“These award-winning solutions show how innovation and technology, when guided by the vision of conservationists and communities, can transform the way we protect nature and support people,” said Dr Grethel Aguilar, IUCN Director General. “The Tech4Nature Awards celebrate the creativity, commitment, and ingenuity of those on the frontlines of conservation – proving that when technology and purpose come together, we move closer to a just world that values and safeguards nature for all.”
Launched at the end of 2024 as part of the global Tech4Nature partnership between IUCN and Huawei, the Awards highlight digital solutions that address pressing conservation challenges and support the goals of the Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, including the commitment to protect 30% of the planet by 2030.
The Winners
Category 1: Tech Innovation for Area-based Conservation
Winner: Jane Glaven, Distant Imagery Solutions
Radical restoration: Democratizing climate tech for ecosystem recovery
Distant Imagery Solutions develops modular, low-cost drones and an AI-powered monitoring system to restore ecosystems at scale, planting over 9 million mangroves to date. Communities are trained and licensed to build and operate drones, generating skills, revenue, and ownership while ensuring long-term ecological recovery. The approach blends grassroots empowerment with cutting-edge tech innovations like hydrogen fuel cells and hybrid propulsion, making large-scale restoration affordable, adaptable, and globally replicable.
Category 2: Species Conservation
Winner: Velvizhi Singaravelu, M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF)
The Friend Mobile Application (FFMA) is a multilingual mobile app by MSSRF (with Qualcomm & INCOIS) that gives India’s small-scale fishers real-time sea, weather, and navigation data. A geo-fenced “No Fishing Zone” alert—working offline—keeps boats out of Olive Ridley Turtle habitats along Odisha, preventing 6,800+ intrusions and reducing fines and accidental bycatch. The app improves safety and incomes, is used across 66 coastal districts, and is scalable to other species and regions.
Category 3: NatureTech Stewards
Winner: Neovitus Sianga, African People & Wildlife
Empowering Community Action for Resilient Grasslands | PANORAMA
Short description of solution: African People & Wildlife’s Sustainable Rangelands Initiative empowers Tanzanian communities to manage 800,000+ acres of grasslands with Esri-powered mobile tools. Local monitors track pasture health monthly, feeding real-time data into dashboards that guide grazing and restoration. Already restoring 20,000 acres, the program blends traditional governance with modern tech, boosting resilience for people and wildlife—and offers a scalable model for rangelands globally.
What is Tech4Nature?
Launched in 2020 by IUCN and Huawei, the Tech4Nature global partnership aims to scale up nature conservation through digital technologies such as:
Online and offline acoustic monitoring and infrared cameras to detect and monitor species.Cloud storage and AI analytics to identify target species and track changes in habitats and ecosystems.Since 2020, Tech4Nature has run 11 flagship projects in 8 countries with a variety of partners and community groups to address conservation challenges in ocean, forest, and wetland ecosystems.
These include:
Supporting the repopulation of the world’s rarest primate, the Hainan gibbon in China.Monitoring jaguars in Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula with a view to creating a connected roaming territory.Studying the impact of climate change on mangrove ecosystems in Brazil’s Marajo Island and the environmental factors affecting mangrove crab populations.Identifying how human activities impact the reproductive success of the Bonelli’s eagle in Spain. The Tech4Nature Award represents a partnership with the IUCN-led PANORAMA platform, through which more than 100 technology-driven solutions are currently showcased and with whom a Tech4Nature Solutions in Focus publication was released in 2023.