KWT x SNI Hackathon

We participated in this hackathon, initiated by Sovereign Nature Initiative (SNI) October 2022. Web3 teams from around the world were building tech in the service of life on our planet.

Kenya Wildlife Trust (KWT) is an NGO committed to the protection and conservation of predators and their ecology, situated in the Maasai Mara National park in southwestern Kenya.

The challenge to tackle was: how to protect predators --keystone species in the Maasai Mara who play a vital role in maintaining the ecosystems's resilience.

Predators and farmers conflict mitigation

The survival of predators in a mixed-use landscape depends upon the goodwill of people. Farmers and wildlife live in close proximity and predators often prey on cattle. This tension has historically shaped the culture and tradition of the Maasai herder tribes.

Today, however, population growth and desertification have intensified such conflicts.

Winning Solution by BLCK IoT

We proposed to deploy the Helium-Network in the Maasai Mara and utilise various LoRa enabled sensors and devices.

GPS & LoRa

GPS-collars were already used, but the data was stored on the device and had to be retrieved to read data. A LoRa enabled GPS-tracker can send live locations.

Gyrosensor

With an additional gyro-sensor rapid or unusual movement of cattle would suggest that a possible threat is in proximity to the tagged animal.

Geofence

The Mara and its bordering conservancies do not have a physical border. With Geofences we can trigger notifications if a tagged animals is leaving/entering pre-defined areas.

Alert Tag

Local herders do often not own a smartphone, therefore a vibrating panic button will be used to send a notification if conflict is expected.

Implementation

In the following months we will work together with KWT on the implementation of our solution.

• Gateway deployment: First we will deploy around 20 gateways and start mapping LoRa coverage.
• Lion collars: Next, equip existing lion-collars with LoRa enabled GPS-Tracker. Increase number of collared lions & cheetahs.
• Involve communities: We will work closely with the communities in the conservancies and get them involved so they can directly benefit from our solution.