What happens when traditional wildlife management meets modern data and technology?
In this episode of The Upgrade Zone, Daniel Chrzastek speaks with Pablo, a farm vet and Co-Founder of Sylva, about building a more professional, measurable and sustainable approach to deer and wild boar management.
They explore the effect unmanaged wildlife populations can have on farms, woodland, biodiversity, animal health and road safety, as well as the technology Sylva is developing to help landowners understand what is happening on their land and make better-informed decisions.
In this episode
• Why deer populations have grown rapidly across parts of the UK
• The financial and environmental impact of wildlife overpopulation
• How deer can affect crops, woodland regeneration and biodiversity
• Turning field observations into useful data for landowners
• Creating deer management plans based on evidence rather than assumptions
• Building an app for data collection, safety and wildlife tracking
• Using technology to improve venison traceability from field to fork
• Developing a family-run business across the UK and Spain
• Why simple software and customer feedback matter when creating a new product
• The role of delegation and complementary skills when building a business
About Pablo
Pablo is a farm vet who moved from Spain to the UK around ten years ago.
Having grown up around farming, hunting and countryside activities, he began exploring how these traditional practices could be approached more professionally.
Together with his brothers, he founded Sylva, a business focused on data-driven deer and wild boar management in the UK and Spain.
The business
Sylva helps landowners, farmers, land agents and other organisations understand and manage wildlife populations on their land.
The process begins by looking at how the land is being used. This could include crop production, livestock farming, woodland management, conservation, rewilding or another commercial activity.
Sylva then assesses the wildlife population, measures its impact and creates a management plan based on the needs of that particular area.
The goal is not to remove wildlife completely. It is to maintain a healthy balance between the animals, the land, farming activity and the wider environment.
The team is also exploring ways to make responsibly sourced venison more widely available through online venison boxes.
The tech behind the business
Sylva is developing its own software to make wildlife data easier to collect, understand and use.
The mobile app is designed to let deer managers record routes, observations, activity, photographs and post-mortem findings while working in the field.
It can also help teams see where other members are operating, creating an additional layer of safety for people working alone or across large areas of land.
Landowners and managers will be able to monitor activity through an online dashboard and see what work has been completed on their property.
Over time, a larger and anonymised dataset could help identify population trends, seasonal changes, movement patterns and possible connections between wildlife and animal disease.
The same technology could also provide greater traceability for venison, showing where an animal came from and how it moved through the process from field to fork.
Key takeaways
Return on investment is not always purely financial.
Wildlife management can protect crops and farming income, but it can also support biodiversity, animal welfare, woodland regeneration, road safety and disease prevention.
You cannot manage what you do not measure.
Before deciding what action to take, landowners need to understand the size of the problem, where it is happening and what effect it is having.
Data can translate wildlife damage into business terms.
By estimating the number of animals, how much they consume and the market value of a crop, Sylva can help a farmer understand the potential financial cost of doing nothing.
Good technology has to work in the real environment.
An app used outdoors, in poor weather and during physical activity must be quick and simple. A complicated system will result in missing or unreliable data.
Start with a useful product and improve it with users.
The Sylva team is beginning with a more focused version of the platform and plans to develop it using feedback from the people working with it in the field.
Build around different strengths.
Pablo and his brothers contribute different skills across veterinary knowledge, fieldwork, software development, data processing, reporting and client relationships.
Responsible wildlife management is about balance.
The objective is not to eliminate deer or wild boar. It is to maintain a population that the land, local environment and surrounding activity can support.
Episode chapters
00:16 Meet Pablo and the story behind Sylva
01:00 From farm vet to business founder
03:40 Why deer population data matters
05:25 Understanding deer overpopulation in the UK
08:10 Wildlife disease, farming and economic risk
09:54 Assessing how land is being used
12:15 Sylva’s data-driven approach
15:00 Wild boar management in Spain
17:19 The client assessment process
20:00 Measuring crop damage and financial loss
22:25 Environmental impact assessments
24:15 Creating a deer management plan
25:12 Wildlife management and regenerative farming
27:00 Maintaining healthy wildlife populations
31:48 Introducing the Sylva app
33:09 Building the business as a family team
34:13 Developing the first version of the software
35:01 Making field data collection simple
37:16 Using location tracking to improve safety
39:35 Venison traceability from field to fork
40:45 Creating an online venison-box service
41:31 The realities of building a new business
42:18 Delegation and working around different strengths
43:46 Using customer feedback to shape the product
45:27 From handwritten records to digital data
47:14 Where to find and contact Sylva
Connect with Pablo and Sylva
Website: [LINK]
Instagram: [LINK]
About The Upgrade Zone
The Upgrade Zone is a business and technology podcast hosted by Daniel Chrzastek, exploring the people behind businesses, how those businesses actually work and the technology supporting them.
We talk to founders, business owners, operators and technology leaders about business growth, AI, automation, software, systems, operational efficiency and the real-world return on investment from technology.
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