Tech4Nature Summit aims at promoting innovation in nature conservation

Tech giant Huawei and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) jointly hosted the 2024 Tech4Nature Summit, with a vision to develop technological solutions for Protected and Conserved Areas (PCA) across the globe.

“The natural world faces unprecedented challenges, and technology and digital solutions can be a powerful force for good to protect our planet’s biodiversity. That is why IUCN established the Tech4Nature partnership with Huawei,” ICNN Director General Dr. Grethel Aguilar said as she hailed the major partnership by the two bodies.

Agilar added that the partnership will see the two organisations move to the next phase, helping all stakeholders to unite for nature and build a better future.”

The Tech4Nature Phase 1 ran from 2020 to 2023 in five PCAs in China, Mauritius, Mexico, Spain, and Switzerland. Major successes include:

It involved acoustic monitoring of the world’s rarest ape - the Hainan gibbon - to identity individual animals with a view to helping this critically endangered species repopulate. Just 37 individuals currently remain.

An AI pattern recognition to identify and track jaguars in Mexico was confirmed in Dzilam State Reserve last year for the first time.

Also in Phase 1 was an advanced systems for live viewing and monitoring of coral reef conservation and restoration projects run by local communities in Mauritius; 25,000 healthy coral fragments have already been transplanted to degraded areas of reef in the Indian Ocean.

“As a technical partner of governments, customers, and environmental protection agencies, Huawei is ready to continuously to explore environment and nature protection scenarios, develop appropriate digital technologies to address environmental protection challenges, and jointly build a more equal and sustainable digital world,” said Tao Jingwen, Board Member and Chairman of the CSD Committee for Huawei.

According to Jingwen, Huawei implements four sustainable development strategies as well as the S.H.A.R.E concept to ensure a sustainable digital future, build a harmonious and healthy business ecosystem, maximize equality and accessibility through digital inclusion (TECH4ALL), and develop secure and reliable ICT infrastructure and services to safeguard the digital world.

The Tech4Nature Phase 2 (2023–2026) will support flagship projects in China, Mexico, Spain, Brazil, Kenya, and Türkiye.

The summit marked the official launch of these six projects, following the agreement to launch Phase 2 that Huawei and IUCN announced in October 2023.

Phase 2 also represents the joint commitment of IUCN and Huawei to develop cutting-edge technology solutions to support the 30x30 target and Target 4 on preventing extinction defined in the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF).

This phase will also expand collaboration between the technology and nature conservation sectors by involving more people, partners, and countries.

The partners also launched the Tech4Nature flagship publication Partnership for our Planet.