New tools and AI technologies to empower insect research and conservation

Biodiversity globally is in crisis according to the latest WWF report. It is estimated that wildlife populations have been reduced by 69% since the 1970s. There is also mounting evidence that populations of insects around the world are in sharp decline. Without insects, we will lose functions and services crucial for human, animal and ecosystem health such as pollination, biological control, and decomposition—insect conservation and protection are more important than ever.

Understanding trends in insect populations at local, national, regional and global scales is crucial for insect conservation. Traditionally, experts use various techniques to study insects. New sensors and Artificial Intelligence have revolutionised how we monitor living things and offer exciting opportunities to learn more about the natural world.

But can technology and Artificial Intelligence help us understand more the trends in insect populations? How should image-based and AI-assisted tools be developed and applied to support insect monitoring and conservation at the national and continental scale to understand and counteract widespread insect declines? These are some of the questions the COST Action ‘InsectAI, Using Image-based AI for Insect Monitoring & Conservation‘, will try to address in the next 5 years.

Introducing InsectAI

InsectAI aims to run workshops, conferences, short-term scientific missions, hackathons, design sprints, and more across four Working Groups. These groups will explore how image-based insect AI technologies can best address Societal Needs. Supporting innovation in Image Collection hardware will create standardised approaches for Image Processing and develop novel Data Analysis and Integration methods for turning data into actionable insights.

“This transition requires that image-based insect AI technologies are developed to be used by ecologists and that ecologists are trained in the key concepts of these technologies” says the Chair of the COST Action InsectAI, Dr Tom August from the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology.

The Cyprus Institute in collaboration with the Enalia Physis Environmental Research Centre and the Joint Services Health Unit are delighted to host the first Management and Working Group meeting in Cyprus, at the Akrotiri Environmental Education Centre from the 26-28 of June 2024. On the morning of Wednesday, the 26th of June, entomologists, ecologists and computer scientists from Cyprus are invited to visit the Akrotiri Environmental Education Centre to meet with InsectAI COST experts, learn about the project, and see first-hand the set of tools and technologies in place.

The workshop will address fundamental questions including ‘How do we analyse the data collected by these systems?’, ‘What are the pressing environmental questions that these technologies can help answer?’ and ‘How do we make sure that the data these technologies generate are easy to share and reuse? This will set the foundation for the next four years of work to realise the potential of these new tools for researchers and insect conservation.

“I am sure that the meeting will trigger a lot of interest and create opportunities for networking and many international collaborations for Cypriot researchers in the field of Insect AI,” says the local organiser and host Dr Kelly Martinou from The Cyprus Institute, Enalia Physis and JSHU

The InsectAI COST Action aims to investigate how image-based and AI-assisted tools can be developed and applied for insect monitoring and conservation. Over 200 members, including engineers, computer scientists, ecologists, taxonomists, museum curators, statisticians and citizen scientists, from 40 countries, will work together to understand and combat widespread insect declines.

Additional Information

View the Action webpage

View the network website

For more information about the workshop at the Akrotiri Environmental Education Centre, the agenda and speakers will be available soon. Please contact Dr Kelly Martinou.