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Huawei, IUCN launch Tech4Nature for nature conservation

Published

5 years ago

December 8, 2021

Tech company, Huawei, has launched Tech4Nature, an initial 3-year program aimed at using digital technology innovation to aid nature conservation in partnership with the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

The project, launched at a hybrid event entitled ‘Tech4Nature: an innovative technology partnership for conservation’ impact was held at the IUCN World Conservation Congress (WCC) 2021 in Marseille, France. Huawei and IUCN introduced the global Tech4Nature project and shared the current status of some country projects with the Congress in-person and on-line audiences.

Catherine Du, Huawei’s TECH4ALL programme Director said at the event, “In the face of the global challenges of climate change and biodiversity loss, Huawei believes that ICT can play an important role in addressing environmental issues. This is the vision we share with IUCN and our partners: technology is an enabler of environmental protection.”

TECH4ALL is Huawei’s long-term digital inclusion initiative that aims to leave no one behind in the digital world. In the environment domain, TECH4ALL focuses on safeguarding biodiversity.

To date, the project has worked with partners like IUCN and Rainforest Connection, as well as many local partners, to apply digital technologies, such as telecommunications networks, IoT, cloud, and AI, to protect forests, oceans, and wetlands in 22 protected areas.

As the world’s largest environment and nature conservation conference, the World Conservation Congress is held every four years and attended by all of IUCN’s 1,400+ government, civil society and indigenous peoples’ Member organisations.

Participants share the latest insights, experience, practices, innovations, and research in the field of nature conservation and sustainable development, and build new partnerships.

“By 2023, the Tech4Nature partnership will enable more than 300 protected areas worldwide to achieve successful conservation outcomes through the appropriate use of technology and digital connectivity, aligned to an IUCN global Standard for fair and effective protected and conserved areas – the IUCN Green List.

“This support will be explored and showcased through a select number of flagship protected areas and nature conservation activities for diverse ecosystem types, including mountain, wetland, coral reef, tropical forest, temperate forest, and for flagship species as well as ecosystem services.

“Tech4Nature has developed 5 flagship demonstration sites around the world. These sites will use innovative digital technology solutions, including smart devices, digital connection, and AI, to achieve measurable improvements in protected area management and nature conservation, including for iconic wildlife and representative ecosystems, as evaluated through the IUCN Green List certification process, ” Huawei said in a statement.

While sharing current status of some of their projects, Jin Wenjia from the IUCN China Country Office states, “Tech4Nature uses digital technology to conduct acoustic monitoring and research on one of the world’s most endangered primates, the Hainan gibbon (only 35 remain), in Hainan Tropical Rainforest National Park in China, to develop more effective conservation measures.”

Ruedi Haller, Director of the Green List certified Swiss National Park says Tech4Nature can enable additional technology solutions in a park that already deploys considerable technology.

“Tech4Nature will explore improved connectivity and AI analysis to help automate some data transmission and wildlife monitoring, and test blockchain technology to verify and validate carbon sinks in national parks. This can aid the Swiss National Park to maintain its excellence in technology solutions helping achieve successful conservation outcomes.”

Nadeem Nazurally, President of Ecomode Society, a partner from Mauritius, said Tech4Nature is using underwater cameras to monitor threatened coral reefs in real-time to protect and restore 5 hectares of the coral reef ecosystem in Mauritius, in accordance with the IUCN Green List Standard.

Arnau Teixidor from IUCN’s Centre for Mediterranean Cooperation office said it is planning a pilot project to use digital technology to help four national parks in Spain identify tourism management needs and assess technological solutions for cost-effective monitoring of high tourist visitation that can affect conservation outcomes in the parks.

James Hardcastle, Associate Director of Protected Areas Programme at IUCN says, “This diversity of protected and conserved areas from countries around the world, and the exploration of appropriate technological solutions with a variety of partners, demonstrates the innovation and partnership potential of both the Tech4Nature initiative and the IUCN Green List community.”

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Strategic Partnerships, Diaspora Investment and Improved Workforce Critical to Industrialization-DG RMRDC

Published

2 days ago

November 12, 2026

The Gleamer

By: Stella Azi and Adaora Adibe

The Director-General/Chief Executive Officer of the Raw Materials Research and Development Council (RMRDC), Prof. Nnanyelugo Ike-Muonso, has called for a strategic shift from the exportation of raw commodities to domestic processing, manufacturing and value addition, declaring that Nigeria possesses enormous untapped raw material resources capable of driving industrialisation, creating jobs and strengthening the country’s economic competitiveness.

Prof. Ike-Muonso made this submission in a lecture titled Unlocking Nigeria’s Raw Material Value Chain for Industrialization, Manufacturing and Competitiveness, where he presented an extensive assessment of Nigeria’s resource endowments, industrial challenges and emerging investment opportunities across agricultural commodities, solid minerals and waste-based raw materials.

The lecture highlighted a combined US$2.65 trillion global market opportunity across 30 major raw material value chains, comprising 12 agricultural value chains valued at US$932 billion, 11 mineral value chains worth US$1.352 trillion and seven circular-economy value chains estimated at US$366 billion.

According to the RMRDC Boss, Nigeria must move beyond the traditional approach of extracting and exporting raw materials to building competitive domestic industries that transform these resources into intermediate products, industrial inputs and finished goods for local consumption and international markets.

He observed that the country’s manufacturing sector has struggled to sustain its 2014 peak, with its contribution to real Gross Domestic Product declining from 9.64 per cent in 2014 to 8.05 per cent in 2025, representing a 16.5 per cent decline. He also drew attention to the increasing cost of raw material imports, which rose to US$20.5 billion in 2025, approximately six times the 2020 level.

He explained that the growing dependence on imported industrial inputs exposes Nigerian manufacturers to foreign exchange volatility, increases production costs and weakens the competitiveness of locally manufactured products.

Prof. ke-Muonso stressed that the solution lies in developing domestic raw material value chains through deliberate investment in processing facilities, research and development, technology, infrastructure and stronger linkages between producers, processors and manufacturers.

He identified agriculture, solid minerals and industrial waste as three major resource platforms for Nigeria’s industrial transformation, stating the country’s significant production capacity and the enormous opportunities available for downstream processing.

Ike-Muonso noted that Nigeria produces over 63 million metric tonnes of cassava annually, making it the world’s largest producer, while also maintaining strong positions in cocoa, cashew, sesame, palm oil and cotton. However, more than 80 per cent of agricultural output leaves farms without adequate processing, resulting in the loss of significant economic value and industrial opportunities.

In the solid minerals sector, he identified more than 44 commercially viable minerals across over 500 locations, including lithium, gold, barite, bitumen, iron ore and high-grade limestone, describing them as strategic resources capable of supporting steel production, energy storage, electrification and advanced manufacturing.

The DG further drew attention to Nigeria’s industrial and agro-waste resources, noting that the country generates over 32 million tonnes of solid waste annually. He explained that agricultural residues, cassava peels, scrap metals, plastics and electronic waste could serve as important feedstock for bio-fertilisers, industrial chemicals, recycled polymers, energy production and other manufacturing applications.

In the agricultural sector, the DG identified cassava and industrial starch, cotton and natural textiles, natural rubber and elastomers, oil palm and oleochemicals, maize derivatives and cocoa processing as priority areas requiring increased investment.

He explained that processing agricultural commodities into industrial starch, sweeteners, textiles, technical rubber, specialty fats and other intermediate products would enable Nigeria to capture more value from its agricultural resources while reducing dependence on imported industrial inputs.

For the minerals sector, he highlighted crude oil-to-olefins and petrochemicals, lithium and energy storage, iron ore and steel, rare earth elements, bauxite and aluminium, and copper and electrification as strategic investment opportunities.

He particularly emphasised the importance of moving beyond mineral extraction into beneficiation, refining, battery precursors, industrial chemicals, metal fabrication and advanced materials production.

On the circular economy, Prof. Ike-Muonso identified electronic waste recovery, scrap metal recycling, plastic waste processing, agro-waste valorisation and battery recycling as emerging industrial opportunities.

He explained that transforming waste into productive industrial feedstock would not only reduce environmental pollution but also create new manufacturing industries, generate employment and reduce the importation of valuable industrial materials.

He noted that to address the structural challenges confronting raw material-based industrialisation, the DG highlighted the strategic interventions of the RMRDC, particularly the proposed 30% Value Addition Bill and the Nigeria Integrated Information Statistical System for Raw Materials and Products (NISSRAMP).

He described the 30% Value Addition Bill as an important policy instrument designed to encourage domestic processing of raw materials before export, strengthen local manufacturing capacity and guarantee access to essential raw materials for Nigerian industries, and NISSRAMP as a critical data infrastructure that would improve access to verified information on the availability, location and quality of raw materials.

According to him, the combination of appropriate policy instruments and reliable resource data would help de-risk investments, improve transparency and strengthen confidence in Nigeria’s raw material sector.

He emphasised the importance of collaboration among government, academia and industry in developing bankable projects, sharing investment risks and accelerating the establishment of processing and manufacturing facilities.

Professor Ike-Muonso called on Nigerians in the diaspora and other local and international investors to take advantage of the opportunities available in Nigeria’s raw material sector.

He identified industrial processing parks, mineral beneficiation and refining, agro-industrial platforms, circular-material processing, industrial input manufacturing and enabling infrastructure as viable investment platforms.

He noted that diaspora investors could contribute beyond financial capital by bringing technology, international business networks, governance standards, technical expertise and access to global markets.

He maintained that Nigeria’s industrial transformation requires coordinated investment across the entire value chain, from raw material sourcing and aggregation to processing, manufacturing, certification and export development.

Professor Ike-Muonso stressed that the country’s industrial future would depend not merely on the volume of raw materials extracted but on the capacity to transform them into competitive products that meet domestic and international market requirements.

He maintained that developing local value chains would stimulate industrial growth, create employment opportunities, diversify exports, conserve foreign exchange and deepen Nigeria’s technological capabilities.

Through its strategic interventions, the RMRDC is positioning itself as a critical bridge between resource availability, investment opportunities and industrial competitiveness, with the ultimate objective of transforming Nigeria from a predominantly raw material exporting economy into a strong manufacturing and value-adding nation.

Ike-Muonso has demonstrated this since assumption of office as the Director General/ CEO RMRDC in the area of capacity building, improved working conditions, promotion of merit, and maintaining a conducive environment that rewards excellence, innovation and dedication. This is evident in his institution of RMRDC training school, reward for winners of the RMRDC innovation challenge among others.

His commitment has brought recognition both nationally and internationally: Al-Jazirah double honour awards as Public Servant /Government Agency of the year 2024-2025 and the recent election as the Sub-Saharan Africa Regional Representative on the Board of the World Association of Industrial and Technological Research Organisations (WAITRO) is a attestation to his commitment.

Concluding the lecture, the DG charged staff, researchers, manufacturers and investors to see themselves as nation builders in the new era of raw materials-led industrialization.

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