Protecting mangroves and wetlands through the use of technology

Pledge by

Ericsson AB

Protecting river communities in Malaysia and wetlands of international importance in the Philippines

Type
Conserving, Restoring & Growing, Enabling
This pledge will take place from
2020 to 2023
Location
Malaysia, Philippines

Company website

Pledge overview

Since 2015, Ericsson has played an active role in reforesting a riverbank mangrove forest in Sabak Bernam, Malaysia through the use of water and soil sensors. In 2016, 80% of mangroves planted reached maturity, compared to only 40% prior to the project. Today, the initial site is fully reforested and Ericsson will continue to support reforesting efforts in different parts of the riverbank. In 2017, Ericsson deployed the same solution in Sasmuan, Pampanga in the Philippines, and in 2020 the site was declared the country's 8th Ramsar site. Today, Ericsson is deploying AI-enabled solutions to help with site protection and migratory bird species identification.

Actions in this pledge

  • Conserving trees and forest landscapes

    Supporting actions
    Conservation support activities
    Support the operating costs and activities of existing conservation areas, including advocacy for conservation policy
    Additional details

    Installation in the Philippines of AI-enabled cameras that will monitor the site and identify bird species in 2021; employee volunteer planting activities in 2022 and project evaluation end 2022. Potential additional site to be evaluated in Q1 2022.

    Conserving

    Land area
    405 hectares
  • Restoring and growing trees and forest landscapes

    Supporting actions
    Reforestation
    Re-establishment of forest through planting and/or deliberate seeding on land classified as forest, that has been degraded or where trees are unlikely to regenerate naturally
    Mangrove restoration
    Establishment or enhancement of mangroves along coastal areas and in estuaries
    Additional details

    Mangrove tree planting in Malaysia in 2021-2022.

    Restoring & Growing

    Trees
    4500 trees
  • Enabling activities for trees and forest landscapes

    Supporting actions
    Data collection, management and technological tools
    Activities that provide data and/or technological tools to support conservation and restoration (e.g. monitoring etc.)
    Additional details

    Installation in the Philippines of AI-enabled cameras to monitor the site and help to identify migratory bird species in Q4 2021. A potential additional mangrove site, where AI cameras will be used for phenology studies, is being examined and if deemed appropriate for the AI solution, will be implemented in Q1 2022.

    Enabling

Our ecologically and socially responsible approach

In both Malaysia and the Philippines, we work with the local community to ensure that the project implementation is in line with local guidelines. We also ensure that we engage with the community to address their needs, and conduct training to transfer knowledge on the ICT solution installed. In the Philippines, we work with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources to ensure that proper measures are taken with regard to site protection.

Our partners

In Malaysia: Community of Kampung Dato Hormat, Sabak Bernam, Malaysia;
In the Philippines: Smart Communications, local government unit of Pampanga, and Department of Environment and Natural Resources

Our locations

We are working at locations across Malaysia and Philippines.

Malaysia: Kampung Dato Hormat, Sabak Bernam, Malaysia
Philippines: Sasmuan Bangkung Malapad, Pampanga

Our implementation progress

Pledge implementation progress reporting is managed in collaboration with IUCN’s Restoration Barometer, and is required annually from the year following pledge publication.