Topher White: What can save the rainforest? Your used cell phone
托佛.懷特: 什麼可以拯救雨林?你的舊手機
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,
我以旅行者的身份,
for the very first time,
of the forest that struck me the most.
是鋪天蓋地的雨林之聲。
a rhinoceros hornbill.
是一隻犀鳥
over a great distance.
是一個長臂猿的保護區,
was in fact a gibbon reserve,
was coming out of the forest that time
had actually noticed it.
真的注意到那個聲音。
rehabilitating gibbons,
to spend a lot of their time
that takes place on the side.
不受邊境非法盜木所影響。
the insects, and the rest,
以及其他動物的聲音,
in recordings you heard,
at great distance.
who were posted around this sanctuary
戍守這個避護所,
to guard against illegal logging,
again as tourists, out into the forest,
我們再次以旅者的身份走入雨林,
who was just sawing a tree down,
有人剛剛把一顆樹鋸下來。
from the ranger station.
離警衛駐點數百公尺之外。
to hear the chainsaws,
the forest is very, very loud.
森林聲音非常、非常大。
that in this modern time,
from a ranger station in a sanctuary,
someone who has a chainsaw gets fired up.
but in fact, it was quite true.
但事實上,這是十分真確的。
always to come up with a high-tech,
工程師總想要高科技,
it has to be scalable,
while were there was that
that would allow us to stop this
already in the forest?
dedicated, three full-time guards,
what was happening out in the forest.
知道森林裡發生了什麼事。
out in the forest.
way out in the middle of nowhere.
from the nearest road,
but they had very good cell phone service,
但卻有很好的手機訊號,
were on Facebook all the time,
總是掛在Facebook,
that in fact it would be possible
of chainsaws programmatically,
to go up in the trees.
to listen to the sounds of the forest,
來聽取森林的聲音,
network that's there,
to this issue for them.
為他們找到解決方案。
to talk about saving the rainforest,
definitely all heard about forever.
have heard about saving the rainforest
has never changed:
it's super urgent,
have been destroyed yesterday.
昨日已被摧毀。
about half of the rainforest remains,
problems like climate change.
例如氣候變遷。
that I didn't realize at the time:
我當時並不知道
for more greenhouse gas
伐木造成的溫室氣體
trains, cars, trucks and ships combined.
卡車、船運加總還要多,
to climate change.
that takes place in the rainforest
like the illegal logging that we saw.
就像我們所看到的盜伐。
enforce the rules that are there,
執行當地的法律,
into this 17 percent
高達17%的溫室氣體,
in the short term.
fastest way to fight climate change.
最便宜、最快速的方法。
is heard in the forest,
of the chainsaw,
GSM network that's already there
發出警示
and stop the logging.
and finding a tree that's been cut.
才發現樹木被砍了。
a tree from a satellite
and fastest way to do it,
這是最便宜、最快速的方法,
they weren't able to do it,
他們無法做到,
were actually cell phones,
by the hundreds of millions every year,
which of course we should do,
當然我們應該算到;
to the sounds of the forest.
that you see here,
如你在此所見。
engineering challenges
under a tree canopy,
under a tree canopy,
solar panel design that you see here,
太陽能面板設計,
byproducts of an industrial process.
回收的副產品所組成的,
正將所有東西組裝在一起,
for allowing me to do that.
this is a device up in a tree.
這套設備在樹上的樣子。
is that they are pretty well obscured
they are able to hear chainsaw noises
about three square kilometers,
it would make the area unprotected.
這個區域就不受保護了。
we took it back to Indonesia,
我們帶著它回到印尼,
by illegal logging.
illegal chainsaw noises.
它擷取到非法的電鋸聲,
Everyone had just gotten back down.
大家才剛回到地面,
and they all quiet down,
until that moment.
to actually stop these loggers.
arrived close to where the loggers are.
where I'm actually regretting
開始感到後悔,
開始感到後悔,
the other side of this hill.
been interrupted before --
event for them,
they have not been back since.
自此之後他們再也沒來。
the entire operation works,
on the spot was that
in real time and stop people,
they won't come back.
讓他們不再回來。
because we told a lot of people,
也許是因為我們跟很多人說過了,
amazing stuff started to happen.
後來有些令人驚喜的東西開始發生。
started to send us emails, phone calls.
開始寄郵件和手機給我們,
throughout Asia,
people throughout South America,
他們也可以運用這個方法;
we thought might be exceptional,
pretty good cell phone service.
of the forests that are most under threat.
最深受威脅的地區。
really amazing happened,
their own old cell phones.
people who are already there,
and use the existing connectivity,
使用現有的網絡,
that are being sent to us
世界各地人們寄過來的舊手機,
世界各地人們寄過來的舊手機,
something else in their afterlife,
可以在丟棄後發揮功效,
can be completely recycled,
那會是全然升級改造的手機。
an entirely upcycled device.
because of any sort of high-tech solution.
不是因為任何高科技解決方案,
what's already there,
that if it's not phones,
going to be enough there
in new contexts.
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