Page 148 - Connecting cities and communities with the Sustainable Development Goals

United for Smart Sustainable Cities
Connecting cities and communities with the Sustainable Development Goals

1 Introduction

1.1 Background
The vulnerability faced by animals and other terrestrial species is unquestionable. The expanding urban
terrain has highlighted the need for the protection of all species living in cities, as well as for those at the
brink of bearing the effects of human civilization.
As humans are further encroaching on many forest areas, many species find themselves to be at the mercy
of human activities. This has resulted in the fragmentation of natural habitats and put animals in the danger
of road accidents, poaching and other mishaps.
The rise in these incidences goes against Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 15 which strives to ensure the
conservation and sustainable use of terrestrial land and forests along with the prevention of loss of
biodiversity.

This case study presents an overview of a study on wildlife monitoring conducted by the China Academy of
Transportation Sciences and Changbai Mountain Academy of Sciences. This case study will also examine
other technologies which can be used for animal protection and nature conservation.

1.2 Challenge and response

The Changbai Mountain National Nature Reserve is located in the Jilin province of north-east China. More
than 1225 fauna species are found in this region. Nearly 4% of the species in this region have been declared
protected species including the sable, Siberian roe deer, and Siberian weasel. Amur tigers are also found
here.
There is a fenced four-way expressway called JiYan expressway. This expressway bisects two national nature
reserves, namely the Changbai Mountain Nature Reserve and the Wangqing Nature Reserve. Between these
reserves and along the expressway, certain wildlife-crossing structures have been built to allow for the
movement of wildlife.
The study in China on which this document is based, is the first of its kind to monitor wildlife movements
through a tunnel along the expressway using infrared camera surveillance technology in China.
Given the evident encroachment into wildlife areas, this case study based on the findings of the pilot project
in the Changbai Mountain National reserve, aims to analyse the plausible deterrents for animals not using
the crossing structures and will highlight other technologies which can be used to safeguard animals.

2 Implementation

For this pilot project, infrared cameras were set at equal distances apart along the tunnel and other crossing
structures.

These cameras were put up from between the following time periods:
(i) 16 September to 15 December, 2011
(ii) 10 May to 26 July, 2012
(iii) 30 April to 11 December, 2013

In order to increase the chances of detecting wildlife, the cameras were installed at the known locations of
animal sightings. Some cameras were put on trees at a height of 0.5m to be able to gather high resolution
photos of both medium and large wildlife species. Appropriate changes to camera angles were made based
on weather changes including snow and other foreseen obstructions.
The data from this project was collected and recorded in a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet for later reference.

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