Last but not least: With Street View into the rainforest
Now Google is also making inroads into the Amazon region. The internet giant plans to photograph part of this region in order to launch a virtual tour of the rainforest. However, the initiative is also intended to raise awareness among internet users about the problems there.
The photos are taken from an unusual boat in the northwest of Brazil. A large tricycle is mounted on its roof and a large camera is attached to it, which shoots photos in quick succession. Google not only photographs the rivers themselves, but also the settlements on their banks. The camera tricycles are used in the rough terrain to take pictures in the adjacent rainforests. One of the tricycles takes pictures by boat from the water, while a second makes its way along the banks. The images will later be combined to create 360-degree views so that, according to the US company's plans, internet users will one day be able to virtually drift along the Amazon and its tributary, the Rio Negro, in a similar way to the street view service Street View.
According to SDA, the Amazon conservation organization FAS came up with the idea. Two years ago, the organization had the idea of giving the world an insight into the impressive ecosystem and the lives of the people in the Amazon basin and was able to convince Google of its idea. Now FAS project manager Gabriel Ribenboim and his team have a tight schedule. Within three weeks, they are to survey 50 kilometers of the Rio Negro. At the same time, FAS employees and local residents are being trained in the use of the photographic equipment so that they can photograph further stretches on their own and also record the interior of schools and public buildings. Internet users will soon even be able to walk along hiking trails through the rainforest.
At the same time, the campaign is also intended to sensitize the world to the challenges of climate change, deforestation and the fight against poverty. Ribenboim says this according to SDA. He and his colleagues also want to show that, contrary to some clichés, sustainability is not a foreign concept for local residents. Deforestation is not the result of stupidity, says FAS Managing Director Virgilio Viana. It is an economic decision. It is necessary to ensure that people can earn money from the existing rainforest. A step in the right direction would be ecological tourism and a more measured fishing industry. The pictures on the internet could also tell the story.
