Three Nigerian teenagers have clinched a top prize in the 2025 Slingshot Challenge, a global environmental competition organised by the National Geographic Society and the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation.
Their project, Reforest AI, uses artificial intelligence to detect illegal logging and monitor forest health, earning them one of five Top Honours awards and a $10,000 grant to advance their work.
The winners, Bright Attai, Blessed Pepple, and Lesley John Jumbo, developed a system that combines sensors and mobile technology to track tree orientation and alert authorities to deforestation activities.
The innovation aims to tackle Nigeria’s escalating forest loss, which has been driven by illegal logging and poor enforcement.
In a video shared by DW, one of the team members explained how they sourced components locally and recycled parts to build the prototype despite limited funding.
The 2025 edition of the Slingshot Challenge attracted over 2,700 submissions from more than 5,700 youths across 96 countries.
Participants aged 13 to 18 submitted one-minute videos proposing solutions to environmental problems in their communities.
The competition awarded five Top Honours recipients $10,000 each, five Distinguished Achievement recipients $5,000 each, and five Significant Achievement recipients $1,000 each.
Other Top Honours projects included efforts to prevent wildfires in Los Angeles, reduce electronic waste in Bahrain, restore native plants in Ecuador, and protect monarch butterflies in the US.
Awardees are invited to the National Geographic Society’s Explorers Festival in Washington, D.C., this June, where additional awards, including the People’s Choice Award, will be announced.
Now in its third year, the Slingshot Challenge aims to empower young people to take action on environmental issues.
According to organisers, participants reported significant gains in their confidence and belief in making a difference.
Voting for the People’s Choice Award is open until May 31, 2025. Interested individuals can learn more and cast their votes at the Slingshot Challenge website.
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