Africa Innovates Magazine - Flipbook - Page 16
Photo credit: CyberTracker
The climate crisis and potential
extinction of certain animals
and plant species may pose an
existential threat to humanity.
But
with
its
origins
in
indigenous Kalahari trackers,
CyberTracker has been working
to protect endangered species
– from rhinos and gorillas in the
Congo to snow leopards in the
Himalayas since 2002.
Louis Liebenberg is a South African
scientist who devoted his life to the study
and preservation of the art of tracking
wild animals. He is also the co-founder
and executive director of CyberTracker,
a non-profit organization which develops
portable data capture solutions. The
model is inspired by traditional trackers,
utilising rare and precious knowledge and
skills.
surveys and crime prevention. Collectively
updated, the CyberTracker is free to
use. It has been downloaded more than
500,000 times by users in more than 200
countries.
Photo credit: CyberTracker
“I think it’s essential that we develop a
programme which will keep these skills
alive. Combining them with CyberTracker
enables us to capture data that cannot
be secured in any other way,” says
Liebenberg.
The software was first developed to allow
illiterate animal trackers to communicate
their environmental observations. A
prototype was also used in 2002 to record
details of animals killed in an outbreak
of Ebola. Since then, it has evolved to
become a general-purpose data capture
and visualization system.
The software explores, discovers, and
protects the planet’s resources, thanks to
a tracking tool that promotes scientific
thinking, involving scientific reasoning
at its most basic and unmediated level.
It emphasizes the potential role of the
most ancient roots of science in a modern
context, where science and technology
are becoming increasingly important for
the future of humanity.
Photo credit: CyberTracker
16
FOOD SECURITY
WHEN TRADITIONAL SKILLS
GO DIGITAL
AND SAVE BIODIVERSITY
IN SOUTH AFRICA
To promote its vision of a worldwide
environmental monitoring network, Cyber
Tracker’s target audience is indigenous
communities in protected areas and those
working on scientific research and citizen
science to contribute to environmental
education, forestry, farming, social
SHOWCASING AFRICAN CLIMATE CHAMPIONS
“Indigenous communities can
make an enormous difference
by monitoring biodiversity.
We need more and more
people on the ground to be
able to physically do what
needs to be done to manage
existing diversity and bring
back more of it.”
Louis Liebenberg,
CyberTracker CEO
