. We’ve recently harnessed these new technologies through the Lenovo Work For Humankind initiative, which let us use the latest NVIDIA GPUs to process and analyze data as fast as possible. Images taken by our camera traps out in the field once took trained experts hours to classify, but a custom AI script provided results from over 7,000 images in just one minute! 

Island Conservation is a leading innovator in the environmental space. Your support helps us continuously invest in new technology and push the boundaries of science, unlocking new solutions to save ecosystems on the front lines of climate change. We’ve been awarded a 100% rating on Charity Navigator, indicating our organization is using its donations effectively, allowing you to give with confidence. Join our newsletter or make a donation today to support healthy island ecosystems worldwide!