Background
An international coffee brand wanted to tackle the widespread perception that coffee farming is harmful to the environment. To counter this, they needed to demonstrate the positive biodiversity contribution of their farming systems using accurate data.
Scaling Biodiversity Monitoring
The primary obstacle was the monitoring method itself. Traditional biodiversity monitoring methods are not only expensive and time-consuming but also lack scalability. These methods rely heavily on manual field surveys and expert identification, which makes it difficult to extend monitoring across multiple farms or regions. The company needed a credible, science-based, and cost-effective solution to prove the ecological value of their agroforestry systems to stakeholders.
AI-Powered Bioacoustic Analysis
The Landbanking Group partnered with the brand to evaluate one of their coffee farms in Costa Rica.
- A local team was trained to deploy bioacoustic devices across the landscape.
- These devices enabled the passive monitoring of bird activity.
- The collected bioacoustic recordings were uploaded to the Landler platform.
- On the platform, advanced analysis identified species presence and abundance at scale, replacing the need for time-intensive manual expert identification.
Fast, Scalable, and Credible Data
The Landler bioacoustic analysis identified 69 bird species in the study area, including 2 vulnerable and 3 near-threatened species. This data served to validate the results of the on-the-ground manual observation, proving the platform's accuracy.
The project successfully demonstrated the ecological value of their coffee system and highlighted the efficiency of bioacoustic monitoring. Compared to traditional methods, the Landler solution provided a faster, more scalable, and more cost-effective approach to biodiversity tracking. This generated credible, science-based insights the company can use for sustainability reporting and stakeholder communication.
