The GAIA i³ approach: Creating an AI-powered early-warning system for ecosystem disruptions

To effectively address the scale and speed of biodiversity loss, innovative approaches are needed that can deliver science-based insights for conservation faster and with more precision. The GAIA Initiative developed such an approach by combining the sensory abilities and intelligence of sentinel animals with human and artificial intelligence (AI) to create an early-warning system for environmental changes and critical incidents affecting ecosystems. Vultures, for example, can provide reliable and precise information on ecosystem disturbances, e.g. animal deaths caused by drought, disease, or human-wildlife conflict. With newly developed animal tags, AI pipelines, and IoT satellite infrastructures, GAIA harnesses this knowledge for conservation and detects threats in real-time to facilitate swift and adequate countermeasures. The GAIA approach is adaptable, scalable and applicable to diverse scenarios in different ecosystems worldwide to avert threats to species, ecosystems and humans.

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Creating Lands of Opportunity: Sustainable Agriculture and Land Restoration in Burkina Faso

This project empowered communities in Burkina Faso’s Centre-East and Centre-South regions to transition toward sustainable agriculture and landscape restoration. With support from the IKEA Foundation, UNCCD Global Mechanism, and the Italian Ministry of Environment and Energy Security, the project reached 300,000 people (50% women, 50% youth). It increased agro-sylvo-pastoral production, restored over 54,000 ha, and strengthened local associations and governance. Through inclusive participation, communities adopted legal texts protecting 37,500 ha of ecological corridors. The intervention improved food security, incomes, biodiversity, and local decision-making capacity while aligning with Nature-based Solutions standards. Its successful co-production approach and restoration-business linkage offer high potential for replication across the Sahel.

Strengthening Conservation Education and School Support in Bikita District, Zimbabwe

In rural Zimbabwe, poverty, limited infrastructure, and scarce educational opportunities restrict children’s ability to learn and to engage with wider environmental issues. Despite living in close proximity to rich biodiversity, many students grow up with little awareness of conservation, and schooling is further hampered by inadequate facilities and resources. To address this, Sango Wildlife Conservancy (SWC) developed a programme that combines conservation on-site education with direct support to schools and communities. The solution strengthens awareness of nature and sustainability among young learners while simultaneously improving learning conditions and community well-being through practical interventions such as infrastructure, clean water and food security. The primary beneficiaries of this initiative are approximately 2,000 schoolchildren and their teachers from 10 different schools. More broadly, around 15,000 community members in Bikita District also benefit through improved access to essential resources.

Ecosystem-Based Adaptation for Climate-Resilient Agriculture in Guatemala’s Highlands

Agriculture in the Guatemalan highlands is a lifeline for local communities but is increasingly threatened by land degradation and climate variability. The Resilient Highlands project supports indigenous smallholders in three micro-watersheds through integrated watershed management and ecosystem service-based planning. By using InVEST models to assess carbon storage, soil retention, and habitat quality, the project informed interventions such as agroforestry, terracing, and forest conservation. Rooted in national forestry policies (PINPEP, PROBOSQUE) and community engagement, the project improved agricultural sustainability, water supply, and biodiversity. The approach strengthened climate resilience and restored vital ecosystem functions while centering gender and indigenous knowledge in its implementation.

Sparśa: A Social and Environmental Business Model for Compostable Menstrual Pads Production in Nepal

Sparśa is a women-led Nepali social business turning agricultural byproducts into fully compostable menstrual pads, addressing poverty, stigma, gender inequality, and plastic pollution. By sourcing banana fibers locally and applying innovative engineering, Sparśa delivers safe, affordable, plastic-free pads while creating dignified green jobs for women. Profits are reinvested into menstrual health education, ensuring lasting community impact. The enterprise integrates user-centered research, quality testing, and market strategies to guarantee comfort, safety, and cultural acceptance. Its Ambassador Program empowers youth and adults to challenge taboos and foster dialogue. Beyond Nepal, Sparśa serves as a pilot for replication in other regions and with diverse fiber plants, sharing open knowledge through global cooperation. By combining innovation, empowerment, and sustainability, Sparśa advances menstrual health and a plastic-free future, with local partnerships already active across the Global South.

Harnessing the Hidden Power of Thermal Waters: Microbiomes for a Healthy Planet

The management and conservation of natural resources is a global challenge, essential for promoting both environmental and economic sustainability in rural areas. The Pyrenees region, at the border between France and Spain, is particularly rich in thermal springs and medicinal plants with well-recognized therapeutic properties. The CARUSO project aims to transfer knowledge and innovation generated by research on the valorization of natural resources to local businesses. Its ambition is to enable companies to develop innovative and sustainable dermocosmetic products that can actively contribute to the economic and social revitalization of the region. The project focuses on exploring the microbiome of Pyrenean thermal waters and identifying the bioactive metabolites produced by these unique microorganisms. This research relies on a multidisciplinary approach, combining chemical analyses, metagenomics to characterize the microbiome, and metabolomics to identify metabolites present in the waters.

PANACAM, at the summit of Honduran ecotourism and an example of conservation in Latin America

A successful initiative linked to development, tourism, innovation and conservation represents the sustainability of the Azul Meámbar-PANACAM National Park under the co-management of the Civil Association Proyecto Aldea Global-PAG.

This National Park has become one of the most visited destinations in the country, with an influx of 22,000 visitors per year, of which 90% are national tourists and 10% are foreigners.

Among the tourist activities that can be developed in this natural destination are: hiking, bird watching (there are two bird watching towers), kayaking, camping, mountain hotel and restaurant called PANACAM Lodge.

This park demonstrates that it is possible to achieve a balance between conservation and development, promoting economic prosperity and addressing environmental challenges.

Madagascar Lemur Portal: Bridging technology and biodiversity conservation

Madagascar Lemur Portal (MLP) serves as a digital hub empowering conservation effort in Madagascar, home to critically endangered lemurs. Combining a website and mobile application, MLP project provides tools for ecological monitoring, data sharing, and community engagement. The platform offers a lemur species database, geospatial mapping of occurrence points, and offline data collection capabilities.

MLP addresses challenges such as limited resources both human and financial at protected area level for ecological monitoring of conservation targets, fragmented field data and weak collaboration between conservation stakeholder communities at all levels, with centralized information not conducive to adaptive results-based management at protected area level. Positive results include improved monitoring of lemurs in protected areas, increased community awareness and conservation planning based on up-to-date data driven conservation planning. This solution demonstrates the value of using technology in biodiversity conservation.

Green Bonds in Zambia: Developing a Market to Mobilize Resources for Projects with Climate and Biodiversity Benefits

Charcoal is a significant source of household energy in many parts of Zambia and heavily contributes to deforestation. To advance the energy transition and conserve biodiversity, Zambia has developed its green bond market with support from the Biodiversity Finance Initiative (BIOFIN) of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

Green bonds are fixed-income instruments, like other bonds, with the key difference that their proceeds must be exclusively used to finance sustainability projects.

In 2023, Copperbelt Energy Corporation (CEC) Renewables issued the first-ever green bond in Zambia. With two tranches issued so far, totalling USD 150 million, green bonds have helped CEC finance the development of two solar plants with a combined capacity of 196 megawatts (MW). By increasing renewable energy supply to the national grid, these projects help reduce demand for charcoal and support the achievement of Zambia’s National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP) target of reducing deforestation by at least 25%.

Radical Restoration: Democratizing Climate Tech for Ecosystem Recovery

In 2024, Distant Imagery Solutions planted 5.5 million mangroves in the UAE using self-engineered wooden drones designed for simplicity, adaptability, and cost-effectiveness. This milestone redefines the potential of community-driven, ecosystem-based restoration.

With projects ready in Brazil, Tonga, Kenya, and Indonesia, Distant Imagery empowers communities to lead. Our licensing and training platform equips locals to build and operate drones, fostering global knowledge exchange.

More than a technological solution, this is a movement of shared empowerment and stewardship. By connecting communities, Distant Imagery creates a global network innovating together to restore ecosystems and build climate resilience.

Also, our AI-powered Monitoring, Reporting, and Verification (MRV) system tracks restoration progress and combats illegal activities, ensuring ecological recovery and long-term protection.

Shorebirds conservation

Reclamation led to a significant reduction in coastal wetlands, resulting in a dramatic decline in waterbirds, highlighting the urgent need to restore habitats. In order to provide an ideal high tide roost site for the most important shorebird staging site in Yellow Sea, we conducted a restoration project in Tiaozini Wetland. A 720 acre seaward fish pond was developed as a demonstration area for the restoration of high tide roost site. The project has successfully created habitats that meets the needs of various migratory waterbirds through a series of scientific measures such as micro terrain modification, water level regulation, vegetation control, and automatic auxiliary monitoring of waterbirds. Since its establishment, TZN720 has attracted a large number of waterbirds, with a single record of 188500 waterbirds in 2024. Our successful experience of this project has been included in the “Biodiversity 100+Cases” released at the 15th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD-COP15) NGO Forum.

Using drones for non-invasive monitoring and assessment of crocodilian populations – a generalizable and accessible tool for stakeholders in conservation

This standartised solution combines drone technology and an innovative allometric approach to monitor and assess crocodilian populations who face significant threats, leading to population declines with 50% the 27 crocodilian species are threatened, with 25% critically endangered. Drones equipped with high-resolution cameras capture images of even partially submerged crocodiles, allowing precise, non-invasive length estimates based on head-to-body allometric ratios. This method overcomes challenges like logistical constraints, cost, need for highly trained personnel, observer bias, detectability, wildlife disturbance, and safety risks of traditional surveys. By covering remote areas efficiently, the solution enhances biodiversity mo,nitoring, informs conservation strategies, and enables a wide range of additional information to be collected. This solution is very cheap, requiring minimal training, and accessible to a wide range of users, including indigenous peoples and local communities and conservation practitioners.

Tech-Driven Coexistence: Integrating "Sky & Ground" Monitoring and Early Warning to Mitigate Human-Elephant Conflict in Yunnan, China

The Asian elephant remains endangered due to poaching, habitat loss, and growing human-elephant conflict—one of the most pressing conservation challenges globally. In response, our team developed an integrated monitoring and early warning system that combines aerial drones with ground-based infrared cameras. This “sky & ground” network ensures real-time, full-time, and large-scale coverage of elephant activity across Yunnan Province. Drones use thermal imaging and zoom to detect elephants even at night, while 600 infrared cameras enable 24/7 data capture with real-time alerts.

Supported by China’s national and provincial forestry departments, the project trains local youth as monitors and forms community teams. Over 130,000 early warnings have been issued, helping reduce human-elephant conflict and improving safety.

It contributes to GBF Targets A, B, and 1, 4, 20, 21. It strengthens biodiversity protection, enhances community engagement, and offers a scalable model for coexistence.