Why is it important?

Over 25% of all plant and animal species are projected to become extinct in the next 30 years, and 70% by the end of the century. This makes it very important to try to conserve them. As biodiversity decreases, ecosystems become more fragile and susceptible to influence.

How could this problem be solved or mitigated?

In order to conserve plants and animals, it is important to know where they are and how many of them they are. One way to accomplish this is with trackers. They are placed on animals and record their behavior and movements over time. Drones can be used to find and count animals in open terrain using machine learning for image analysis. In wooded or covered areas, trail cameras can be used. These are cameras that turn on and start recording when they detect a warm-bodied animal. Another similar technique is acoustic monitoring. This uses devices that record sounds and send them back to another device.