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Jimmy Leonardo Pinedo Silva, Conservation International, Peru
2019 Status: Remote Sensing Coordinator at Conservation International, Peru since 2018
2017 Status: ECOAN - Alto Mayo Protected Forest street address Alto Mayo office: Entry Highway Posic S/N to 100m from Highway Fernando Belaúnde Terry, Rioja City, province Rioja, Department San Martín, Peru. Main office: Urbanization La Florida D-1B Passage Los Pinos, Wanchaq, Cusco – Perú.
email: caucca@ecoanperu.org, URL: http://www.ecoanperu.org/
your current organization:
The Asociación Ecosistemas Andinos (ECOAN) is a non-profit, non-governmental organization based in Peru, whose mission is to conserve species of plants animals in danger of extinction and threatened ecosystems through direct biodiversity protection and sustainable use of natural resources in partnership with local communities and governments at the local, regional and national level. ECOAN has several projects in Peru, including the management of the Reservations Biological Station Long-whiskered Owlet and the implementation of conservation agreements in the Alto Mayo Protected Forest (AMPF).
The AMPF is a category of Protected Natural Area that is part of the National System of Natural Protected Areas of Peru. It covers 182,000 hectares and was created to conserve and protect the water springs, forest cover, and endemic species. The major driver of deforestation is the conversion to coffee plantation, as inadequate technique is used, the coffee productivity decreases after few years and farmers abandon the crops to clear new areas. In order to break this cycle, ECOAN provides support on best, organic agriculture practices to farmers that are willing to conserve the forest. This voluntary conservation agreement is the framework to halt deforestation, while providing livelihood alternative to the local population. The support from ECOAN goes beyond of agriculture extension, it includes the provision of improved cookstove, ecological baths, sanitary landfills, small animal breeding modules, and technical assistance in ecotourism, birdwatching, and orchids watching. In addition to the support to AMPF management, ECOAN also collaborates with the coffee producers cooperative (COOPBAM as per its acronym in Spanish - Cooperativa de Servicios Múltiples Bosques del Alto Mayo), which commercializes organic certified coffee and since 2015 has been exporting high premium coffee to special markets.
ECOAN implements these activities in the AMPF under a contact with Conservation International Peru – who is the co-manager of the protected areas along with National Authority of Protected Areas (SERNANP – as per its acronym in Spanish Servicio Nacional de Áreas Naturales Protegidas por el Estado)
your personal role in the organization:Please describe your personal role in the organization:
I started working in Alto Mayo Protected Forest (AMPF) in April 2013 right after graduating from the university. I was hired as the GIS technician with the main duties of georeferencing and mapping the parcels of coffee crops, and creating a database. This mapping is being used to monitor the adoption of agroforestry system as part of the conservation agreements, as well as assist on the logistics of technical assistance.
Due to knowledge in GIS and interest with satellite images I was invited to participate in the demo flight of IRIS+ UAV acquired by Conservation International for the forest monitoring in the Alto Mayo Protected Forest, and since that I have been coordinating and managing the use of UAVs for Conservation International, including the processing and orthomosaicing of high resolution images from the mission flights. In November 2016, Conservation International acquired 4 fixed-wings UAVs, which I was trained to flight and now, I am the responsible for operating of them, including developing the mission plans.
Additionally, I am in charge of testing and assessing the INREACH - equipment for satellite communication that will expand the mobile coverage inside the AMPF, and will be used by different teams of AMPF when performing field activities; as for example: uplink of deforestation alerts (chain saw sounds) identified by acoustic sensors to the server, which will alert the park rangers via email.
history of your personal work in conservation and GIS:My work with GIS and conservation is a blend of dreams and career paths. Since I was kid, I wish to know more about the Earth and the universe; I was interested in the environment conservation and dreamed to be a pilot, so I could observe the Earth from the sky. Now, as a grown up, I combine GIS techniques tocreate thematic maps, use remote sensing techniques for analysis of the cover land change and aeronautic principles and photogrammetry to fly unmanned aerial vehicle, and the better part is that doing so I help the conservation of the environment.
I lived in several different cities like Tarapoto, Moyobamba, Rioja and Tingo María but always very close to the forests of Peru. All these places have in common is the beautiful landscapes with lush forest and amazing biodiversity, but at the same time these landscapes faces lot of threats like: forest conversion to unsustainable crops, illegal logging, mining and disordered urban growth. By observing the risk that these threats pose on the integrity of ecosystems and it environmental services, I decided to study Environmental Engineering aiming to find alternatives solutions.
During my undergrad studies I participated in a network of students passionate about the environment, culture and research, this voluntary group was called Environmental University Network (Red Universitaria Ambiental – RUA) and has been integrating young students from different universities of Perú since 16 years ago.
My interest for technology made me bought a multirotor UAV, which now is my favorite hobby. I learn more about aeronautics while having fun. In my free time I experiment different flight's missions, features and settings to collect photos and analyze the orthomosaic results. This resulted in some technological exchange l with the team of biologists from Museum of Natural History in Lima. In a joint venture we create map of Abra Patricia Conservation’s Area (Amazonas Region of Peru) to assist their studies on parasite plants of high trees and mapping its forest cover.
Presently I have wife and a 3-year old child, and parallel to my professional career, I am promoting a small company of ecotourism called Ruparupa Tours. Our family project is based on the use of natural resources in the San Martín Region, always working hand to hand with local communities, so that we can all improve our community. The GIS will also help this project as we plan to map the places and plan best routes for our trackers, including the implement an interactively mobile system.
2017 Conference paper "Integrated real-time monitoring of the Alto Mayo Protected Forest with unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) systems and acoustic sensors."
*-Abstract/summary
The objective of this project is detect illegal deforestation at real-time for a rapid response. The monitoring system starts with acoustic sensors installed in tree canopy, which record sounds and when a chain saw is identified a signal is sent to the server. The acoustic sensors are old cell phones powered by solar panels, and the signal is uploaded in the server via mobile network. There is not much mobile coverage in the Alto Mayo Protected Forest and to overcome such barrier, an antenna was installed that expanded the coverage. Then the server sends an email alerting the subscribers (i.e. park rangers) about the activity via Firecast platform. Based on the alert a flight mission with unmanned aerial vehicle is planned and an overflight to verify and map the activity is made. The outcomes from the flight orient the park rangers in the implementation of the best strategy based on informed decision. The project is in the implementation of a pilot phase, which counts with 10 sensors, and the first results were transmitted in January 2017. A second phase is being planned which will included the expansion to the entire protected area and the analysis of biodiversity vocalizations.
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