Tech4Nature: KWS enters partnership with Huawei-Kenya to enhance ecological monitoring

Innocent Kabenga, Country Representative-IUCN Kenya, Huawei-Kenya's Media Director Khadija Mohammed and Adan Kala, Senior Assistant Director Coast Conservation Area consult after the launch of the Tech4Nature initiative at Kisite-Mpunguti Marine Park and Reserve. [Courtesy, Huawei] Huawei Technologies Kenya in partnership with the Kenya Wildlife Service has launched an environmental conservation project at the Kisite-Mpunguti Marine Park and Reserve protected area. The tech4Nature Initiative, a collaboration of the Wildlife Research Training Institute and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) aims to support adaptive management of the Marine Park and Reserve through interlinked data collection and analysis systems. Speaking during the launch, Huawei Kenya's Media Director, Khadija Mohammed Ahmed said the initiative will harness the power of technology for effective conservation and adaptive management of one of Kenya's most treasured marine ecosystems. "We are proud of the collaboration that has seen the culmination of efforts spent in conceptualization and design and now, the implementation of the #Tech4Nature initiative at Kisite-Mpunguti," said Khadija. READ: Kisite-Mpunguti gets the Blue Park marine award She said that aligned with Huawei's TECH4ALL initiative and the IUCN Green List, the three-year partnership seeks to strengthen the monitoring and management efficacy of the protected area. Located on the southern coast of Kenya, Kisite-Mpunguti Marine Park and Reserve faces a number of nature conservation challenges including illegal fishing and insufficient human resources to effectively patrol the area. A lack of remote monitoring of the reserve's three coral islands coupled with pressures created by tourism, as the fringing reefs are popular diving sites and limited community awareness of the importance of reef and biodiversity protection. Khadija said insufficient communications network infrastructure for underpinning tech-driven monitoring is also another challenge that the park grapples with. She underscored the importance of leveraging technology and innovation to solve pressing global challenges. "Climate change and biodiversity loss are threatening the health of our planet and placing our own longevity in a precarious position. However, advances in technology are offering humanity and our home a lifeline: innovative thinking and smart solutions are already helping to mitigate some of the world's most pressing environmental problems," said Khadija. According to her, underwater cameras, photogrammetry, and audio monitoring technologies will be deployed to monitor marine life, including the biomass and population of parrot fish. Khadija's sentiments were echoed by Innocent Kabenga, Country Representative-IUCN Kenya Country Office who said although in many coral reef ecosystems, parrot fish are a keystone species that, due to their diet, help prevent coral from being smothered by seaweed and algae, the Tech4Nature solution will also monitor substrate cover in the reef ecosystems, seagrass cover, and the occurrence of green turtles and bottlenose dolphins, which are classified on the IUCN Red List as endangered and vulnerable, respectively. "The technology we are bringing here is extremely important because it is the first one that will be used in Kenya's marine conservation. It will be the first monitoring instrument and data capturing and analysis in the marine protected area. It is also an opportunity to help the park to obtain green list certification to support the sustainability agenda that most tourists like and as well as to ensure our future generation enjoy the benefits of the Marine parks," said Mr Kabenga. He said AI trained to recognize specific target species by sight or sound will provide real-time data-driven insights into the behaviours, populations, and distribution of biodiversity in the reserve and reef ecosystem. The system, he said, will also be able to identify boats used for illegal fishing, and send alerts for rangers to intervene in near real-time. "A digital power solution and improved network connectivity covering the park and watch tower will enable the rapid transmission of collected data to a cloud server for analysis by AI," said Mr Kabenga. ALSO READ: State sets up Sh70 million marine research centre in Kilifi In his remarks, Adan Kala, Senior Assistant Director, Coast Conservation Area-Kenya Wildlife Service said the project will be implemented in partnership with Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) and Wildlife Research and Training Institute (WRTI). Kala said that based on the project's data-driven insights, the Tech4Nature partners will be able to develop targeted conservation measures for the reserve. "For us to deliver our mandate of protecting and conserving our wildlife both terrestrial and in the marine ecosystems, you have to understand your resources very well. We are partnering with Huawei and IUCN to deploy underwater cameras to acquire some data on marine mammals, corals, and fisheries to make informed decisions. The advantage of this technology it can be deployed in a wider area so that we can't patrol every single day to get data day and night for us to make good, informed decisions," said Kala. The project will include community outreach to raise awareness about biodiversity changes over time and the presence of different species, including those that are threatened, vulnerable, or endangered. The site will also be assessed against the IUCN Green List Standard, with the goal being that the reserve obtains Green List certification.

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