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Protecting Wuyi Mountain’s Forest Ecosystem with AI
Covering 1,280 km2 and spanning Fujian and Jiangxi provinces in East China, Wuyi Mountain National Park boasts a unique landscape with winding emerald rivers flanked by rugged cliffs and cave systems.
It is also home to one of the world’s most pristine mid-subtropical forest ecosystems at this latitude, making it a key area for biodiversity conservation. Wuyi Mountain National Park is the only place in China that is rated by UNESCO as a biosphere reserve and a world cultural and natural heritage site.
Wuyi Mountain National Park
When traditional falls short
Continuous wildlife and habitat monitoring is an important but challenging task in the park. The forest is home a large number of protected plants and animals, such as the Cabot's tragopan (a type of pheasant), black muntjac (a deer species), golden Kaiser-i-Hind butterflies, Chinese pangolins, and Chinese yew (Taxus chinensis).
However, information collection and analysis based on the park's traditional monitoring system of infrared cameras was inefficient and labor- and resource-intensive, especially for tracking wild animals.
To preserve the park for future generations, Wuyi Mountain National Park administration has prioritized innovation and digital conservation solutions, coupled with education programs that improve public awareness of ecology and environmental protection.
Wuyi Mountain National Park
AI-powered monitoring
One of the stand-out conservation achievements in the park is a monitoring system that covers the ground, air, and space. The solution performs functions such as protecting natural resources, controlling human activity, monitoring wildlife, and providing disaster warnings.
And more recently, the administration has turned to rapidly evolving AI tech to address biodiversity monitoring challenges and protect rare species more effectively. In early 2025, the Fujian Administration of the Wuyi Mountain National Park and Huawei's TECH4ALL digital inclusion team held multiple workshops on AI-powered biodiversity conservation.
By March 2025, the park's Fujian Research and Monitoring Center had shared a large portion of its infrared camera monitoring data with Huawei. With its partners, Huawei used this data and the computing power provided by the Fujian Artificial Intelligence Computing Center to develop an AI-assisted species identification solution based on customized algorithms and models.
The first step was standard labeling of wildlife video and image data collected by devices like infrared cameras. The team then trained AI models to automatically identify species, collect population statistics, and analyze the data through intelligent inference. Analytics results are aggregated and displayed in real time on the Wuyi Mountain Biodiversity Monitoring Platform, providing clear and accurate references for decision-making on research and management.
Efficient, advanced, effective
During just three months of testing, 10,000 images and video clips were screened and processed, and model training and labeling was completed for 20 monitored species. AI-assisted data processing is much more efficient and cost-effective than traditional systems, and historical data can be utilized for precise monitoring analysis.
Wuyi Mountain Biodiversity Monitoring Platform
Tech protects
In protected areas like Wuyi Mountain, every species plays an important role in maintaining the delicate balance and stability of local ecosystems. Digital technologies like AI help researchers understand the dynamics of ecosystems and develop targeted conservation strategies. These efforts are paying off in Wuyi Mountain.
