Hikvision is a globally active security and innovation company. Every year it invests more than 9% of its turnover in R&D to promote continuous product upgrading, developing complete systems on several levels from design to technical support. Hikvision has always been ahead of the curve in developing key audio and video encoding technologies, especially through artificial intelligence, cloud computing and big data. Over the past few years, it has been able to refine its skills and experience to adapt to the needs of different vertical markets.

As evidence of this, among the most interesting and curious case histories offered by the company in Italy, there are two solutions for the protection of environmental ecosystems and the monitoring of wildlife, nowadays popular topics of discussion as well as a key objective of our daily social and political life. Hikvision video surveillance systems have been installed both in the Municipality of Crevalcore (Bologna), in the area “Riequilibrio Ecologico Vasche Ex Zuccherificio” and in Isle of Lampedusa.

In the protected area in Bologna, currently managed by Terna SpA, the proposed solution was to protect a community of storks, which have been nesting there for years. The site is home to numerous species of regional and national biodiversity conservation significance, which is why the area is regularly monitored by Sustenia Srl.

However, the video solution originally adopted by Terna underwent many changes over time, until it was discontinued for reasons of technological obsolescence. Thus, through a loan offered by Terna to expand the existing camera system for remote video monitoring of the storks' nest, Terna and Sustenia decided to turn to Emiltronica Srl, an installer specialising in the security sector for PAs, which opted for a new Hikvision camera complete with pole-mounted bracket (mobile ptz camera), which offers optimal performance compared to the previous system, including the same resolution but greater video compression, better sensitivity in the dark, greater IR illumination power, greater optical and digital zoom capability, the possibility of complete movement in lateral and vertical axes (Pan Tilt), the possibility of complete remote adjustment in a simplified way from a more versatile and tested app already equipped with a cloud (previously a car with a 25 metre reach was needed to move the camera), greater control functions in troubleshooting (sadp, log) and remote control (cloud, ivms-4200/4500, hik-connect).

It was also decided to install an outdoor powered microphone, with adjustable gain, connected to the dedicated input in the Hikvision camera, in order to equip both the recording and the streaming with audio.

In Lampedusa, however, Hikvision's action goes beyond environmental protection. In fact, the company donated its cameras to the Sea Turtle Rescue Centre on the island.

The facility receives around a hundred sea turtles annually, most of them injured by human activities. Caught accidentally with hooks or nets, injured by hulls, subject to the hazards of pollution and plastic, they reach the small hospital thanks to the cooperation of sensitive fishermen and the valuable support of the police (Harbour Master's Office, Carabinieri and Guardia di Finanza).

The Hikvision cameras are used to monitor the patients in the tank 24/7 all year long: continuous recording will make it possible to assess the movement of the recovering turtles and to check their ability to respond to stimuli (e.g. by assessing their movement towards the light).

The recordings are then reviewed in specialised university environments to study the sea orientation dynamics of this endangered species, a fundamental balancer of ocean health, and to collaborate in the study with original data to better understand the turtles' characteristics and implement strategies for reducing the dangers they must face.

For Massimiliano Troilo, General Manager of Hikvision Italy, “Hikvision's mission is to make the world a safer place to live, for everyone. Thus, supporting an international ethical project, which has been successfully operating in Lampedusa since 1990, is particularly important. Placing our technology at the service of scientific research and the recovery of endangered specimens, collaborating in the recovery of coastal environments for nesting, is an important step towards saving an endangered species. We are proud to be part of this team”.

These are not isolated cases. In fact, Hikvision technology has been used for years in environmental protection to protect endangered species such as pandas, Siberian tigers and Indian geese (known for the characteristic bars on their heads, hence the name Bar-headed Goose). In the latter case, the high-altitude natural habitat of this particular goose in China is now monitored by Hikvision cameras and footage is streamed live in high definition.