The Swedish Association for Hunting and Wildlife Management (SJF) and the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) are now collaborating to develop Viltbild, a platform for collecting and analyzing images from camera traps.
The platform will be ready to be used starting from 2024.
As early as 2019, SJF and SLU made a declaration of intent to work together with new technology in wildlife monitoring. Now we take the next step together and create a platform for coordination and analysis of camera trap images.
“Changes in the regulations of camera trap use and the technical developments gives us great opportunities to obtain new unique knowledge about our wild animals which will be used in the management of wildlife populations. At the same time, creating a user-friendly platform will create great value for our members” says Lennart Johannesson, member of the federal board and responsible for, among other things, digital development.
Filip Ånöstam is responsible for the SJF to produce Viltbild, he also sees great opportunities with the technical development in the area.
“We have many thoughts and ideas on functionalities in the platform to facilitate the use of camera traps and make the images end up in a larger context, it can for example be about artificial intelligence and smart feedback to the user. Now it’s just a matter of getting everything in place” says Filip.
Viltbild will be a useful tool in several current ecological challenges such as detection and tackle of wildlife diseases outbreaks or invasive alien species. The platform will also facilitate and improve the national inventory of large predators. and the management of other game species.
“The platform will provide completely new opportunities to monitor changes in the populations of, for example, wild boar and red deer” says Fredrik Widemo, one of the wildlife researchers at SLU who will work within the project. This is something that is in principle demanded by all actors today.
Source: Filip Ånöstam, Swedish Association for hunting and wildlife management
Country: Sweden
Starting date: 2021
Species: Huntable species, Birds, Protected species, Invasive Alien species, Mammals,
Species characteristics: Huntable species, Birds, Protected species, Invasive Alien species, Mammals,
Type of actions: Research and data collection, Management of habitats and wildlife
Leading partner: Swedish Association for hunting and wildlife management
Other partners: Swedish University of Agricultural science
