EcoGuard is a mobile and web application that empowers citizens to report environmental threats in real time, connecting them directly with relevant agencies and conservation partners for coordinated, rapid response.
EcoGuard was developed during the Green Tech Hackathon 2025, powered by Oracle and Strathmore University iLab Africa. The KAFU iiHub team set out to build a practical, community-driven tool for environmental protection — one that any citizen with a smartphone could use, regardless of technical background.
The platform enables users to report a wide range of environmental threats: illegal dumping and pollution, deforestation and illegal logging, flood and drought conditions, wildlife threats, and illegal land use. Each report is geo-tagged, timestamped, and routed automatically to the appropriate authority or partner organisation.
Beyond reactive reporting, EcoGuard includes a proactive community layer: users can join tree-planting campaigns, earn conservation badges for verified contributions, and track the real-world impact of their actions on an interactive environmental map.
The judges' award recognised EcoGuard for its combination of technical excellence, clear civic impact, and scalability. The team demonstrated a live prototype with real-time map updates, multi-category reporting flows, and an agency response dashboard — all built within the 48-hour hackathon window.
Following the hackathon, EcoGuard is being developed into a production application with plans for a phased rollout across Western Kenya in partnership with county environmental agencies.