What happens when a tree falls in a forest and no one is listening? The sound starts with truck engines and chainsaws and ends with a small piece of forest being silenced. Illegal logging is slowly thinning out the world’s forests, paving the way for widespread deforestation. With limited resources and difficult terrain, it’s a hard problem to tackle. National Geographic Explorer Topher White—who considers himself a war photographer for climate change—has found that by listening for the sounds of logging through hundreds of recycled cell phones nailed high in treetops from Indonesia to Eastern Europe, the stewards of the world's trees might have a chance to detect and prevent illegal logging.

For more information on this episode, visit nationalgeographic.com/overheard.

Want More:

Check out this article to learn more about how illegal lumber makes its way into the global supply chain.

National Geographic has detailed explanations of both gibbons and deforestation. 

Take a look at this project to use waste from coffee production to help renew destroyed forests. 

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Take a look at the last known footage of a Tasmanian Tiger.

To learn more about Topher White and the Rainforest Connection, take a look at their website.

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