SMART training

Building on the regional exchange of experiences in the Kazakh Irgiz-Turgay Nature Reserve in September, a training on the introduction of the modern and digitally supported monitoring system SMART (Spatial Monitoring and Reporting Tool) took place in Nukus (Uzbekistan). 30 rangers and scientists from the two desert protected areas Südustjurt (IUCN II) and Saigachy (IUCN Ib) took part in the training.

16 smartphones and other technology were handed over to the protected areas. With these, the rangers can now patrol the protected areas with digital support, record illegal activities and document sightings and traces of wildlife. Digital data processing allows for quick analyses and much less unpopular "paperwork". With increasing use of SMART, a complex understanding of spatial and temporal patterns of emerging threats to protected areas can be developed, on the basis of which management measures can be adaptively adjusted. The training also showed that the use of SMART has a highly motivating effect on the rangers.

The training was organised jointly with GIZ as part of the project "Strengthening digital conservation practices in desert protected areas". It is part of the regional project "Ecologically oriented regional development in the Aral Sea Region" (EcoAral), which is being implemented in Uzbekistan (Karakalpakstan) on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). The work with the Saigachy Protected Area was organised together with Flora Fauna International (FFI).