Drone Technology Helps Protect the Amazon
Wake Forest University’s (WFU) Sabin Center for Environment and Sustainability recently welcomed a delegation of Indigenous leaders from Peru to explore how drone technology and collaborative partnerships can help safeguard the Amazon rainforest.
Professors Luis Fernandez and Miles Silman discuss drone technology uses with Indigenous leaders from the Peruvian Amazon.
This visit, co-sponsored by the U.S. Department of State, was part of the “Connecting Cultures” program. The initiative aims to equip young Indigenous leaders with the skills and knowledge needed to address environmental challenges in the Amazon, from illegal mining to the impacts of climate change. On a sunny September morning, researchers arrived at Davis Field on the Wake Forest campus to demonstrate the technology.
“The advanced technology we are using is powerful,” said Chris Zarzar, the drone pilot and a Sabin Center For Environment and Sustainability Fellow. He was leading a demonstration for nine young Indigenous leaders from eight different communities in the Amazonian and Andean regions of Peru. The leaders are learning how these tools can support their work to protect biodiversity in the Amazon and preserve their culture in a rapidly changing environment.
Many of these territories face threats from climate change, illegal mining, illegal logging, and coca plant production.
WFU professor Miles Silman shows how advanced technology can pinpoint what’s happening on the ground.
“One of the things that they are interested in is how to use technology to control territories,” said Miles Silman, professor of biology and research director of the Sabin Center. “These environmental leaders are also environmental defenders and are responsible for areas ranging from the size of the Wake Forest campus to the size of Yellowstone National Park. Their patrols on foot can be dangerous. What the drone and other tech allows them to do is patrol their territory and look at things that are changing, people coming and going, people cutting down the forest, mining, those kinds of things without having to get into a confrontation with anybody and be safe.”
Monitoring and Surveying Threats
As the delegation gathered around a drone, Silman explained how the technology is currently used to conserve protected areas and study wildlife populations. Delegation members asked about the drone’s capabilities, including its altitude and potential for planting seeds and trees.
Limber Marichi Tangoa practices flying a drone for the first time.
Limber Marichi Tangoa, a member of the Shawi Indigenous community in the San Martin region of Peru, shared his experience. His community faces illegal logging, and he has been working as an environmental defender for nine years. He took on the role after his father was murdered while on patrol.
“I wanted to know how long it would take to survey my territory with the drone and the answer was just two hours. I was shocked because it takes 5 to 6 days and lots of walking miles for our small group to make all the rounds in my community.”
“I’m excited to be at Wake Forest,” Marichi added. “My father did a lot of work in terms of environmental conservation, and I want to keep his legacy alive. He didn’t know about this technology, but now I know and can help protect my community and as a young leader share this knowledge.”
Cultivating Partnerships
The “Connecting Cultures” initiative is a collaboration between the U.S. Department of State, Wake Forest’s Center for Amazonian Scientific Innovation (CINCIA), and the University’s Sabin Center for Environment and Sustainability. It receives additional funding from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, and private funders. Through CINCIA, Wake Forest’s Sabin Center has worked with these Indigenous communities in the Peruvian Amazon for several years.
Experts at Wake Forest lead research on reforestation, build laboratories to measure environmental mercury pollution from mining, and use advanced technology to monitor and track changes in the region.
“We are flying and building drones, using remote sensing and 3D printers, so they can see what’s going on with eyes in the sky and then linking those images to what we measure on the ground and what the satellites show us,” said Luis Fernandez, Sabin Center Senior Fellow, research professor of biology and the executive director of CINCIA. “We are also using AI to connect the data collected and provide new techniques for what we hope will be wall-to-wall coverage of what is happening in the Amazon,” he added.
Strengthening a New Generation of Leaders
A key aspect of “Connecting Cultures” is creating networking opportunities for the delegates. During their visit to Wake Forest, the Indigenous leaders spent several days on campus meeting with students, staff, and faculty, and sharing ideas with the group of Indigenous leaders. They also participated in workshops and training sessions in Peru and the U.S. While on campus, they learned about protecting Indigenous rights through the Wake Forest Environmental Law and Policy Clinic, discussed the relationship between the Earth and diverse perspectives on the universe, and learned about sustainable practices used in the university’s Campus Garden.
“Technology comes and goes and always changes, but what’s important is making links among people so they have access to other peoples’ minds and ways of knowing. To me, that’s the real power in this program.” said Silman.
The program supports the efforts of the leaders in their Indigenous territories.
Edgar Flores, community development coordinator at the U.S. Embassy in Lima, Peru, said that highlighting the relationships built during the program has been a highlight.
“These Indigenous leaders from other territories are getting together, and they are learning from each other what’s going on in their community, so they have a lot in common,” Flores said. “Most importantly, we are creating a community of Indigenous leaders throughout Peru and developing a plan on how to work together as a group. It’s why the U.S. Embassy supports this program and wants to continue this partnership with Wake Forest.”
Creating a Lasting Impact
After the program, the Indigenous leader delegation will gather at a large conference in Peru to develop a plan to work together and connect with members of the first Connecting Cultures group. They will discuss the environmental issues they face and share what they learned at Wake Forest.
“Through these different activities and through this program we want to go back and educate the population in the Amazon where we live, teach them how to conserve the forest and how we can also be working to prevent the illegal entry of these illegal loggers, illegal miners,” said Lucy Pérez Odicio, from the Kakataibo community in the Ucayali region.
Lucy Perez Odicio explains how her Indigenous community has been impacted by illegal mining.
Pérez said the program is giving her hope and inspiration for a better future back home. “I used to see animals a lot closer to where we lived growing up. You go out now into the woods and see fish farms or cocaine farms, and you don’t see as much of the wildlife as close to where we live anymore. And as young leaders, all these things, the trees, the animals, the rivers, that’s what we draw our life from. And as Indigenous people, we want to be able to face these challenges and be environmental defenders of these resources. This program is giving us the tools to help us do that.”
The delegation also visited the University of Richmond, Washington D.C. for meetings with leaders at NASA, the Department of the Interior, the State Department, Conservation X Labs and the Peruvian Embassy. Luis Fernandez said the program exemplifies Wake Forest University’s motto.
”The idea of Pro Humanitate is that we are doing it for humanity, for a better world, for service for future generations by working with these young leaders who will be the next generation of solution makers for their communities.”
