Wildlife Crime Tech Challenge

Photo Credit: USAID
The Challenge Blog

The Challenge Blog features content and discussions on wildlife trafficking trends and topics and how technology can be used to help stem the crisis. We welcome you to read, share, and comment on the latest commentaries from the Challenge Team, as well as leaders in technology and wildlife conservation.

Thank you to the Challenge Prize Winners for their outstanding work!

What a privilege it has been to work with the Wildlife Crime Tech Challenge Winners! Their dedication to fighting wildlife trafficking, along with their progress in developing and implementing their innovations have been exceptionally inspiring.

The Challenge, a USAID initiative designed and implemented by Integra and partners, in partnership with the National Geographic Society, the Smithsonian, and TRAFFIC, and supported by numerous individuals and groups, attracted three hundred applications from 52 countries. Eighty-six percent of applicants were new to USAID, and almost 50 percent of applicants were new to wildlife trafficking! Sixteen winners were awarded $10,000, technical assistance, networking events and partnership opportunities, and a chance to compete for Grand and Acceleration Prizes totaling over $1,200,000. Another great statistic: three fourth of the Challenge Winners have women in the lead!

We are proud of our Prize Winners, Grand Prize Winners, and Acceleration Prize Winners alike. The amount of progress made by this group in combatting wildlife trafficking is impressive (as you can see through the Spotlight blog/video series below!). A final report on the Wildlife Crime Tech Challenge will also be available in the near future.

Thank you to the Challenge Prize Winners for their outstanding work. Thank you to the Challenge supporters for taking the time to learn about and help promote, and for sharing resources and collaborating with the Challenge Winners. The Challenge and its Prize Winners leveraged $2,963,500 to boost the winning innovations! It takes a network to defeat the wildlife trafficking network. It is inspiring to know that the relationships and partnerships built during the Challenge to this effect will carry on in the service of our common mission. A special thank you to the Challenge flagship partners, National Geographic, the Smithsonian, and TRAFFIC, who have supported the Challenge and its Prize Winners throughout

The Challenge is coming to an end, but it remains possible to interact with its winners via social media and Wildlabs.net.

  0 comments  View Comments

Previous Blog Posts

down

Get Updates

To your inbox

@Wildlife_Tech on Twitter