TED: What can save the rainforest? Your used cell phone | Topher White

In 2011, a tourist visiting Borneo's rainforest was struck by its sounds, but missed the crucial noise of illegal logging. Despite having guards, the dense forest masked the sound of chainsaws. The speaker proposed a simple, scalable solution using existing cell phone connectivity to detect chainsaws and alert rangers in real-time. This approach could significantly reduce illegal logging, a major contributor to climate change. Testing in Indonesia proved successful, and the project gained global interest, with people donating old phones to support the initiative.

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