Europe and Eurasia
Finland
Using social media data to fill information gaps on the illegal wildlife trade
While law enforcement actions have been partially successful in controlling illegal wildlife trade on e-commerce platforms, the trade appears to have moved to alternative platforms such as social media, where it is possible to identify ‘weak signals’ in the development of wildlife markets: the species of interest, source areas, emerging market areas and social networks between the traders. This solution seeks to develop social media knowledge extraction tools that can be used by enforcement agencies to explore these signals and their geographic and temporal patterns.
Problem Area: Detect Transit Routes: Wildlife Trafficking over the Internet
Stage of Innovation: Proof of Concept
France
WILDETECT – Detecting illegally traded wildlife via a bio-mimicry enabled artificial sniffer
WILDETECT seeks to extend artificial sniffer technologies, initially developed to detect drugs and explosives, to the detection of illegally traded wildlife. Combining their expertise on wildlife trade with the technological know-how of the Atomic Energy and Alternative Energies Commission, a leading French player in R&D and innovation, this technology will make wildlife-targeted controls easier, faster, and cheaper.
Problem Area: Detect Transit Routes: Monitoring and Detection
Stage of Innovation: Proof of Concept
Switzerland
Global Traceability Knowledge System for Reptile Skins
The solution seeks to achieve full traceability of individual reptile skins or parts thereof in real-time throughout the entire supply and regulatory chain. The solution uses three technologies to capture the inherent uniqueness and diversity of nature: a biometric image recognition system, a mobile phone application, and a global information system.
Problem Area: Strengthen Forensic Evidence: Collection of Forensic Evidence / Data
Stage of Innovation: Proof of Concept
United Kingdom
The Online Wildlife Problem Analysis Module (OWPAM)
This solution seeks to quickly and effectively share information about wildlife trafficking issues without relying on the publication of academic journals or attending conferences. The Online Wildlife Problem Analysis Module allows a user to pose questions to the system, which analyzes a problem of interest, searches a database of what works in similar contexts, and suggests evidence-based effective solutions and why they might work.
Problem Area: Detect Transit Routes: Monitoring and Detection
Stage of Innovation: Proof of Concept
The JIGZAW information collaboration project
JIGZAW is a web-based software that enables three levels of information processing: Users share factual reports on poaching, link them to other incidents, people, and places, and display them on a map; Users can access the supply chain, who is involved, where, how, and when, and; JIGZAW supports influence planning/game theory.
Problem Area: Strengthen Forensic Evidence: Management and Sharing of Data
Stage of Innovation: Scaling
Global identification and tracking of unmonitored marine vessels: tracking the 'dark fleet'
Understanding the scale and impact of illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing to global wildlife populations is critical. This solution seeks to combine data on the location of known at-sea vessels engaging in IUU fishing with satellite imagery to predictively and autonomously identify and locate the so-called unmonitored ‘dark fleet’.
Problem Area: Detect Transit Routes: Monitoring and Detection
Stage of Innovation: Proof of Concept
Universal species identification in the field by rapid and affordable nanopore DNA sequencing
This solution seeks to determine species of origin from biological traces achieved by reading “barcode” genes, which differ in DNA sequences between species. While current DNA sequencing must be performed in a laboratory, nanopore sequencing using a hand-portable device will allow this to be done at a crime scene, yielding a species identification in about an hour rather than days.
Problem Area: Strengthen Forensic Evidence: Collection of Forensic Evidence / Data
Stage of Innovation: Proof of Concept
WILD LEO: A Simple Tool for Interagency Collaboration in Monitoring Wildlife Trafficking in Uganda
WILD LEO (Wildlife Intelligence & Leadership Development for Law Enforcement Officers) is a data collection system that uses spatial crime analysis to map wildlife crime. Using a smartphone app and secure cloud server supported by analyst training and automated mapping, WILD LEO seeks to identify transit routes and monitor trends in Uganda and beyond.
Problem Area: Detect Transit Routes: Monitoring and Detection
Stage of Innovation: Product Development
Instant Detect - exposing the movement of poachers in real-time
Zoological Society of London's Instant Detect system is made up of a range of military grade sensors that utilize satellite technology to enable near real-time data transfer to help protected area managers both on sea and land identify illegal activity. The system will be refined and used to expose movement of poachers smuggling wildlife out of protected areas or at porous border crossings in real-time.
Problem Area: Detect Transit Routes: Monitoring and Detection
Stage of Innovation: Product Development