STORY: China-Latin America joint wildlife conservation sows seeds of hope for better future
DATELINE: Sept. 3, 2023
LENGTH: 00:03:41
LOCATION: Mexico City/GUANGZHOU, China
CATEGORY: ENVIRONMENT

SHOTLIST:
1. various of the Dzilam State Reserve, Yucatan, Mexico
2. SOUNDBITE 1 (Spanish): JUAN CASTILLO, Community leader of Dzilam de Bravo
3. SOUNDBITE 2 (Spanish): REGINA CERVERA, Tech4Nature Mexico Coordinator, C Minds
4. various of the ecologists installing cameras in the reserve
5. SOUNDBITE 3 (Spanish): REGINA CERVERA, Tech4Nature Mexico Coordinator, C Minds
6. various of ecologists in Polytechnic University of Yucatan analyzing data collected from the cameras, powered by Huawei Cloud
7. various of the Huawei Headquarters in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, China
8. SOUNDBITE 4 (Chinese): ZENG MING, TECH4ALL project manager of Huawei
9. SOUNDBITE 5 (Spanish): REGINA CERVERA, Tech4Nature Mexico Coordinator, C Minds

STORYLINE:

Powered by cloud technology, technicians and ecologists from China and their trans-Pacific partners have been able to join hand in hand under the Belt and Road Initiative to protect endangered species and their habitats in Latin America.

SOUNDBITE 1 (Spanish): JUAN CASTILLO, Community leader of Dzilam de Bravo
"This entire land was the jaguars' home. I have liked this animal since my childhood. I knew that the jaguar was part of us."

Ecologists estimate that around 4,000 to 5,000 jaguars live in the wild in Mexico. More than half of them live in the Yucatan Peninsula. Illegal hunting, grazing, deforestation and climate change have degraded the Dzilam State Reserve, shrinking habitats for many species including the jaguar. As the only big cat left in the area, the jaguar has been listed as a Near Threatened species since 2002 in the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List.

SOUNDBITE 2 (Spanish): REGINA CERVERA, Tech4Nature Mexico Coordinator, C Minds
"Hunting, grazing, and rampant logging, this region faces all of these threats, with the passage of time, it truly jeopardizes the resilience and long-term environmental sustainability."

To protect biodiversity, local communities and environmentalists are making efforts to track the living areas of endangered species, including the jaguar.

In May 2022, the Tech4Nature Mexico project was launched in the reserve, jointly by the government of Yucatan, IUCN, and China's tech giant Huawei.

SOUNDBITE 3 (Spanish): REGINA CERVERA, Tech4Nature Mexico Coordinator, C Minds
"We install cameras and audio monitors and place them there without human interference, so as not to disturb this area. We use the time to observe passing animals. We will return here after 40 days to retrieve the SD cards from the cameras, which will have some three to five thousand images or videos. We will take the SD cards to Merida and transfer them to a hard drive. The Polytechnic University of Yucatan will upload them to the Huawei Cloud, where they will be processed by their team.
The cameras are triggered by moving objects, however, sometimes the movement is just the swaying of tree branches. So, we will gather a massive amount of information. If machines can process this information and tell us what has occurred, our work would become much easier."

SOUNDBITE 4 (Chinese): ZENG MING, TECH4ALL project manager of Huawei
"TECH4ALL is Huawei's long-term digital inclusion initiative and action plan. We primarily utilize digital technologies, including the Internet of Things (IoT), connectivity, Cloud technology, and AI, along with partnerships with global entities such as IUCN, universities, NGOs, and other collaborators.
Through these technologies and collaborations, we undertake projects that involve the use of technology for nature conservation.
As of now, we have expanded to cover 46 protected areas worldwide. Our projects encompass various types of ecosystems, including forests, oceans, wetlands, and more."

From Sept. 2022 to May 2023, the team identified at least five jaguars. A total of 119 species were identified by the project, of which 34 species were included in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

Tech4Nature has been an essential part of the frameworks of green Belt and Road between China and Latin American countries, bringing new light to ecological conservation efforts for many locals.

SOUNDBITE 5 (Spanish): REGINA CERVERA, Tech4Nature Mexico Coordinator, C Minds
"I hope that the jungle we know could remain like this for 30 to 50 years. The animals could have such habitats, where life continues to exist, flourish, and evolve."

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Mexico City and Shenzhen, China.
(XHTV)