Phase 1 : 2020 and 2023
Projects in five flagship countries
- China
- Mauritius
- Mexico
- Spain
- Switzerland
Tech4Nature is a global partnership to scale up success in nature conservation through digital technology innovation. Created by IUCN and the Huawei TECH4ALL programme, Tech4Nature is designed as an open partnership to apply and promote digital solutions for fair and effective protected areas.
Launched in 2020 and marking the first collaboration of its type for both partners, Tech4Nature aims to scale up success in nature conservation by using technology to achieve the fair and effective management of protected and conserved areas (PCAs).
Aligned with Huawei’s TECH4ALL initiative and the IUCN Green List, Tech4Nature has supported 11 flagship projects in 8 countries with tailored solutions to conservation challenges.
This growing partnership will provide guidance on the appropriate use of technology in area-based conservation and directly involve the ICT industry sector in supporting nature conservation.
Projects in five flagship countries
Projects in six flagship countries
Projects in three satellite countries
At the heart of the Tech4Nature partnership is the IUCN Green List Standard. Tech4Nature is designed to apply and promote appropriate digital solutions for protected areas, and improve management effectiveness and outcomes through alignment with the IUCN Green List.
The IUCN Green List consists of 4 components: good governance, design and planning, effective management, and conservation outcomes. By aligning with the IUCN Green List, Tech4Nature partnership strives to guide, consult, test, research and deploy appropriate and responsible technology in protected areas to achieve long-term success for people and nature in area-based conservation.
Within the Tech4Nature initiative, selected Green List indicators are used to evaluate how Tech4Nature interventions contribute to strengthening protected area management effectiveness. This allows the partnership to better understand how digital technologies i.e. ecological monitoring tools, camera traps, AI algorithms, acoustics monitoring, digital platforms etc., combined with consultation and collaboration among stakeholders and rights-holders.
At the same time, Tech4Nature also facilitates engagement between protected area management authorities with the IUCN Green List, encouraging governments to consider formal commitment to the Green List and supporting the potential expansion of engagement to additional protected and conserved areas beyond the initial Tech4Nature pilot sites.
Protected areas participating in Tech4Nature pilot the IUCN Green List Self-Assessment Tool (GL-SAT) with technical support and guidance from Tech4Nature partnership and the IUCN Green List team. By piloting the tool, site managers can better understand their readiness to meet the IUCN Green List Standard, while becoming familiar with the framework and indicators that underpin effective and equitable protected and conserved area management.
Funding for conservation is not always guaranteed and the COVID-19 pandemic made things even harder. Many areas lost a great part of their budget and revenue, especially those relying on tourism income.
Under Tech4Nature Switzerland, with the world’s first Digital Nature Collectible, we offered a new road to income and extend the NFT market beyond art, games and music. With #NatureCollectibles, we provided sustainable funding and an innovative financing alternative for conservation work in protected and conserved areas.
By highlighting key values in these protected areas we emphasize the conservation role of each protected and conserved area, whilst also engaging our main audiences and beyond to be an active contributor to conservation efforts.
