Video summary
Rainforests are home to more than half of the planet's plant and animal species, yet they face an urgent crisis with a third already lost and the remainder under threat. To address this challenge, the XPRIZE Rainforest initiative partnered with sponsor Alana to launch a global competition aimed at accelerating innovation in biodiversity monitoring. Launched in 2019, the program called upon innovators from around the world to develop breakthrough tools for protecting tropical ecosystems, attracting 300 teams from 70 countries. After five years of rigorous development and testing, six finalist teams were selected to compete in the Amazon rainforest, where they deployed advanced technologies such as drones, bioacoustic sensors, and rovers over a 24-hour period to survey the site before analyzing their data within just 48 hours.
The competition showcased remarkable technological advancements, with teams utilizing multispectral imaging for edge-to-edge mapping to count trees, identify species, and estimate biomass in real-time. During the finals, these technologies proved highly effective in an area that is not well-explored, potentially revealing new species to science. The winning team, Limelight Rainforest, claimed the $5 million grand prize with their fully autonomous collection system, which adeptly navigated complex terrain to deliver thousands of species identifications with speed and precision. Their system successfully collected acoustic data, camera footage, insect samples, and environmental DNA while mapping the forest canopy in incredible detail, demonstrating the power of autonomous robotics in harsh environments.
In addition to the grand prize winner, Map of Life Rapid Assessments secured second place with $2 million for their innovative platform that autonomously gathered extensive visual, acoustic, and environmental DNA data to establish a remote field lab accessible globally. The third-place team from Brazil received $500,000 for their locally driven approach that fused satellite imagery with forest floor sensors to create a resilient system tailored for some of the world's toughest terrain. Collectively, these teams delivered real-world results by making nearly 13,000 observations and uncovering 2,282 unique taxa, proving that modern technology can monitor the complexity of rainforest life with unprecedented speed and scale.
Beyond the competition itself, these technologies are already finding practical applications in informing protected area design and empowering indigenous communities to monitor biodiversity on their own terms. The initiative has reshaped what is possible in conservation by fostering a spirit of collaboration rather than competition, as all participants work toward the common goal of protecting biodiversity, rainforests, and the livelihoods of local peoples. By revolutionizing how we track and protect these vital ecosystems, XPRIZE Rainforest has ushered in a new era of conservation that offers hope for a better future for the planet.
Read the full video transcript
[Music]
Rainforests, vibrant, vital, and
vanishing. They're home to more than
half of our planet's plant and animal
species. But we're in a race against
time. A third of the world's rainforests
are already gone, the rest under siege.
To protect what remains, we need fast,
scalable tools to track biodiversity and
support conservation efforts. To meet
this challenge, X-P Prize partnered with
sponsor Alana and assembled a coalition
of international and local partners to
launch a competition that accelerates
innovation in biodiversity monitoring.
Launched in 2019, X-Prise Rainforest
issued a global call to innovators,
develop breakthrough tools to transform
how we monitor and protect tropical
ecosystems. 300 teams from 70 countries
stepped up to take on the challenge. In
2024, after five years of development,
testing, and assessment, six of the most
promising teams were selected to compete
in the finals to test their breakthrough
technologies in the Amazon rainforest
with an independent panel of expert
judges on hand to rigorously evaluate
the competing teams. Over a 24-hour
period, drones, bioacoustic sensors, and
rovers were deployed to survey the
testing site. After that, teams had just
48 hours to analyze their data and
deliver their
results. We are super excited to see
what might be in these forests. And we
have a general sense of what might be
there just from species distribution
models because it's an area that's not
as well explored and not a ton of
samples could be anything there and
potentially things that are new to
science. So the end of the sampling was
when we take the picture and that's like
the raw data for X-rays and so that's in
field analysis basically which is pretty
cool and then they already take it to
the next level and get real-time
results. So basically we are doing a you
know the edgeto edge mapping for the
whole hector so that we can count how
many trees we can then identify all the
species of individual trees. we can
estimate the biomass and how tall they
what kind of volumetric biomass each
tree is going to have. He just process
the multisspectra images and um so he's
trying to help me find water for edna
analysis. The cohesion of all the teams
really comes down to their work, their
camaraderie, uh what they've been
building towards over the last 5 years.
And for us it was just really incredible
to see their
progress.
Foreign speech. Foreign speech.
With the finals testing completed, the
judges deliberated and in October 2024
chose the competition winners. Limelight
Rainforest claimed the $5 million grand
prize. Their fully autonomous limelight
collection system adeptly navigated the
rainforest's complex terrain, collecting
environmental DNA data to deliver
thousands of species identifications in
the process with remarkable speed,
precision, and incredible taxonomic
range. All 10 lime lights came back
safely. They all collected acoustic
data. They all collected camera data.
They all collected insects. We map the
forest canopy to in incredible detail. I
have the most fantastic team of
passionate people that haven't slept in
three days. They are amazing and it's
why we've had some success here and it's
why we hope to have more success in the
future. Map of Life Rapid Assessments
earned second place, winning $2 million
with an innovative platform that
autonomously collected extensive visual,
acoustic, and environmental DNA data.
This is incredibly new technology that
we're using to be able to set up a
remote field lab. We want to provide a
long-term global resource that people
can visit at any time to learn about the
biodiversity of this patch of forest.
So, we really have a global scale
ambition.
Rounding out the winners, the Brazilian
team claimed third place, winning
$500,000 with a locally driven tech
integrated approach, fusing satellite
imagery with forest floor sensors to
create a resilient system tailored for
some of the world's toughest
terrain.
Together, these teams didn't just
demonstrate their solutions. They
delivered real results. Across the
competition, teams made close to 13,000
observations, uncovering
2,282 unique taxer, proving that with
the right technology, we can monitor the
complexity of rainforest life with speed
and scale.
And these technologies are already
finding real world applications from
informing protected area design to
empowering indigenous communities to
monitor biodiversity on their
terms. Better future for the planet to
protect biodiversity to protect
rainforest to protect you know
livelihoods of indigenous peoples and
local communities. And so when you have
that as your baseline fundamental
motivation, you're not in competition.
You're all working towards the same
common
goal. X-priseze Rainforest reshaped
what's possible, revolutionizing
biodiversity monitoring, ushering in a
new era of
conservation. To learn more about how
you can support and scale these
technologies, head to
xprise.org/rainforest.