4 ICT Solutions Will Enhance Wildlife Protection In Saudi Arabia
Fostering natural reserves and supervising them has become one of the unavoidable matters, with it being one of the environmental pillars, the kingdom of Saudi Arabia has made sure to take this matter seriously with the “Vision 2030” initiative as a main part of the kingdom’s development process, and this side has been strengthening with “A Sustainable Saudi Vision”, since then the kingdom has directed a considerable amount of effort by establishing several projects and reserves, with focusing on development as a main pillar.
We can see the kingdom’s attention regarding this matter by establishing the special forces for environmental security and the council of royal reserves, all these steps will lead to a sustainable and protected environment, as the kingdom has many reserves across the country with nearly 15 reserves under the management of the national center for wildlife, and according to the environmental developments, a total of 75 areas have been suggested, All these reserves and areas will be managed under different entities that will include, The natural parks of the ministry of agriculture in Riyadh, Asir, Taif, and others, and the areas affiliated with the ministry of municipal and rural affairs, the emirates, the royal commission for Jubail, Yanbu, And others, confirming the kingdom’s continuous care in preserving and developing the environment and wildlife.
Challenges and the external factors affecting the environment and natural reserves
Reserves are facing some challenges which can be described as obstacles in the reserves management efforts, the first challenge is in covering the enormous sizes, with the total size of those reserves being more than (85,393km2).
The other challenge will be in ensuring a safe environment for wildlife and avoiding hunters, among other challenges is the random entrance of vehicles, logging, and sometimes visitors behavior in throwing waste which might leave negative effects on the environment, all those indicators require serious action and procedures to face these challenges by taking advantage of the ICT services and solutions.
The Importance of the ICT sector in light of the challenges facing natural reserves
ICT services and solutions consider the perfect resolution in dealing with the current issue of preserving wildlife, as it has proven its capability during the last two decades in serving the needs of various sectors, and reserves are not excluded from these needs as ICT offers many services and solution that fit well in reserves current challenges.
Advanced ICT solutions and its direct impact in facing challenges
ICT is considered an important aspect in delivering advanced and innovative solutions to different sectors, among these solutions are CCTV, it is a stationary security camera centered in important areas, whether it is open or closed, its job is to monitor and record the surrounding areas live 24/7, and it can prevent hunting and logging by covering several important sections across all reserves, alongside organizing visitors which will reduce wastes that might affect the environment, and it comes with motion detect sensors, in case of detecting unauthorized vehicle movement it will send a notice by the time and place of the movement to the reserve command center, it also comes with night and thermal vision, which will improve the reserve’s overall security.
Wireless communication systems are another distinctive solution, not the traditional walkie-talkie but the up-to-date bodycam, it has much more features that include an HD camera with night vision, voice recording with a one-touch button transmitting directly to the command center, which will enable reserves security workers to work effectively during their routine patrols in or outside the reserve, which makes it one of the best solutions in achieving the reserve security purposes.
The Tracking system is a great solution for monitoring wildlife and avoiding animals leaving their designated areas, these devices are linked to wildlife directly, and it does monitor the exact location of the device accurately through GPS which will keep the concerned department informed about the wildlife movement and guarantee their safety permanently.
All these solutions are connected through VSAT antennas which will be directly linked to the CCTV cameras, wireless communication, and Tracking systems by connecting with VSAT and the command center in the reserve, which will ensure a continuous workflow for the reserves and deliver high efficiency in their goals.
NOVAsat Role in the kingdom’s ICT Sector
The ICT sector is an important and crucial sector in the Saudi Vision 2030, it is one of the contributors to the kingdom’s development across several sectors, either private or governmental, which impact the Saudi economy positively and reflects in the quality of life of the people.
For that, NOVAsat has set goals in offering the latest ICT services and solutions to serve various sectors, whether it’s Governmental, Private, or security, by delivering their technological needs, as it is a part of NOVAsat commitment to the company vision of becoming a reliable key partner to different sectors, as it has proven that commitment through the last 17 years by operating in projects worth more than 2 Billion Saudi riyals across all regions in Saudi Arabia, which indicates that NOVAsat Clients and partners trust the company’s services and solutions as one of the national and leading telecommunication companies in the kingdom, with plans to expand and enter new fields such as IoT, Cloud Services, and Business automation to serve the Saudi market’s current needs.
