Topher White: What can save the rainforest? Your used cell phone
Topher White: Što može spasiti kišne šume? Vaši stari mobiteli
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,
kišnu šumu na Borneu.
of the forest that struck me the most.
moćni zvukovi šume.
a rhinoceros hornbill.
veliki kljunorožac.
over a great distance.
was in fact a gibbon reserve,
je rezervat za gibone,
was coming out of the forest that time
je tada dolazio iz kišne šume
had actually noticed it.
to je rezervat za gibone.
rehabilitating gibbons,
to spend a lot of their time
that takes place on the side.
drva koja se odvija tamo.
the insects, and the rest,
in recordings you heard,
snimki koje ste čuli,
at great distance.
na velikoj udaljenosti.
who were posted around this sanctuary
bili smješteni oko utočišta,
to guard against illegal logging,
again as tourists, out into the forest,
turistički, u šumu,
who was just sawing a tree down,
upravo sjekao drvo,
from the ranger station.
od šumarske stanice.
to hear the chainsaws,
the forest is very, very loud.
kao što ste mogli čuli.
that in this modern time,
da u ovo moderno vrijeme,
from a ranger station in a sanctuary,
šumarske stanice u utočištu,
someone who has a chainsaw gets fired up.
netko uključi motornu pilu.
but in fact, it was quite true.
međutim tako zaista jest.
always to come up with a high-tech,
uvijek osmisliti visokotehnološko,
it has to be scalable,
while were there was that
bi nam omogućio da to prekinemo
that would allow us to stop this
already in the forest?
Čega je već bilo u šumi?
dedicated, three full-time guards,
koji su cijelo vrijeme
what was happening out in the forest.
out in the forest.
way out in the middle of nowhere.
usred ničega.
od najbliže ceste,
from the nearest road,
but they had very good cell phone service,
vrlo dobar mobilni signal.
were on Facebook all the time,
vise na Facebooku,
that in fact it would be possible
kako bi bilo moguće
of chainsaws programmatically,
biste postavili na drveću.
to go up in the trees.
to listen to the sounds of the forest,
da slušamo zvukove šume,
network that's there,
to this issue for them.
rješenje za ovaj problem.
to talk about saving the rainforest,
kako spasiti kišnu šumu,
definitely all heard about forever.
svi oduvijek slušamo.
have heard about saving the rainforest
očuvanju kišnih šuma
has never changed:
nimalo promijenila:
it's super urgent,
to je iznimno nužno,
have been destroyed yesterday.
bilo uništeno jučer.
about half of the rainforest remains,
oko polovice kišnih šuma,
problems like climate change.
probleme poput klimatskih promjena.
that I didn't realize at the time:
koju nisam prije znao:
for more greenhouse gas
više stakleničkih plinova
trains, cars, trucks and ships combined.
kamiona i brodova zajedno.
to climate change.
klimatskih promjena.
that takes place in the rainforest
like the illegal logging that we saw.
poput one koju smo vidjeli.
enforce the rules that are there,
da provode postojeće zakone,
into this 17 percent
od tih 17 posto
in the short term.
imali veliki utjecaj.
fastest way to fight climate change.
borba protiv klimatskih promjena.
is heard in the forest,
zvuk motorne pile začuje u šumi,
of the chainsaw,
GSM network that's already there
GSM mreže šalje upozorenje
and stop the logging.
tamo i zaustaviti sječu.
and finding a tree that's been cut.
nalaze već posječena stabla,
a tree from a satellite
and fastest way to do it,
i najbrži način,
they weren't able to do it,
to nisu mogli napraviti,
were actually cell phones,
by the hundreds of millions every year,
bace mobitel svake godine,
which of course we should do,
iako bismo trebali, naravno.
to the sounds of the forest.
that you see here,
koju vidite ovdje,
engineering challenges
većih inženjerskih izazova
under a tree canopy,
mobitela ispod krošnje,
under a tree canopy,
ispod krošnje,
solar panel design that you see here,
dizajn solarne ploče,
byproducts of an industrial process.
nusprodukata industrijskih procesa.
for allowing me to do that.
this is a device up in a tree.
is that they are pretty well obscured
jako dobro skriveni
they are able to hear chainsaw noises
zvukove motorne pile,
površinu od tri četvorna kilometra,
about three square kilometers,
it would make the area unprotected.
to bi područje bilo nezaštićeno.
we took it back to Indonesia,
kako bismo ih testirali,
by illegal logging.
ilegalna sječa drveća.
illegal chainsaw noises.
zvukove ilegalih pila.
u stvarnom vremenu.
Everyone had just gotten back down.
i svi su se netom ranije spustili na tlo.
and they all quiet down,
i svi su umuknuli,
sve do tog trenutka.
until that moment.
to actually stop these loggers.
arrived close to where the loggers are.
približili drvosječama.
where I'm actually regretting
se nalazi s druge strane brda.
the other side of this hill.
been interrupted before --
dojmljiv trenutak za njih,
event for them,
da se od tada više nisu vraćali.
they have not been back since.
the entire operation works,
funkcionira cijela operacija,
on the spot was that
stvarnom vremenu i zaustaviti ljude,
in real time and stop people,
they won't come back.
i da se više ne vrate.
because we told a lot of people,
jer smo mnogim ljudima govorili o tome,
amazing stuff started to happen.
nešto fantastično.
started to send us emails, phone calls.
počeli slati e-poruke i zvati nas.
throughout Asia,
people throughout South America,
mogli koristiti i oni,
we thought might be exceptional,
da je to iznimka,
postoji jako dobar mobilni signal.
pretty good cell phone service.
of the forests that are most under threat.
šuma koja su najugroženija.
really amazing happened,
their own old cell phones.
svoje stare mobitele.
people who are already there,
koji su već na terenu,
and use the existing connectivity,
koristiti postojeći signal,
that are being sent to us
something else in their afterlife,
u svojem novom životu,
u potpunosti reciklirati,
can be completely recycled,
novom, poboljšanom svrhom.
an entirely upcycled device.
because of any sort of high-tech solution.
visokotehnološkog rješenja,
what's already there,
postojećih resursa,
that if it's not phones,
ako se ne budu koristili telefoni,
going to be enough there
in new contexts.
u novim situacijama.
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