RAINFOREST LISTENING

Rainforest Listening is an augmented reality project that layers rainforest soundscapes in urban environments to inspire ecological engagement. Listeners access the sounds via mobile devices and sculpt their own experience by triggering geolocated soundscapes as they walk through iconic locations across the world. 

Rainforest Listening encourages global communities to engage with one of the most critical environments on earth, the Amazon Rainforest. The installation features pristine sounds recorded in a diversity of ecosystems including lowland tropical rainforest with abundant wildlife. Listeners can hear the rich biodiversity of insects and birdlife and those who venture deeper into the sound maps can discover the endangered Amazon River dolphins or elusive howler monkeys hidden throughout urban environments.

The Rainforest Listening soundscapes are all based on Leah Barclay’s field recordings from a diversity of ecosystems in the Amazon. This project was created specifically as an engagement tool for Rainforest Partnership, an international NGO founded with a mission to protect tropical rainforests by partnering with people at global and local levels to create lasting solutions to deforestation. By connecting this installation directly to a conservation organization, Rainforest Listening is exploring ways of translating awareness into direct action. This innovative partnership model extends on the possibilities of environmental art with listeners able to donate directly to RP projects and communities while walking through the installation.

Rainforest Listening launched during Climate Week 2015 in Times Square, New York City andtravelled to COP21 in Paris. Rainforest Listening will continue touring across Europe, the USA and Asia-Pacific region throughout 2016-2017 in partnership with various international organizations. Rainforest Listening is not just an artwork, but a long-term research project that will see recording devices and live streaming networks installed in Rainforest Partnership communities. This project has various scientific implications ranging from exploring sound as a tool for biodiversity monitoring to advanced bioacoustics analysis that will be introduced to the project through 2016. In the coming years, you will be able to walk through international landmarks, from London Bridge to the Sydney Opera House, and listen to the changing soundscapes of the rainforest. 

Visit Rainforest Listening’s official website for further information – www.rainforestlistening.com 

Rainforest Listening on the Eiffel Tower in Paris for COP21

Rainforest Listening in Times Square, New York for Climate Week 2015