“Climate change: Technology boosts efforts to curb tree loss in Amazon”, 13 July 2021

...Indigenous people living in the Peruvian Amazon were equipped by conservation groups with satellite data and smartphones. They were able to reduce tree losses by half in the first year of the project. Reductions were greater in communities facing threats from illegal gold mining, logging and drugs….But for decades, these areas have been under attack from outsiders who are determined to cut down trees for a range of purposes including mining, logging and the planting of illicit crops like the coca plants used to manufacture cocaine...Governments in Brazil, Peru and Colombia have put in place a system of high-resolution deforestation alerts, but there is little evidence that this information reaches the indigenous communities most affected. This new research set out to see if putting information directly into the hands of forest communities would make a difference...Three members of each selected community were trained in the use of technology and shown how to carry out patrols to verify deforestation. When satellite information showed suspected deforestation activity in an area, photos and GPS coordinates were loaded onto USB drives and carried up the Amazon river and delivered by couriers...When the forest patrols confirmed any unauthorised deforestation, they would report back to a general assembly of community members to decide on the best approach...When the researchers examined the impact of the new approach, they found that deforestation dropped by 52% in the first year, and by 21% in the second…"The study provides evidence that supporting our communities with the latest technology and training can help reduce deforestation in our territories," said Jorge Perez Rubio, the president of the Loreto regional indigenous organization (ORPIO), where the study was carried out...