There is a shift in the world of nature conservation, and the 2025 Tech4Nature Summit demonstrated how new technologies are being used to safeguard endangered species and important ecosystems. It also put the focus on collaboration between tech companies, conservation groups, governments, and the local people to tackle some of the major environmental issues facing the world today.
Jaguar Guardians: AI in the Mexican Jungle.
One of the projects highlighted is the Tech4Nature Mexico Phase 2, which aims at conserving jaguars in the Dzilam de Bravo State Reserve. For the first phase of this project, the team set up 60 audio devices and more than 20 camera traps to study the wildlife in the reserve. The AI system was trained to identify vocalizations and images of different species, which enabled analysis of population and behavioral changes. As of April 2025, this system had astonishingly documented 147 species and 9 confirmed jaguar residents in the reserve.
This achievement propelled the second phase of the project, which is now aimed at informing management actions and making reserve decisions based on data-driven analysis of the distribution of the jaguars.
The main objective aims at establishing a biological corridor that connects fragmented habitats and ensures the long-term preservation of these beautiful creatures.
Global Alliance: Strength through Collaboration
The Tech4Nature initiative is a global partnership led by Huawei and the International Union of Conservation for Nature (IUCN) created in 2020. The partnership portrays a common consensus that conservation needs more than mere will; it needs the convergence of science, technology, community, and government action.
The 2025 Tech4Nature summit served as the Mexico Project Phase Two launch, where experts, scientists, and conservationists from all over the world came to share their knowledge and approaches to tech-based conservation. The summit was sponsored by important stakeholders like Mexico’s Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources, the State Government of Yucatán, and local partner C-Minds, which showcased multi-sponsor collaboration.
These initiatives reinforce that while there are diverse ecosystems, it is essential to form shared solutions that will equally benefit everyone through the Tech4Nature worldwide projects.
Other phase two countries presented their projects during the summit and showcased how adaptable these approaches are to diverse ecosystems.
- Brazil: Researchers are tracking the effects of climate change on Marajó Island while also studying the mangrove crab that serves as a critical barometer for the ecosystem’s health.
- China: Integrated networked digital interfaces and AI analytics are used to monitor and facilitate the population increase of the world’s rarest primate, the Hainan gibbon.
- Spain: In Sant Llorenç del Munt i l’Obac Natural Park, digital technologies are helping monitor the impact of visitors on the breeding success of Bonelli’s eagle.
- Kenya: The project concentrates on enhancing surveillance within protected marine areas, as well as the Kisite-Mpunguti Marine National Park and Reserve, to curb illegal fishing and manage tourism pressure while monitoring the parrotfish population vital to coral reefs.
- Turkey: Here, innovative cross-sector collaboration of NGOs, private companies, and government developed a project assessing biodiversity conservation, concentrating on large mammals, such as the fallow deer and wild goat, in two pilot sites.
A New Paradigm for Conservation: Technology as a Catalyst
The 2025 Tech4Nature Summit noted the emergence of a “new paradigm” in the protection of biodiversity and ecosystems with the application of digital technology and AI. Their incorporation into conservation practices, as stressed by Tao Jingwen, Director of the Board and Director of the Corporate Sustainable Development Committee for Huawei, makes these efforts “much more efficient” and empowers stakeholders to take “faster, more targeted action”.
Looking Ahead: Expanding the Tech4Nature Initiative
She expressed enthusiasm for the future of the second phase of Tech4Nature, which will expand to six countries, aiming to promote “transformative change for species, ecosystems, and their communities,” provided by IUCN’s ORMACC Regional Director for Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean, Úrsula Parrilla. She emphasized that to achieve goals that center nature within sustainable development, technology must be integrated into conservation on large scales.
A Global Effort for a Sustainable Future
This project illustrates the emerging understanding of the role of technology as a positive means in the use of our resources to protect the planet through the Tech4Nature initiative. This international initiative is promoting a more sustainable future, one where technology coexists with nature, by facilitating partnerships utilizing ultra-modern AI and data analytics technology.
