VIENNA, October 10, 2024 /CNW/ – Huawei hosted the Innovations for Biodiversity forum this week to mark the fifth anniversary of Huawei’s TECH4ALL digital inclusion initiative and share knowledge on how technology is revolutionizing protection of biodiversity.
Media representatives at the TECH4ALL Innovations for Biodiversity forum.
The TECH4ALL initiative, launched in 2019 in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, leverages technology and partnerships to create positive impact in four areas: environment, education, health and development. In the environmental field, Huawei’s TECH4ALL initiative has carried out nature conservation projects in 53 protected areas with global and local partners in forest, wetland and ocean ecosystems around the world.
“Over the past five years, Huawei’s TECH4ALL program has demonstrated how technology can be a powerful force for good, addressing global challenges in environmental protection, education and digital inclusion,” said Harvey Zhang, CEO of Huawei in Austria.
The Innovations for Biodiversity forum focuses on TECH4ALL nature conservation projects in Europe, including results from biodiversity monitoring in the wetland ecosystem around Lake Neusiedl in Austria.
The quality of reedbed habitats in this ecosystem is declining, negatively impacting the lives of amphibian species, mammals and birds. Since 2021, audio monitoring devices have collected more than 2 million individual audio files of 69 species of birds.
This extensive data set will help develop a conservation management plan for the ecosystem, including a controlled fire management to revitalize aging reed beds and strengthen overall biodiversity by improving the understanding of the habitat preferences of the species studied.
“There has been virtually no reed harvesting in recent decades, which has negatively affected the condition of the reed belt. The study aimed to determine whether targeted fires could have a similar effect to harvesting. “To do this, we compared the conditions of different sectors according to their age,” said Mr. Christian Schulze, from the Department of Biodiversity Research at the University of Vienna. The study showed that older reed beds support the greatest diversity of bird species. However, analysis of individual species also shows that controlled reed fires have a positive impact. »
The forum explored a similar monitoring project by TECH4ALL in Poland to build a more comprehensive picture of biodiversity in the Białowieża National Park ecosystem, also with the aim of implementing targeted conservation measures.
Greek startup PROBOTEK has introduced a forest fire prevention solution that uses sensors, drones, AI and 5G to detect and transmit real-time video footage of fire risks, which are on the rise in parts of Europe due to climate change and rising temperatures. The project is designed to enable emergency response during the crucial first 15 minutes following the detection of a wildfire, to inform residents of evacuation routes and to plan routes for fire trucks and ambulances .
The forum also focused on the success of an AI-based filtering system designed to protect wild Norwegian Atlantic salmon from possible extinction due to invasive pink salmon species. The 2023 pilot project screened 6,000 invasive salmon, and the solution, the first of its kind in the world, is expected to be rolled out across Norway’s river systems.
During the second day of the forum, the media delegation visited Lake Neusiedl to learn more about how the TECH4ALL solution works on the ground and the transformative effect that smart digital technologies can have on nature conservation .
About Huawei TECH4ALL
TECH4ALL is Huawei’s long-term digital inclusion initiative. Through innovative technologies and partnerships, TECH4ALL aims to promote inclusion and sustainability in the digital world.
For more information, please visit Huawei’s TECH4ALL website online at https://www.huawei.com/en/tech4all.
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SOURCE Huawei
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