In 2018, Columbia’s Supreme Court recognized the Amazon as having an “entity of rights”, meaning that each species that makes up the Amazon has some level of legal sanctity and protection. This decision is part of a larger global movement to recognize distinct natural environments as holders of legal rights, which in turn grants them additional protection and shifts the relationship from one of exploitation to mutual care (though the latter happens slowly). The Amazon Bank of Codes is a collaboration between the World Economic Forum, the Earth Bank of Codes, and the Earth Biogenome Project to code the genetic sequence of every living organism in the Amazon and store this information on a blockchain. This would mean safe storage for information as sensitive as the genetic makeup of the species and create the possibility of tracing illegal goods originating from the Amazon. However, in order for the Amazon Bank of Codes to become a reality, researchers would have the herculean task of physically collecting genetic material in one of the densest locations for biodiversity in the world, which is incredibly time-consuming, if not impossible. It is questionable whether or not this project could realistically be materialized, let alone be done fast enough to stop the deluge of deforestation and extinctions taking place due to climate change, habitat loss, resource exploitation, and natural disasters.
“The Technology That Might Save the Amazon.” Coinify, April 20, 2018. https://coinify.com/news/technology-save-the-amazon/?q=/technology-save-the-amazon/
Earth Bank of Codes. “Unleashing an inclusive bio-economy.” Accessed July 17, 2020. https://www.earthbankofcodes.org.
Categories
Blockchain, Ecological Monitoring, Industry/Natural Commodities
Air Pollution Robot
The dangers of air pollution to human health are well documented, though the traditional methodology of collecting and reporting on sample lags behind the need to keep abreast and regulate air pollution in a meaningful amount of time. The use of drones and robots have been identified by researchers as resources that can be tweaked […]
Artificial Life, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Ecological Monitoring, Industry/Natural Commodities, Lifestyle, Monitoring
Telematic Rivers
Erica Kermani’s artwork seeks to answer a central question: if rivers were seeing an equal, living entity, would humans take issues like climate change threatening them more seriously? In his year-long art exhibition in 2017, Kermani, in collaboration with Diana Salcedo & Jeana Chesnik, created a new forum of interaction between humans and rivers to […]
Climate Change, Ecological Monitoring, Lifestyle, Monitoring, Pollution, Visual Technologies
Co-occupied Boundaries
Art is easily found in nature but rarely is what considered art today inherently natural. The concept of co-occupied mediums that serve to be both functional for nature and aesthetically pleasing to people is being actively explored by Asya Ilgun and Phil Ayres, from the CITAstudio at The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts. In […]
Climate Change, Ecological Monitoring, Lifestyle, Monitoring, Pollution, Visual Technologies