App boosting Prey Lang network’s data collection
The number of illegal logging sites discovered within Prey Lang forest between April and July was 14 percent higher than the previous four-month period, according to a report released on December 15 by the Prey Lang Community Network based on data collected with a novel smartphone app. Members of the Prey Lang Community Network have patrolled the forest since 2001 to document cases of illegal logging, but poor data management made reporting haphazard. To solve this, nearly two years ago the PLCN adopted a new tool, created by the agency Web Essentials and the University of Copenhagen, to improve data collection methods and create a centralised database. Network members say the results are just starting to be felt, with the number of valid data entries increasing recently by 20 percent and new features added regularly. “We can see 32 chainsaws were confiscated this year in Kratie province,” said the University of Copenhagen’s Majken Soegaard, pointing out the tool’s capacity for precise data collection during a presentation in Phnom Penh on December 15.
