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1st High-tech Project for Nature Conservation in Seychelles

The project seeks to improve digital connectivity on Cousin Island Special Reserve
(Photo: The project seeks to improve digital connectivity on Cousin Island Special Reserve)

Nature Seychelles has bagged support from Huawei Technologies to improve conservation through the use of novel technology. A new project titled ‘Next-Gen Conservation: Applying and sharing lessons in the use of technology and digital-based solutions for the island and coastal conservation management’ has received a grant of USD 200,000.

The project is part of a global initiative by Huawei and IUCN called Tech4Nature, which is currently located in Switzerland, China, Thailand, Mauritius, Seychelles, and Spain. The goal is that 300 nature conservation areas worldwide eventually form part of this initiative. It is being led by IUCN’s (the International Union for Conservation of Nature) Global Protected Areas Programme.

The project seeks to improve digital connectivity on Cousin Island Special Reserve, and will develop and roll out specific tech-driven activities to scale up conservation of sea turtles, coral reefs, and endemic bird monitoring. The project will also assist Cousin Island Special Reserve management to work towards eventual certification of the Reserve under the IUCN Green List, an international standard that certifies and recognizes effectively managed protected area sites.

It will roll out specific tech driven activities for sea turtle conservation

It will roll out specific tech-driven activities for sea turtle conservation

Dr. Nirmal Shah, the NGOs Chief Executive, said that Nature Seychelles was invited to become part of this global program after he wrote an article in May 2020 soon after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic entitled ‘Next-Gen Conservation: Biodiversity Conservation needs a radical make-over to get over COVID-19‘.

“The article was far more influential than I ever expected,” he said. It was republished by IUCN and that organization subsequently invited Dr. Shah to make a presentation at Huawei’s first Tech for a Better Planet global webinar.

And other tech activities to support conservation of coral reefs

And other tech activities to support conservation of coral reefs

“We really need to thank our long-term partner IUCN. People at IUCN worked hard to include us in this global initiative despite Huawei not having a country office or official presence in Seychelles,” says Dr. Shah. “This once again shows that having consistent world-class achievements under one’s belt are a key to building and consolidating important international partnerships,” he said.

“We are also working with local companies to develop these next-gen tech solutions. Through this project, we want to scale up the energy and capacity of tech people locally to develop new products and services for conservation. We are therefore also building a new community of practice,” he concludes.