Huawei and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) have launched a ground-breaking project to guide biodiversity conservation in Sant Llorenç del Munt I l’Obac Natural Park, focusing on the Bonelli’s eagle.
BARCELONA, Spain, Jan. 5, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — Huawei and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) have chosen Sant Llorenç del Munt I l’Obac Natural Park in Barcelona Province for a new Tech4Nature project to investigate how tourism affects the park’s ecosystem, particularly the Bonelli’s eagle.
Since the pandemic, the park has seen a significant increase in visitors, reflecting a growing trend of leisure and tourism in periurban natural and protected spaces. As a result, park managers have noticed behavioral changes in the Bonelli’s eagle, which nests in the park and is listed as vulnerable in the Spanish Red Book of Birds.
The project, which is set to begin in February 2023, will see Huawei and partners develop and deploy a technology-based solution that includes cameras, GPS receivers, and a cloud platform that will serve as the computing and storage infrastructure. The solution, which will form an alert-detection system, will observe and monitor the eagle’s mobility and determine the factors that disrupt its reproductive success – human disturbance to breeding areas has already been identified as a major threat to the eagle.
The collected data will be sent to a cloud platform for AI analysis, which will aid in conservation decisions, assist park managers in responding quickly and effectively to potential environmental risks, and educate the public on conservation.
“The project will provide us with more information to manage and regulate public use,” said ngel Mio, director of Barcelona Provincial Council’s Natural Park. “It will also bring biodiversity conservation to the general public’s attention, as videos and other dissemination materials are in the works. The project, in collaboration with Huawei and the IUCN, enables us to make a qualitative leap by incorporating new technologies into species monitoring and conservation.””
Mio emphasized that expanding public-private partnerships to include universities and the business world is a key component of the park’s management strategy and essential for success, a viewpoint shared by other project partners.
“In order to succeed in the face of complex environmental challenges, collaboration between public institutions and the private sector is becoming increasingly important,” said Antonio Troya, Director of the IUCN Centre for Mediterranean Cooperation. “We have the opportunity to take advantage of technological advancements and incorporate them into ecosystem conservation measures. This project demonstrates how collaboration and mainstreaming are the best ways to halt biodiversity loss.”
The park managers, Barcelona Provincial Council, will launch the project in the park in early 2023 as part of the IUCN-Huawei Tech4Nature partnership, in accordance with the IUCN Green List and Huawei’s TECH4ALL initiative. Huawei will develop the technical solution in collaboration with the University of Girona between 2023 and 2024.
The Tech4Nature partnership combines IUCN’s nature conservation experience and Huawei’s expertise in developing cutting-edge digital technologies to develop technology-based conservation solutions for 300 protected areas over three years and measure project efficacy against the IUCN Green List.
“This is the first project of its kind that we are launching in Spain, following dozens of successful experiences in developing solutions to protect various species and natural spaces in countries all over the world using advanced technologies such as cloud, AI, and connectivity,” said Eric Li, CEO of Huawei Spain. “The role of the technology industry in meeting this challenge is critical, but the objectives can only be realized through collaboration with strategic and committed partners.”
It is hoped that this model can be perfected and replicated in other protected areas throughout Spain, in addition to ensuring that Sant Llorenç del Munt I l’Obac Natural Park can balance biodiversity protection with enjoyment for all.
