Jocotoco’s acoustic AI helps Kichwa communities protect 5,000 hectares
Jocotoco’s acoustic AI classified two million Amazon recordings in three months and gave two Kichwa communities species data with which Yakuwarmi protected more than 5,000 hectares in two areas.
2for an organization
The foundation classified more than two million recordings in three months instead of a year or more.
3for society
Two Kichwa communities used the species data in their management plans, and more than 5,000 hectares of their territory became Ecuador’s first community-declared conservation areas.
Fundación Jocotoco’s data scientists retrain foundation audio models to recognize the species of the Ecuadorian Amazon by their calls, and the same tool flags the sounds of threats, chainsaws and gunshots among them. Mongabay Latam reported from Napo province on 28 May 2026. The foundation collected more than two million recordings between 2023 and 2025 around its Narupa reserve, and the AI let it classify and analyze them in three months, where analog recorders and manual analysis had taken a year or more to yield results. The work produced a confirmed list of species, which the scientists handed to the Kichwa communities of Santa Rita and San Francisco for their management plans. Yakuwarmi, a local organization led by women, used the information to conserve more than 5,000 hectares of the communities’ territory through two protected areas, the first in Ecuador declared by local inhabitants under the OMEC process. Since October 2025 the foundation has also installed acoustic monitors in Narupa that process sounds in real time. The report notes that the data from the latest processing were awaiting validation. The figures are Mongabay Latam’s account of the foundation’s work.
Two Kichwa communities and one local organization used the data. Source
Duration
5
Two protected areas were created, a lasting change to the territory's status. Source
Distribution
4
The benefit reached two Indigenous Kichwa communities, which the source describes as the first local inhabitants in Ecuador to declare protected areas. Source
Probability
3
Realized.
Frequency
1
One species list led to one pair of declarations. Source
Compared with
Manual analysis of recordings from analog recorders. Assumed. No one measured it.
The AI classified the recordings and flagged threats, which produced the species list that the communities used. Jocotoco’s scientists retrained the models and validated the results, and the communities and Yakuwarmi made the conservation decisions. The figures come from Mongabay Latam’s reporting.
Limits
The figures come from one report of the foundation’s work, and the data from the latest processing were still awaiting validation. The report does not say when the two areas were declared.
Yakuwarmi, una organización local liderada por mujeres, usó la información para conservar más de 5000 hectáreas de su territorio con la creación de dos áreas protegidas.
La IA, que también capta sonidos de amenazas como motosierras y disparos, ha permitido a dos comunidades indígenas kichwa proteger y planificar su territorio.
La Fundación Jocotoco recopiló más de 2 000 000 de audios entre 2023 y 2025. La IA les permitió clasificar y analizar esta vasta cantidad de datos en solo tres meses.
Este encadenamiento de pasos fue clave para que los territorios de las comunidades se convirtieran en las dos primeras áreas protegidas por pobladores locales en Ecuador, proceso conocido como Otras Medidas Efectivas de Conservación Basadas en Áreas (OMEC).
lista confirmada de especies que entregaron a las comunidades kichwa Santa Rita y San Francisco para que estas, a su vez, puedan utilizar los datos científicos en sus planes de manejo
Los datos están esperando ser validados.
Details
AI system
Workflow
Foundation audio models retrained by the foundation’s data scientists on recordings from the Amazon. Recorders in the forest and, since October 2025, monitors that process sound in real time. Communities that put the species data into their management plans and an organization that carried the declaration through.
Follow-up
Conditions for replication
The recordings must be collected and the model retrained for the local species. The classifications must be validated by scientists before they are handed over. Communities need a legal route, here the OMEC process, to declare protected areas.
The entry
Sector
Biodiversity monitoring and community conservation. Non-profit conservation with Indigenous community partners.
Purpose
Fundación Jocotoco retrains acoustic AI models to identify the species and the threats recorded in Amazon forests, so that communities and the foundation can plan conservation.
Cite this benefit
Peter H. Vartanian. (2026). Jocotoco's acoustic AI helps Kichwa communities protect 5,000 hectares (AIBD-1239). Artificial Intelligence Benefits Database. https://w3id.org/aibd/AIBD-1239 (archived at https://doi.org/10.57967/hf/11470)