Topher White: What can save the rainforest? Your used cell phone
Topher White: Wie Ihr altes Handy den Regenwald schützen kann
Through his startup Rainforest Connection, Topher White transforms used cell phones into guardians of the rainforest. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
as a tourist,
for the very first time,
of the forest that struck me the most.
die mich überwältigten --
a rhinoceros hornbill.
der Rhinozerosvogel.
over a great distance.
über eine große Distanz.
was in fact a gibbon reserve,
in einem Gibbon-Reservat --
was coming out of the forest that time
aus dem Wald damals
had actually noticed it.
niemand wahrgenommen.
rehabilitating gibbons,
um den Schutz von Gibbons,
to spend a lot of their time
that takes place on the side.
in diesem Gebiet widmen.
the insects, and the rest,
die Insekten und all die anderen.
in recordings you heard,
gehört haben, waren andauernd
at great distance.
der Lärm der Motorsägen zu hören.
who were posted around this sanctuary
rund um das Schutzgebiet
to guard against illegal logging,
vor illegalen Abholzungen.
again as tourists, out into the forest,
Touristen -- in den Wald gingen
in den ersten fünf Minuten
who was just sawing a tree down,
einen Baum umzusägen.
from the ranger station.
von der Station entfernt.
to hear the chainsaws,
the forest is very, very loud.
der Wald sehr, sehr laut ist.
dass in einer Zeit wie der heutigen
that in this modern time,
from a ranger station in a sanctuary,
vom Wachtposten eines Schutzgebiets
someone who has a chainsaw gets fired up.
wenn jemand seine Kettensäge anwirft.
but in fact, it was quite true.
ist aber eine Tatsache.
always to come up with a high-tech,
eine High-Tech-Lösung finden,
it has to be scalable,
while were there was that
während unserer Zeit dort,
that would allow us to stop this
das die Abholzung
already in the forest?
dedicated, three full-time guards,
die Wachmannschaft,
what was happening out in the forest.
was im Wald draußen vor sich ging.
out in the forest.
way out in the middle of nowhere.
mitten im Nirgendwo.
von der nächsten Straße entfernt,
from the nearest road,
but they had very good cell phone service,
aber eine sehr gute Mobilfunkverbindung.
were on Facebook all the time,
waren auf Facebook
that in fact it would be possible
dass wir möglicherweise
verwenden konnten.
of chainsaws programmatically,
der Kettensägen aufnehmen,
to go up in the trees.
hoch oben in den Bäumen.
to listen to the sounds of the forest,
des Waldes aufnimmt,
network that's there,
das Mobilfunknetz einwählt
to this issue for them.
für dieses Problem sein.
to talk about saving the rainforest,
den Schutz des Regenwalds sprechen.
definitely all heard about forever.
have heard about saving the rainforest
haben von kleinauf
has never changed:
die gleiche geblieben:
it's super urgent,
möglichst schnell,
have been destroyed yesterday.
wurden gestern wieder zerstört.
about half of the rainforest remains,
der Regenwälder und wir haben
problems like climate change.
wie den Klimawandel.
that I didn't realize at the time:
mir auch erst sehr spät bewusst --
for more greenhouse gas
einen Anstieg der Treibhausgase
trains, cars, trucks and ships combined.
LKWs und Schiffe der Welt zusammen.
to climate change.
Beitrag zum Klimawandel.
that takes place in the rainforest
im Regenwald illegal --
like the illegal logging that we saw.
enforce the rules that are there,
die bestehenden Regeln zu umzusetzen,
diese 17 % beeinflussen
into this 17 percent
in the short term.
eine Wirkung erzielen.
fastest way to fight climate change.
Weg sein, den Klimawandel zu bekämpfen.
is heard in the forest,
der Kettensäge ein,
of the chainsaw,
GSM network that's already there
das bestehende GSM-Netz
and stop the logging.
und die Abholzung verhindern.
and finding a tree that's been cut.
um abgeholzte Bäume zu finden
a tree from a satellite
and fastest way to do it,
they weren't able to do it,
nicht imstande es umzusetzen,
were actually cell phones,
aber nun alte Handys wären,
werden jedes Jahr weggeworfen.
by the hundreds of millions every year,
which of course we should do,
der Welt mit eingerechnet.
to the sounds of the forest.
that you see here,
engineering challenges
der größeren Herausforderungen für uns.
Baumkronendach aufzuladen,
under a tree canopy,
under a tree canopy,
an so einem Ort,
solar panel design that you see here,
einzigartigen Sonnenkollektor hier,
byproducts of an industrial process.
industrieller Verfahren gebaut wurde.
zurecht geschnitten.
for allowing me to do that.
this is a device up in a tree.
an einem Baum sehen.
is that they are pretty well obscured
they are able to hear chainsaw noises
Obwohl sie die Kettensägen
about three square kilometers,
3 Quadratkilometer abdecken,
it would make the area unprotected.
wenn jemand das Gerät entfernt.
we took it back to Indonesia,
mussten wir zurück nach Indonesien.
by illegal logging.
Abholzung bedroht war.
illegal chainsaw noises.
Gerät illegale Kettensägen identifiziert.
Everyone had just gotten back down.
von dem Baum geklettert.
and they all quiet down,
Alle waren sofort ruhig.
until that moment.
niemand von uns gehört.
to actually stop these loggers.
um die Holzfäller zu stoppen.
arrived close to where the loggers are.
ziemlich nahe an den Holzfällern.
where I'm actually regretting
dass ich die Anstrengungen
the other side of this hill.
auf der anderen Seite war.
auf frischer Tat.
been interrupted before --
der Arbeit unterbrochen --
event for them,
prägendes Erlebnis für sie,
they have not been back since.
mehr aufgetaucht sind.
the entire operation works,
on the spot was that
die Menschen stoppt.
in real time and stop people,
they won't come back.
dass sie nicht mehr zurück kommen.
because we told a lot of people,
wohl weil wir vielen davon erzählten.
amazing stuff started to happen.
started to send us emails, phone calls.
uns an und schickten uns E-mails.
throughout Asia,
people throughout South America,
dass sie ebenfalls
we thought might be exceptional,
ungewöhnlich gehalten hatten:
pretty good cell phone service.
sehr gute Mobilfunknetze.
im Gegenteil:
of the forests that are most under threat.
gibt es gutes Mobilfunknetz.
really amazing happened,
wirklich Unglaubliches:
their own old cell phones.
people who are already there,
vor Ort miteinbeziehen,
and use the existing connectivity,
verwenden und verbessern,
that are being sent to us
something else in their afterlife,
ein zweites Leben schenken.
Geräts recyclen können,
can be completely recycled,
an entirely upcycled device.
aus keiner High-Tech-Lösung.
because of any sort of high-tech solution.
what's already there,
was bereits vorhanden war.
that if it's not phones,
wenn es keine Handys sind,
going to be enough there
in new contexts.
genauso wirksam sind.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Topher White - Conservation technologistThrough his startup Rainforest Connection, Topher White transforms used cell phones into guardians of the rainforest.
Why you should listen
In 2012, Topher White founded Rainforest Connection, a startup which converts recycled cell-phones into solar-powered listening devices to monitor and protect remote areas of the rainforest. Now an established NGO, Rainforest Connection has helped stop illegal logging and poaching operations in Sumatra, and the system is being expanded to three more rainforest reserves in Indonesia, the Amazon and Africa.
With a background in physics and engineering, White worked as web chief of ITER and co-founded Enthuse, a sports engagement and mobile rewards platform. For Rainforest Connection, he’s fashioned a simple device made of discarded cell phones and solar panels that detects and sends alerts when it picks up the sound of chainsaws in protected rainforests, allowing for intervention in real time.
Topher White | Speaker | TED.com