Screening hundreds of personnel across remote locations to combat insider threats to wildlife conservation

According to a report by TRAFFIC, a leading non-governmental organization (NGO) working globally to combat trade in wild animals and plants, Uganda is home to an extraordinarily diverse array of wildlife. The country houses more than half of the world's remaining mountain gorillas, 50 percent of Africa's bird species, almost 40 percent of Africa's mammal species, and 19 percent of the continent's amphibian species. Poaching in Uganda supplies the bushmeat, traditional medicine, and pet industries. In addition, the country serves as a transit and logistics hub for wildlife trafficking.

Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) and Rhino Fund Uganda (RFU) support wildlife conservation and anti-poaching efforts in Uganda. UWA and RFU needed to screen more than 600 wildlife rangers and ranger recruits in two different field locations in Uganda. They wanted to know if any of their personnel were involved in the illegal hunting, killing, trading, or selling of protected wildlife. To screen their personnel, they needed to process hundreds of people in multiple, remote locations with limited time, available data and resources.

To aid wildlife conservation, UWA and RFU required a reliable, cost-effective field vetting process to provide unique insights and mitigate risks of personnel participating in poaching or illegal wildlife trade.

Voice-based risk assessment deployed at scale in remote field conditions

Rangers and recruits first attended a preliminary briefing, including a detailed explanation of the upcoming automated questionnaire, its format, and structure. Then, Clearspeed deployed staff for eight days in Uganda, vetting 120 rangers and 490 ranger recruits across two remote locations. Questionnaires for the 120 rangers were completed in one day using three phones. While the field conditions were challenging, the 490 ranger recruits were completed in two days using four phones plus a fifth station with Skype on a 3G mobile phone.

UWA and RFU personnel responses were analyzed, and a low-to-high risk level was assigned. The results served as an additional data source for their initial and ongoing insider threat vetting processes. People flagged as low or average risk could be cleared much faster and at scale unless there were other contrary indicators. Individuals with a high-risk level may have required additional follow-up, allowing UWA to focus its scarce investigative resources on the highest-risk areas.

The full questionnaire results were quickly shared with the clients, presenting a complete profile for each individual, including a risk rating for each question and an overall risk rating. This provided a rich data set for UWA and RFU officials, highlighting the most serious areas of risk and supporting meaningful follow-up interviews.