World Wildlife Day: RESCONI advocates use of GPS collars, transmitters in wildlife conservation

Resource Conservation Initiative (RESCONI), a Non-Governmental Organisation, has recommended to stakeholders in the wildlife sector to collectively explore innovative methodologies to facilitate the protection and conservation of Ghana's wildlife resources.

The stakeholders, including the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources, Wildlife Division of the Forestry Commission, metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies, and the local populace, especially the youth, must effectively collaborate in finding innovative and cutting-edge digital technologies to protect wildlife, it said.

“This will spark synergies to inspire cross-sector collaborations that foster the application of novel digital innovations and technologies to manage the wildlife resources of the country sustainably,” a release by the NGO said on Monday.

The World Wildlife Day 2024 was celebrated on the theme; “Connecting People and Planet: Exploring Digital Innovation in Wildlife Conservation.”

The release said digital innovation offered countries with internet connectivity such as Ghana the opportunity to unleash the power of digital technologies and services in the sustainable management of wildlife resources and address human-wildlife conflicts.

Using Global Positioning System (GPS) collars and transmitters in wildlife conservation in Ghana was important to ensure the ease of access to accurate and efficient data for decision-making in support of wildlife management, it said.

“The revolutionary role of using geo-location data through GPS collars and transmitters in appreciating the behaviour of wild animals, estimating migratory routes and habitat utilization is unprecedented,” the release said.

It said conservationists, through those tracking devices, made valuable decisions to conserve threatened species; thus the gradual embrace of digitization in wildlife conservation.

“It is, therefore, important that Ghana, a country immersed in nature's magnificence, should bridge conservation, digital technology and innovation in the sustainable management of its wildlife resources.”

“As we celebrate World Wildlife Day, it is important to highlight the role of Global Positioning System (GPS) Collars and Transmitters in wildlife conservation in Ghana.”

The release noted the well-established fact that conservation efforts had reached an unprecedented high level of advancement in the use of digital technology.

“When GPS collars and transmitters are attached to animals, conservationists can retrieve significant data on how different wildlife species interact with their environment as this enables the development of specific conservation plans and priorities aimed at defining wildlife populations and habitats.”

“These devices have contributed to understanding and protecting threatened species within the Protected Areas, Community Resource Management Areas (CREMAs) and other conservation areas under the protection and management of communities, and civil society organisations amongst others.”

There is a gradual shift of conservation efforts to data-enhanced strategies.

Its usage helps to identify high-risk areas of poaching, human-wildlife conflicts, habitat depletion, the concentration of land-use activities, climate change and the mitigation of biodiversity threats.

Despite the current role of digitization in wildlife conservation in Ghana, there is a need to reminiscence the challenges associated with data privacy, the high cost of monitoring devices, the size of tracking devices relative to animal behaviour and the analysis of large datasets.

“It stands to reason that future proposals must include high investments into the application of these monitoring devices, exposing high numbers of the student population… to the use of e-platforms, use of micro-weight devices, and application of Artificial Intelligence to retrieve, analyze and predict effective conservation strategies for the country,” the release noted.

GNA