Bezos Earth Fund & Audubon Announcement
The National Audubon Society has been awarded $2 million through the Bezos Earth Fund’s AI for Climate and Nature Grand Challenge to advance AI-driven bird conservation across Latin America.
Launched in 2024, the Bezos Earth Fund’s AI for Climate and Nature Grand Challenge is a $100 million initiative designed to harness the power of artificial intelligence to tackle the dual crises of climate change and biodiversity loss. The program connects innovators with resources and mentorship from leading technology partners including AWS, Google.org, NVIDIA Corporation, Microsoft Research, AI2, and Esri.
“These projects show how AI, when developed responsibly and guided by science and local knowledge, can strengthen environmental action and ensure its overall impact on the planet is positive,” said Dr. Amen Ra Mashariki, Director of AI and Data Strategies at the Bezos Earth Fund.
The National Audubon Society has been selected as one of fifteen global organizations under the Grand Challenge, supported by WildMon and the Kitzes Lab at the University of Pittsburgh. As an implementing partner, WildMon will customize and deploy our cloud-based, AI-powered acoustic monitoring technology platform for Conserva Aves, a regional initiative partnering with 60+ local organizations to protect over 2 million hectares of critical bird habitat in Latin America.
“Audubon’s leadership in community-based conservation lays the groundwork for something truly transformative. This collaboration reflects what WildMon is all about: science that empowers, technology that connects, and conservation that includes everyone,” said Dr. Marconi Campos-Cerqueira, WildMon’s Chief Science Officer. “We’re grateful to bring our experience in ecoacoustics and AI to make biodiversity monitoring accessible to all. Turning the sounds of nature into knowledge helps the people who live closest to these places protect them for generations to come.”
This community-driven network bridges cutting-edge AI with local action, making biodiversity monitoring accessible, affordable, and scalable. By enabling local communities to transform sound recordings into biodiversity insights, they have a live, interactive decision-support system to guide conservation planning, adaptive management, and sustainable livelihoods.