How geospatial intelligence, AI and ecological digital twins are shaping the future of chimpanzee conservation

Gombe, Tanzania, is one of the few conservation landscapes in the world where more than six decades of continuous field research are combined with cutting-edge geospatial innovation. In the place where Jane Goodall began her pioneering chimpanzee research in 1960, analogue behavioural protocols are now intersecting with Lidar, uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs), satellite constellations and generative artificial intelligence (GenAI). Dr Lilian Pintea, vice president of conservation science at the Jane Goodall Institute (JGI), is leading that transformation. In this exclusive interview with GIM International, he explains how geospatial technologies are reshaping long-term ecological research, restoration monitoring and human-centred conservation across Africa.

Gombe is one of the world’s longest-running wildlife research sites. How do you balance that legacy with rapid technological change?

Gombe is unique. It is the only place on Earth where we have five generations of chimpanzees documented continuously. That legacy is invaluable, but it also creates responsibility. We are custodians of more than 60 years of behavioural, ecological and environmental data. My role as one of the Gombe principal investigators is to bridge that analogue heritage with modern geospatial science. We are integrating UAV mapping, high-resolution multispectral imagery, Lidar-derived forest structure, satellite-based vegetation indices and AI-assisted transcription into one evolving knowledge system: the Gombe Research Platform.

You have been advocating the deployment of Lidar in East Africa for many years. What progress has been made?

We have conducted Lidar flights in Uganda in partnership with restoration initiatives and research institutions. Licensing took much longer than anticipated due to regulatory and infrastructural realities. But once deployed, the data was extraordinary. We could differentiate restored corridors from old-growth forest, measure canopy heights, detect detailed settlement structures and assess agricultural crops. For conservation planning, that level of structural precision changes everything. Restoration stops being anecdotal and becomes quantifiable.

Digitizing handwritten chimpanzee behavioural protocols sounds less glamorous. But why is that equally important?

Jane’s original chimpanzee behavioural protocols are still paper-based. The focal individual’s location, group size, feeding and other behaviours are logged every 15 minutes. Special events are written down continuously. Mother-infant interactions are recorded every one to two minutes. These notebooks contain a mix of Swahili and Kiha languages and locally developed shorthand. For decades, translation has depended on a handful of highly experienced staff. That creates vulnerability, plus the process is slow. For example, it would take 13 years to digitize and translate the remaining one third of paper protocols using the usual methods. Generative AI now offers an opportunity to accelerate transcription. Initial trials showed encouraging results from digitally scanned pages. With contextual prompt refinement, accuracy improved significantly. The goal is not automation for its own sake, but safeguarding and scaling access to one of the richest behavioural datasets in the world.

You describe your long-term ambition as building an ecological digital twin. What does that entail?

In ecological terms, a digital twin means creating a dynamic, real-time virtual replica of an ecosystem by integrating multiple data streams: 3D vegetation models from Lidar, daily NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index, Ed.) and environmental layers from satellite constellations, real-time acoustic monitoring, soil moisture sensors, and hydrological and other data. During a recent wildfire in Gombe, satellite imagery from Planet allowed us to track the fire’s progression in near real time and inform response teams. Synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data from ICEYE also helped us generate high- resolution 3D videos and map human structures under the tree canopies and through the clouds and darkness. The next step is embedding continuous sensor networks. The technological components exist. The bottleneck is in the last-mile challenges of applying conservation technologies – such as limited resources and local capacity for deploying and maintaining resilient, low-power IoT infrastructure in remote tropical environments.

How does this technological expansion fit within your philosophy of human-centred conservation?

Technology must serve people. Farmers in western Tanzania are facing increasingly unpredictable rainfall patterns. Traditional ecological cues for planting are less reliable due to climate change. If geospatial analytics can help anticipate rainfall variability or guide land-use planning that reduces vulnerability to flash floods by restoring and protecting local forests, that directly strengthens livelihoods. Stronger livelihoods combined with spatially explicit and locally led, smart land-use planning efforts reduce pressure on forests. AI and geospatial tools are powerful, but they must enhance community resilience rather than replace local knowledge.

Climate change appears increasingly central to your work. How has the landscape altered over the past decade?

Local communities do not debate climate change; they experience it. Lake Tanganyika (which borders Gombe, Ed.) has reached record levels. Flooding events are more frequent. Dry and wet seasons no longer follow historical patterns. For subsistence farmers, a failed harvest means immediate food insecurity. This shifts conservation from being solely biodiversity-focused to being deeply intertwined with climate adaptation and land-use planning.

Uganda offers a complex example of chimpanzee-human coexistence. What lessons emerge from there?

Uganda demonstrates what future conservation landscapes may resemble: high human population density, habitat loss driven by expansion of agriculture, settlements, mining and logging, fragmented forests, and wildlife adapting behaviourally to survive. Chimpanzees have adjusted their feeding patterns and in some cases altered their activity timing. People-wildlife conflicts occur frequently, which makes community engagement essential. The JGI works with thousands of private forest owners, local communities and government organizations to restore corridors and implement detailed land-use planning. High-resolution satellite imagery from Vantor and Planet provides local decision-makers with an objective and transparent view of illegal human activities, and Lidar and spatial analysis quantify restoration success. Meanwhile, education supports coexistence.

Beyond Lidar and AI transcription, which other emerging geospatial technologies do you see as transformative?

High-resolution satellite constellations delivering daily imagery, UAV-based multispectral mapping, acoustic biodiversity sensors and advanced analytics are all already reshaping field science and conservation practice. But generative AI applied to decades of unstructured ecological observations may prove equally transformative. The key is interoperability. We are building science and knowledge platforms that remove the silos between the data and allow it to serve multiple applications, from conservation planning to education and policy reporting.

Jane Goodall famously asked why the most intelligent species is destroying its own home. How do you reflect on that today?

Chimpanzees exhibit ‘war-like’ behaviour and sometimes eliminate individuals from neighbouring communities without awareness of long-term consequences, such as reducing their own community’s genetic diversity and viability. From above, that seems self-defeating. Humans, however, possess planetary awareness. We can see land-use transformation and understand the impact of biodiversity loss and climate trajectories. The difficulty lies not in awareness, but in converting that knowledge into action with compassion and aligning governance, economics and collective behaviour with long-term planetary stewardship. Despite the challenges, restoration successes and properly used technological advances give hope.

About Lilian Pintea

Lilian Pintea is vice president of conservation science at the Jane Goodall Institute. He specializes in integrating geographic information systems (GIS), remote sensing, UAVs and AI into habitat protection and community-led conservation across Africa.

About Jane Goodall and the JGI

Dr Jane Goodall was a British ethologist who rose to global prominence through her groundbreaking study of wild chimpanzees in Gombe, Tanzania, which began in 1960. She died peacefully in her sleep aged 91 on 1 October 2025 while in the USA for her speaking tour. Today, the Jane Goodall Institute (JGI) operates across more than 30 countries, advancing her vision through wildlife research and rehabilitation, community-led conservation and youth engagement.

The JGI is increasingly relevant to the geoinformation community because of its systematic embrace of geospatial technology. Through its signature community-led conservation approach called Tacare, the institute deploys satellite imagery, drone surveys and GIS-based land-use mapping to monitor forest cover, track habitat loss and support local communities in sustainable land management.

The institute is committed to Dr Goodall’s broader vision: that conservation only succeeds when local people are stewards of their own landscapes. Under the leadership of Dr Lilian Pintea, the institute is working with local communities and governments towards more accurate and accessible spatial data as a strong and helpful tool for conservation and land-use initiatives that benefit people, other animals and our shared environment.