UK National Parks partners with Vodafone to roll out AI habitat mapping

Vodafone and UK National Parks have announced a new three-year partnership to deliver a programme of initiatives designed to help protect ecosystems, increase community engagement (around the health benefits which access to nature can bring), and support the future of the National Parks.

Efforts will initially focus on rolling-out AI-powered habitat mapping across the 15 parks, building on Vodafone’s recent network-as-a-sensor trial (which used its mobile network to provide more accurate rain nowcasting along the River Severn). This first project will provide real-time, high-resolution data on biodiversity, habitat health, and visitor impact in a fraction of a time it would normally take to produce manually.

The UK’s 15 National Parks cover c.10% of the country, attracting 90 million visitors annually. As well as providing access to nature for all (enshrined in the post-war National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act), the parks represent a vital natural resource in the current age of environmental impact awareness – 119 million tonnes of carbon are stored in National Park peatland, for example.

Further work as part of the Vodafone partnership is set to include a restoration project in Eryri National Park, and a community engagement programme in Northumberland National Park.

Nature monitoring and management is a key focus for sustainability technology projects. Data from TechMarketView’s upcoming Sustainability Technology Activity Index reports show that it’s the second most common sustainability use case area globally, with 16.5% of the activities logged worldwide in some way contributing to biodiversity tracking, ecosystem health monitoring, verification of natural resources, management and restoration of natural habitats, etc. (and over half of these – 51% - utilise AI).

Look out for the latest Sustainability Technology Activity Index reports, coming soon – with in-depth analysis of the global picture (segmented by sector, use case area, and technology) and what the activity trends are telling us in uncertain times, plus deep dives into the UK market specifically. This research is available only to subscribers of SustainabilityViews. If you are not yet a subscriber, or are unsure if your company has a subscription, please contact Belinda Tewson to find out how you can gain access.

Posted by: Craig Wentworth at 09:41

Tags: nature monitoring   habitat