Every year Americans spend $10.6 billion on Halloween decorations. They also spend $66.9 billion on pet food, which makes the comparatively ‘paltry’ amount of $4 billion to clean up the Great Pacific Garbage Patch (GPGP) within five years seem like a bargain.

The GPGP, which first came to the attention of the world in the 1990s, is the huge collection of plastic rubbish accumulated over decades that is caught in a gyre of four currents between North America and Japan.

As National Geographic explains it, ‘the area in the centre of a gyre tends to be very calm and stable. The circular motion of the gyre draws debris into this stable centre, where it becomes trapped. A plastic water bottle discarded off the coast of California, for instance, takes the California current south toward Mexico. There, it may catch the North Equatorial current, which crosses the vast Pacific. Near the coast of Japan, the bottle may travel north on the powerful Kuroshiro current. Finally, the bottle travels eastward on the North Pacific current. The gently rolling vortexes of the Eastern and Western Garbage Patches [which make up the GPGP] gradually draw in the bottle.’

And there the bottle stays, gentling bobbing along. Eventually over much time, it breaks down into dangerous micro plastics that are consumed by fish. Blue Ocean says plastic pollution makes up to 74% of a sea turtle’s diet in the GPGP. Estimates vary about how much plastic there is in the GPGP, but it is reckoned to consist of between 1.1 trillion and 3.6 trillion pieces weighing 100 000 tons in total. Faced with these sorts of numbers, how will it ever be possible to clean this mess up?

That’s where technology comes in. Boyan Slat of the Netherlands became obsessed with waste in the oceans when he was a schoolboy and ‘saw more plastic bags than fish when scuba diving in Greece’. While studying aerospace engineering he started experimenting with various prototypes of what would eventually become a ‘passive’ collection system that could be deployed floating on the ocean surface, towed at less than walking pace and using the currents to pick up plastic. By the time he was 20 he had started the Ocean Cleanup, an NPO.

After years of development and practical trials the latest system, called 03, which is more than 2 km long, returned to San Francisco in September this year. ‘Over the past three years, the Ocean Cleanup has removed more than 1 million pounds of trash from the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, or 0.5% of the total accumulated trash. The data and modelling of these and future operations conclusively prove that the problem is solvable within a decade and could be done in five years at a cost of $4 billion,’ according to the organisation. ‘Through the hard work of the past 10 years, humanity has the tools needed to clean up the ocean. We have shown the world that the impossible is now possible. The only missing thing is who will ensure this job gets done,’ said Slat.

Protection of the environment is one of the most pressing challenges of the 21st century, threatening ecosystems, economies and societies on a global scale. In order to address this existential threat, the use of the latest technological advances is not just beneficial but essential. As the impact of humans on the Earth becomes more severe, innovations in clean energy, carbon capture, sustainable agriculture and climate monitoring, among others, can provide powerful tools to mitigate climate change.

Traditional methods alone are insufficient to meet these targets. This is where the latest technology becomes crucial – it can scale up sustainable solutions faster than conventional approaches.

‘Technology is the most potent agent of change. It is an amplifier of our human capabilities,’ Slat told the Economist. ‘Whereas other change agents rely on reshuffling the existing building blocks of society, technological innovation creates entirely new ones, expanding our problem-solving toolbox.’

One person engaged in solving some of these puzzles is SA ecologist Shannon Conradie. In October, she was awarded the Jennifer Ward Oppenheimer Grant for her work ‘using scenario modelling to understand and predict changes in desert birds’ behaviour as they respond to global temperature change’.She was selected from among 630 applicants in 41 countries.

‘Conradie’s work aims to use science-based, advanced technology and biophysical modelling to understand and predict species’ thermal vulnerabilities, breeding outcomes and population stability under global change across sub-Saharan Africa,’ according to a statement from the Oppenheimer Generations Research and Conservation organisation, which awards the grant. The SA-based organisation is working to bridge the gap between cutting-edge research into nature-based solutions to the climate and biodiversity crisis.

‘Desert birds generally live close to their thermal limits due to the harsh conditions and scarcity of resources in these systems,’ says Conradie. ‘As a result, they are often most at risk, and by investigating how species in these systems are capable of surviving here, we may gain insight into how other species may adapt as conditions in other systems start to experience hotter and more extreme temperatures. Some of the species that my work focuses on include Southern Yellow-billed Hornbills, White-browed Sparrow-weavers and Southern Pied Babblers. These birds are generally common in arid environments but are already experiencing some consequences associated with hotter conditions. For instance, we are starting to see patterns of species forgoing breeding when it gets very hot or reduce their foraging efficiency, which has consequences for their ability to maintain body condition.’

Technology has been a key element in her research work. ‘I think it is imperative that scientists use applications of the latest technology as these tools often enhance data collection and accuracy. For instance, the use of drone technology dramatically enhances how data is collected and the fine-scale accuracy of that data. We can use these types of approaches to do animal counts, spatial mapping of the environment and many more applications that involve wildlife management and monitoring. Using the latest technology can also bring about new research questions and even fields of research that would otherwise not be possible.’

Conradie says that although the research is just beginning, they are finding that there are several interdisciplinary linkages to studying how animals are connected to their environments and how changes to environmental conditions may disrupt these connections.

Protecting SA’s wildlife has been an important aspect of environmental work since the early days of conservation.

In recent years, however, poaching has become a serious problem. Rhinos, killed for their horns, which are used in potions in the Far East, have been particularly affected. In 2023, according to Save the Rhino, 499 rhinos were killed in SA. This alarming rise in poaching has necessitated urgent action, especially with regard to collaboration with the corporate world, which has the expertise to leverage the power of technology to develop products to make huge contributions to wildlife protection.

‘Technology is vital in this war against poaching,’ Johan Jooste, former chief ranger of the Kruger National Park (KNP), told Defenceweb. ‘When I joined more than 10 years ago, the mood was shoot to kill, hot pursuit and build a wall, but we who have been to war know that is futile.’ Jooste, a former general in the army, was appointed in 2012 to head the KNP’s ranger force – responsible for an area that covers over 19 455 km² and is 350 km long from north to south and 60 km wide from east to west. At the time KNP was facing the real prospect of having its prized population of rhinos eradicated by poaching syndicates.

One of the projects Jooste championed was a ground-based radar system, Postcode Meerkat, developed by the CSIR with financial help from the UK, Dutch and Swedish postcode lotteries. It uses a ground surveillance radar sensor to detect and localise the movements of suspicious objects, and an electro-optic day and night sensor to classify these as either human or animal. Information regarding the suspicious object is displayed in a control room on a geo-referenced electronic map, providing immediate intelligence that can be followed up by counter-poaching teams.

Postcode Meerkat has been a big success. According to Peace Parks, ‘more than 95% of poacher activity in Meerkat’s deployment areas has been detected, 65% of suspected poachers arrested and 80% of rhino poaching incidents disrupted’.

Drones, satellite monitoring and the use of AI to crunch data are other tech tools that have been making a difference. And there is more to come too.

‘The rangers of the near future will be even better connected, wearing “smart” lightweight body armour fitted with sensors; heads-up displays delivering information via glass monocles; smart watches and arm-mounted satellite devices; and effective but non-lethal weapons,’ Jooste told Defenceweb. ‘We could even see rangers riding silently through the bush on electric bikes, or flying in individual personal aviation vehicles, skimming across the bush at treetop level.

‘The sky literally is the limit when it comes to protecting rhinos, with satellites, aircraft balloons and flying rangers all conceivable weapons in the war against poaching.’

Image: Gallo/Getty Images