Life on Earth is disappearing faster than we can track it. But innovative solutions can't scale without accessible, reliable data.

This film showcases two UK-developed technologies being adapted for use in Kenya and Colombia—making biodiversity monitoring faster, cheaper, and accessible where it's needed most. Published on November 6th 2025, it marks one year since COP16 Colombia called for capacity-building in biodiversity conservation for low- and middle-income countries.

🦋 In Kenya: The UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (UKCEH) has found ways to manufacture their AMI (Automated Monitoring of Insects) system locally at 50% of the cost, making insect monitoring—previously too expensive and difficult—finally viable for conservation planning.

🧬 In Colombia: Oxford Nanopore Technologies' MinION device enables portable DNA sequencing to tackle illegal wildlife trafficking, reducing costs from $14 to $0.46 per sequence and delivering results in 48 hours instead of weeks.

Both technologies fit in a backpack. Both demonstrate what's possible when cutting-edge innovation meets genuine co-design and local ownership.

📊 READ THE FULL REPORT: Frontier Tech for Biodiversity - What we've learned from supporting early-stage biodiversity technologies and innovations https://www.frontiertechhub.org/resources/tech-for-biodiversity-monitoring

Featured Contributors: Dr. Jenna Lawson, Biodiversity Scientist, UKCEH Dr. Aaron Pomerantz, Director of Global Segment Marketing, Oxford Nanopore Technologies