Connected Conservation

Why Connected Conservation makes sense 

A game reserve adjacent to the Kruger National Park wanted more effective means to prevent rhino poaching and, thereby, conserve the rhino for future generations. We harnessed the power of technology to protect the rhino by tracking the movement of people.

South Africa is home to 80% of the world’s remaining rhinos. With populations decimated by poaching, there’s a real chance the rhino could be extinct by 2025. A private game reserve took the lead in finding a technology-based way to deter poachers. 

Every day, hundreds of staff, suppliers, contractors, security personnel and tourists enter and exit the reserve. Being in such a remote location, activity wasn’t monitored. Only basic technology infrastructure and access control, manual security processes, and very limited communication existed. 

An end-to-end solution was introduced, proactively stopping people entering the reserve illegally. If an incursion took place, the solution triggered an alarm in the control center. An alert with exact co-ordinates for the incursion was sent to armed rangers’ mobile devices, who patrol both on the ground and in a helicopter. 

Preventing incursions is possible only if you are able to observe the boundaries of the reserve comprehensively. This was achieved using a point-to-point reserve area network (RAN), creating a high-security perimeter ‘net’. CCTV cameras and biometric scanning extended the reserve’s IT infrastructure into remote areas.  

Wi-Fi and local area networks at each gate allowed communication between security personnel and game rangers both on the ground, and in the air. Connectivity to the national database of poaching suspects and backing up of reserve generated data to a secure cloud service-enabled real- time data analysis.  

What connected conservation technology achieves

Innovative application of IT infrastructure, Managed Services, data analytics, multiscreen communication, secure network and data flow, a point to point reserve network, CCTV cameras, and biometric scanning has enabled the reduction of incursions into the reserve by 68%. 

Before the Connected Conservation pilot project was implemented in 2016, the nature reserve lost rhinos to poaching at a rate of one per week.  

Our Connected Conservation solution nullified the risk completely. It provided real-time intelligence to enable preventative action against poachers. 

Poaching in the reserve dropped by 96% in its first year. And, in 2017 and 2018, there were zero rhinos poaches.  

We’re building on three years of success of the Connected Conservation program under the Dimension Data brand. 

Our vision is to eliminate all forms of poaching, globally, through: 

• continued innovation in intelligent technology 
• expanding the solution in southern Africa into the Kruger Park 
• protecting more vulnerable land and water species in more countries 

With the expansions into Africa, the aim is to bring together national and private park management, sharing info and tactics to safeguard more species across various terrains.