Capgemini Group helps The Nature Conservancy protect at-risk environments in the Mojave Desert using AI

PARIS – January 19, 2022 – Capgemini today announced its pro bono engagement with the Nevada chapter of The Nature Conservancy. As part of this project, Capgemini has helped identify indicators of landscape and ecosystem degradation in the Mojave Desert, and designed and delivered an AI solution to remotely detect and measure the impact of those indicators across the region.

The nearly 47 thousand square miles of the Mojave Desert are extraordinarily difficult to monitor, and the ecosystem is experiencing significant damage from the use of unauthorized off-highway vehicles across the landscape. To help The Nature Conservancy address these issues, and to raise awareness among off-highway vehicle drivers, Capgemini leveraged computer vision and machine learning technologies to monitor the impact on the Mojave Desert landscape and wildlife ecosystem.

Capgemini built a tool that uses AI and machine learning to study satellite imagery and identify trails created by off-road vehicles. This data is then compared with other relevant information, such as the nesting areas of protected species like the Mojave desert tortoise. Through this project, The Nature Conservancy is now able to identify and measure land degradations, reallocate resources to location-specific needs, and execute protective measures to preserve the land more effectively.

“Capgemini brings deep AI and data science expertise, and our innovative solution can help find and monitor land degradations in the Mojave Desert,” says Jerry Kurtz, Head of Insights and Data at Capgemini in North America. “We’re very hopeful that we will be able to apply this solution to a wide range of conservation efforts that help protect at-risk natural environments around the world.”

“Capgemini’s solution has been monitoring off-roading in a small portion of the Western Mojave. The solution has the possibility of helping to monitor degradation to the desert at scale,” says Michael Clifford, Nevada Conservation Scientist at The Nature Conservancy. “We are tremendously grateful for Capgemini’s work with TNC on this critical landscape.”

To learn more about Capgemini’s support for conservation efforts in the Mojave desert click here.