PR99396

BARCELONA, Spain, Jan. 6, 2023 /PRNewswire=KYODO JBN/ --

- Huawei and International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) have

launched a pioneering project to guide biodiversity conservation focusing on

the Bonelli's eagle in Sant Llorenç del Munt i l'Obac Natural Park.

Huawei and International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) have selected

Sant Llorenç del Munt i l'Obac Natural Park in Barcelona Province for a new

Tech4Nature<https://tech4nature.iucngreenlist.org/> project to study how

tourism impacts the park's ecosystem, notably the Bonelli's eagle.

The park has seen a clear increase in visitors since the pandemic, reflecting a

growing trend of leisure and tourism in periurban natural and protected spaces.

As a result, park managers have observed changes in the behavioral patterns of

the Bonelli's eagle, which nests in the park and is listed as vulnerable in the

Spanish Red Book of Birds.

Scheduled for launch in February 2023, the project will see Huawei and partners

developing and deploying a tech-based solution comprising cameras, GPS

receivers, and a cloud platform that will serve as the computing and storage

infrastructure. Forming an alert-detection system, the solution will observe

and monitor the mobility of the eagle and determine the factors that disturb

its reproductive success – human disturbance to breeding areas has already been

identified as a major threat to the eagle.

The data collected will be sent to the cloud platform for analysis by AI, which

will help guide conservation decisions, support park managers in responding

quickly and effectively to potential environmental risks, and educate the

public on conservation.

"The project will help us to have more information to manage and regulate

public use," said Ángel Miño, director of the Natural Park under Barcelona

Provincial Council. "It will also bring biodiversity conservation closer to the

general public, as videos and other dissemination materials are planned. In

collaboration with Huawei and IUCN, the project allows us to make a qualitative

leap by incorporating new technologies to the monitoring and conservation of

species."

To boost research and biodiversity protection outcomes, Miño emphasized that

expanding public-private partnerships to include universities and the business

world is a key facet of the park's management strategy and essential for

success, a viewpoint shared by other project's partners.

"Collaboration between public institutions and the private sector is

increasingly necessary to determine success in the face of complex

environmental challenges," said Antonio Troya, Director of the IUCN Centre for

Mediterranean Cooperation. "We have the opportunity to take advantage of

technological innovations and incorporate them into conservation measures for

our ecosystems. This project exemplifies how cooperation and mainstreaming are

the way forward to halt biodiversity loss."

Running under the IUCN-Huawei Tech4Nature partnership in line with the IUCN

Green List and Huawei's TECH4ALL<https://www.huawei.com/en/tech4all>

initiative, the park managers – Barcelona Provincial Council – will launch the

project in the park in early 2023. The technical solution will be developed by

Huawei in collaboration with the University of Girona during 2023 and 2024.

The Tech4Nature partnership, which aims to develop technology-based

conservation solutions for 300 protected areas over three years and measure

project efficacy against the IUCN Green List, combines IUCN's nature

conservation experience and Huawei's expertise in developing cutting-edge

digital technologies.

"This project is the first of its kind that we are launching in Spain, after

dozens of successful experiences of developing solutions to protect different

species and natural spaces in countries around 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 key,

but only through collaboration with strategic and committed partners can the

objectives be achieved in a real way."

As well as ensuring that Sant Llorenç del Munt i l'Obac Natural Park can

balance biodiversity protection with enjoyment for all, it is hoped that this

model can be perfected and replicated in other protected areas of Spain.

About Huawei TECH4ALL

TECH4ALL is Huawei's long-term digital inclusion initiative that aims to leave

no one behind in the digital world. It focuses on four domains: enabling equity

and quality of education, conserving nature with technology, enabling inclusive

healthcare, and development.

For more information, please visit website at https://www.huawei.com/en/tech4all

SOURCE  Huawei

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   Caption: Bonelli's eagle