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Chapter five - article two

Listening to a
Forest's Heartbeat

What does nature sound like? Previous generations knew how to decode its signals. To them, it was often a matter of life and death. Today, this ability has been lost to many, perhaps because it is no longer needed for survival.

Photo of 2 men marking a tree in a tropical jungle

Planet Indonesia

From a faint buzz to an almost imperceptible rustle of leaves, nature speaks volumes to those who listen. Its sounds form a heartbeat, a steady rhythm of life, often taken for granted. Local grassroots organization Planet Indonesia harnesses the power of sound and science to safeguard an irreplaceable natural treasure: the Heart of Borneo. They use highly sensitive microphones and AI-driven eco-acoustic software to decode the natural soundscapes of Borneo’s rainforests, and ultimately, protect the habitat and its species.

Their initiative is supported by Cartier for Nature, the Maison’s philanthropic initiative to conserve and restore biodiversity and ecosystems for the benefit of people and nature. Founded by the Maison in 2020, Cartier for Nature today supports more than 27 organizations around the world in their missions to preserve the planet. The Heart of Borneo bio-region spans the West and Central Kalimantan border and hosts the largest remaining Bornean orangutan population, as well as providing a habitat for various endangered species, including the helmeted hornbills, Bornean white-bearded gibbons and Sunda pangolins. Aware of the intimate knowledge Indigenous peoples have of their environment, Planet Indonesia works closely with local Dayak communities who live in this bio-region.

Tradition and innovation work hand in hand through this approach, supporting the management of natural resources and forest area in a way that is sustainable for people and the environment. Using a highly specialized program, Planet Indonesia analyzes the calls of different species to monitor the status of the ecosystem and register changes over time. This allows them to detect any new threats and measure the impact of their conservation work and enables the local communities to make data-driven conservation decisions.

Over an initial period of two years, the groups will track the heartbeat of this irreplaceable rainforest, listening to each voice, from whispers to roars. As they change and develop over time, they will generate evidence to support a protected network of “no-take” zones, areas of the forest that are particularly important for biodiversity and where no logging or other harvesting of natural resources is allowed. In time, Planet Indonesia hopes to expand such a network to further parks in Kalimantan, creating an interconnected haven of biodiversity, endorsed and protected by their communities.

Photo of network antenna installed in a forest

Novia Sagita and Adam Miller, cofounders of Planet Indonesia

Photo of Novia Sagita and Adam Miller sitting in the forest
This is the first time we have used the power of AI to conduct biodiversity monitoring, and it is opening new horizons helping us understand what is in the canopy and allowing communities to make the right conservation decisions for the forests they live in.
Adam Miller

Eco-Acoustics: An Orchestral Perspective

For over 40 years, Bernie Krause has collected almost 5,000 hours of sound recordings of natural habitats, both terrestrial and marine, inhabited by almost 15,000 animal species. Invited by the Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain, he created The Great Animal Orchestra, an exhibition that offered the public a wonderful immersion into the sound universe of animals. Revealing the beauty, diversity and complexity of the languages of wild animals in this poetic project, he also implores us to listen to the voices of the living, non-human world before they are definitively shrouded in silence.

Photo of audio recording equipment embedded in a tree

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