Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos in Peru has a creative way of raising awareness about Peru’s garbage and pollution problems. Through the newly launched project called Gallinazo Avisa, they are using vultures equipped with GoPro cameras and GPS devices to gauge and document the areas of Lima most troubled by litter and piles of garbage. We Are Mitú reports that researchers at the university were tracking vultures’ flight patterns when someone had the idea to use their propensity for scavenging trash and decaying animals for a bigger project. Between this and the NarcoPaloma, this is a big year for birds doing the bidding of humans (somebody’s been watching too many episodes of Game of Thrones…)
The project is being advertised with a video told from the perspective of the vultures, which urges humanity to acknowledge the environmental issues that exist right in front of their eyes. “For generations, we vultures, armed with our senses, have fought in silence,” the video’s description says. “We’ve waged a battle against garbage, but now we’re losing that battle. We want to help humans, so we’ve launched a movement to help you detect piles of garbage so that you can take action to eliminate them. Join us in this fight. Vultures Warn, you take action!”
Along with the video, GallinazoAvisa.pe was launched to show through an interactive map where the biggest amounts of trash is being found. Photos of garbage are also being collected.
[H/T We Are Mitú]