Huawei and Partners Explore Conserving Nature with Technology at Huawei Connect 2022 Paris

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19 Oct, 2022, 20:10 IST

PARIS, Oct. 19, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The third stop on the global tour for HUAWEI CONNECT 2022 kicked off in Paris this Monday. Themed "Unleash Digital", the major themes explored by industry leaders, experts, and partners from the ICT and green development sectors included unleashing digital productivity, promoting Europe's green and digital transition, and building stronger digital ecosystems.

Experts deliver their speeches at HUAWEI CONNECT 2022 in Paris

At the event, Huawei hosted an afternoon session and panel discussion exploring the vital role of technology in supporting nature conservation in Europe, during which it introduced the Tech4Nature – Solutions in Focus publication.

Developed under the Tech4Nature partnership between IUCN and Huawei, Tech4Nature – Solutions in Focus analyzes the best practices of using technology to achieve effective nature conservation outcomes, with the publication detailing 22 projects in 19 countries.

"There is a clear growing momentum and buy-in from the conservation community to use more technology but also to develop and create new ways it can be applied. The appropriate deployment of technology will help ensure more sustained benefits from its application to achieve fair and effective conservation action," said James Hardcastle, Head of IUCN Protected and Conserved Areas.

At the session, the NGO Rainforest Connection outlined the various Nature Guardian projects it is running in Europe with Huawei and local partners in ocean, wetland, and forest ecosystems.

"Rainforest Connection uses AI and big data analytics powered by Huawei Cloud to monitor biodiversity and protect ecosystems around the world. By harnessing the power of sound, we are able to track thousands of species globally and automatically detect the presence of illegal activities," said Bourhan Yassin, CEO of Rainforest Connection.

Examples of projects currently running in Europe using acoustics technologies include monitoring dolphins and whales off the Irish south coast and studying the impact of climate change on bird and amphibian life in Austria's wetlands. Nature Guardian projects in Italy and Greece are focusing on preventing illegal logging, poaching, and other damaging human activities.

Also at the session, the Swiss Porini Foundation introduced the pilot project it is running in Switzerland with partners IUCN and Huawei. The project aims to improve accounting on carbon sinks in protected forest areas. The Porini Foundation has developed a forest carbon sequestration application based on cloud computing, blockchain, and high-precision satellite imagery to boost the transparency and traceability of forest carbon sink transactions and ensure the sustainable management and utilization of forest resources.

The session concluded with a panel discussion covering how digital technology can enable green transformation in Europe, with TECH4ALL partners, academics, and representatives from industry organizations exploring the technological and strategic roadmap for achieving this aim.

Conference attendees could also visit the TECH4ALL exhibition booth onsite to learn more about other TECH4ALL digital inclusion projects running in Europe. These include a world-first project of its type in Norway, which was deployed over 2021 and 2022 to save the nation's endangered wild Atlantic salmon from extinction. The solution uses camera tech coupled with an AI-powered gate system to identify the invasive Pacific salmon – an aggressive resource competitor and prolific spawner – and filter the invader into a holding tank, delivering an outcome that was previously impossible. Under the education domain of TECH4ALL, the France DigiTruck project was also on display, outlining the free training in digital skills offered to empower communities in need, notably unemployed young people and senior citizens.