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AKQA Code of Conscience

Insight

Despite its protective status, one-third of the world’s nature reserves are under threat from human activity.

In the Amazon rainforest, trees are getting logged due to lack of law enforcement and illegal gold mining is becoming a serious problem. But what if it was impossible for machines to cut down protected trees?

A person places a green sticker on the side of a large yellow construction vehicle marked SEM 638 under a clear blue sky. Trees are visible in the background.

Idea

In collaboration with NGOs worldwide, AKQA has launched an open-source software called Code of Conscience that restricts the use of heavy-duty vehicles in protected areas, on land and in our oceans too.

Code of Conscience uses free mapping data from the United Nations World Database on Protected Areas, the most comprehensive global database on terrestrial and marine protected areas, which is updated monthly by NGOs, communities and governments. This is used in conjunction with existing GPS tracking technology installed in construction vehicles to autonomously restrict deforestation crews from entering protected zones.

It’s challenging to monitor remote areas but the software presents heavy-duty equipment manufacturers with a simple way to prohibit the world’s natural reserves from being negatively impacted.

May all heavy machine manufacturers and leaders come and see this. So that the tractors operate but stop when they reach our land, our forest, and so it continues to exist. It is for our awareness and for the forest to stand up.
- Chief Raoni Metuktire – the most prominent Native Brazilian leader and a living symbol of the mission to preserve the rainforest and its indigenous culture.
A wooden log is clamped in a lathe machine under a bright lamp in a workshop, with various woodworking tools hanging on the wall in the background.
Close-up of a drill press making a circular hole in a piece of wood, with sawdust scattered around the work area.
A wooden frog figurine with smooth, rounded shapes sits on a workbench in a workshop. The background includes blurred tools and materials.

To equip the code into older, non-GPS models, a small, low-cost chip has been developed, and the software is available for free to everyone.

Close-up of a person examining an electronic circuit board with various components, illuminated under focused lighting, with another similar board visible in the background.
An elderly Indigenous person with long gray hair, wearing traditional jewelry and a lip plate, holds up a circular object resembling an electronic circuit board, standing against a blurred green background.

An invitation comprising of the Code of Conscience chip embedded in a wooden sculpture of an endangered animal was sent to the CEOs of the world’s top construction equipment manufacturers. The vision is for all new machines to leave the factory with the code pre-installed.

Impact

The ongoing work continues to build momentum with global coverage sparking the interest of private companies and governments.

Fleets in Australia and Brazil have started to implement the code, including 3tentos one of the biggest Brazilian agricultural companies.

The cyber shield now fights illegal fishing by supervising boat activities in protected ocean areas using the UN’s World Database. The code is also being implementing in heavy machines, trucks and boats that act in protected areas near the Amazon with other governments in South America and Europe working to turn the code into law.

codeofconscience.com ↘
Five wooden animal figurines—fox, mouse, tiger, monkey, buffalo—stand on a wooden surface, each holding a black circuit board. Lush green plants fill the background.

  • Gold

    Mobile Activism

  • Winner

    Public Service and Activism

  • Wood

    Digital

  • Fast Company We could help prevent deforestation by simply reprogramming logging machines ↘
  • ABC Radio Australia AKQA develops software code to fight illegal deforestation ↘
  • Ad AgeAKQA worked with indigenous people to create Code of Conscience ↘
  • The DrumCode of Conscience shuts down heavy equipment in threatened Brazilian rainforests ↘

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