Monitoring Tools for Indigenous Territories in the Amazon

Rainforest Alert was developed by Rainforest Foundation US to support Indigenous communities in the Peruvian Amazon to protect their territories against deforestation . A regional data hub assesses satellite imagery for deforestation activity using the Global Forest Watch app . If deforestation is detected, information is passed on to Indigenous patrollers who can verify whether deforestation is taking place, with the aim that Indigenous communities can decide a course of action, often involving state interventions or law enforcement .

How do these technologies enable but also limit collective action for forest defence? A study by Slough et al. (2021) found that the Rainforest Alert system may have contributed to a reduction in tree cover loss in Peruvian Amazon territories over a two year period. The study also notes a shift in community dynamics, suggesting that the introduction of remote monitoring technologies contributed to a 'bureaucratization' of forest monitoring through which monitors and patrollers became positioned as authorities.