BIG_PICTURE
Sharing camera trap data to improve wildlife monitoring
What do we want to do?
The main objective of the BIG_PICTURE project is to bring together the enormous amount of species data that is collected by the thousands of wildlife camera traps (automatic cameras) distributed across Europe by professional researchers, citizen scientists and other private individuals.
By developing the appropriate electronic infrastructure (databases and artificial intelligence-driven image processing capability) and statistical tools for data analysis, the BIG_PICTURE project will facilitate the sharing, integration and joint analysis of data collected by many different institutions, allowing continental-scale assessments of species’ status.
Why is this relevant?
Europe’s wildlife is undergoing dramatic changes. Successful conservation efforts during the 20th century have led to the recovery of many large mammal species, such as wolf, lynx, red deer, and roe deer across the continent. Some species, like the golden jackal, have expanded into formerly unoccupied areas.
However, the continent on which these species are recovering and expanding is very different from the historic and prehistoric landscapes of the past. Europe is now a human-dominated landscape, with high human densities, massive habitat modification and many potential conflicts between recovering wildlife and the activities and interests of people.
In addition, changes in climate, land-use, and human values as well as the arrival of invasive species represent drivers of an ever-changing environment. This results in a need for constant adaptive management of wildlife species and populations, which requires access to up-to-date, accurate, and robust data on distributions and population trends – and this is where camera trap pictures become important.