SMART-A Wildlife Conservation Tool

From Stokes et al., 2010 paper

SMART, the Spatial Monitoring and Reporting Tool, is a conservation software that allows government organizations and other agencies to monitor and measure the effectiveness of patrols in protected areas. Data is input into the software and maps of patrol areas can be created along with maps showing where wildlife is being hunted or logging is occurring.

The creators of SMART are fully aware of the need to quickly assess and monitor areas, rather than rely on stale data. This is important because, of course, the world is not static; species ranging, human land use, ecologies, and so forth are always changing. Up-to-date data can be used by agencies to make key decisions about how to change patrols/conservation efforts. Management can then communicate quickly with patrols/those enforcing the law to implement timely adjustments.  Developed by conservationists to aid those on the "front-line," SMART is made so that managers can see what their current strategies are doing in real time and change them if needed. There's no time lag. No maps showing what species distribution looked like two years ago when new patrols or initiatives have been put in place. Managers can see where hunting is occurring now and then quickly arrange for new patrols in those areas. SMART is a useful tool because it detects these changes, so managers can see how implementing a new patrol affects species abundance for example.

The software also measures which conservation strategies are most effective. SMART has training tools and best practices developed by experts and people who use the software.

It's not marketed as for every one when in reality only those Westerners with a PhD can understand how to use the software. The creators of SMART worked to ensure their software would be put into actual use by field assistants, patrols, station managers, and so forth whether or not they have an advanced degree (or any degree at all for that matter). SMART is free and designed to be easy to use. It's available in local languages, and there's an online forum where users can post questions and help each other. Training manuals with modules designed to take users step-by-step through tasks such as, "Setting up a Conservation Area" and "Analysis: Queries and Summaries" were uploaded in May 2014.

Panthera tigris

The software has been used to monitor great apes and elephants in the Republic of Congo, tigers in multiple countries in Asia, and rhinos in Kenya.

I learned about this great tool in a talk titled, "Getting Smart About Great Ape Anti-Poaching Efforts by EJ Stokes of the Wildlife Conservation Society" by E. J. Stokes. I wanted to post about SMART for a couple of reasons: 1) it can and actually is being used by scientists and non-scientists; 2) it provides real-time data; 3) best practices are included with the program; and 4) it allows organizations to see what's working and what isn't. Using SMART, data and people can come together to effectively protect areas. It's just plain SMART! (Sorry, I had to go there.)