Hydro-Guard

Mission

The Hydro-Guard initiative aims to give nature parks worldwide greater control over boat traffic in protected areas, enabling more effective action against poaching and illegal fishing while protecting natural ecosystems.

The challenge

Protected natural areas face growing pressure from illegal exploitation such as poaching and illegal fishing. In many parks these activities are carried out by boat. For operators, boats are an important means of transport: faster than travel by land, independent of infrastructure, and capable of reaching remote areas. There are over 34,000 restricted-access protected areas worldwide. Out of our survey 90% struggles with boat-based exploitation, 87% of the parks are searching to improve boat monitoring. To date, there is no tool that maps boat traffic, even though it plays a dominant role in exploitation.

The solution

Hydro-Guard is an AI-driven acoustic device that detects motorboat activity in real-time. Placed at strategic waterway entry points, just a few units can monitor an entire park. It captures sound, classifies it using a neural network, and sends instant alerts to rangers. Two core benefits: Early detection: When a boat enters a restricted area, rangers are alerted immediately, enabling response before illegal activity reaches land. Systemic insight: Accumulated data reveals exploitation patterns, supporting evidence-based policy and smarter resource deployment. Hydro-Guard shifts enforcement from reactive to preventive, giving park authorities a systematic tool to monitor the waterways illegal exploiters depend on.