Interview with Conservation X Labs: Engineering Innovation to Prevent the Sixth Mass Extinction
Leopards captured by Conservation X Lab’s Sentinel
The planet is facing a biodiversity crisis unlike any before, one driven by human activity. As species disappear at unprecedented rates, traditional conservation methods are struggling to keep pace.
We spoke with the team at Conservation X Labs about how they’re reimagining conservation through bold innovation, emerging technologies, and open collaboration. From AI-powered wildlife monitoring and handheld genetic testing to global innovation challenges and scalable tech deployments, Conservation X Labs is working to create the infrastructure for a nature-positive future. - one where biodiversity thrives, economies regenerate, and human well-being is deeply intertwined with planetary health.
Q: Tell us about the problems Conservation X Labs seeks to solve. What are the impacts associated with nature and biodiversity loss? What if we don’t act enough, at all, or in time?
Conservation X Labs (CXL) exists to prevent the sixth mass extinction, the first in Earth’s history caused by a single species: humans.
We drive transformative solutions at the intersection of biodiversity, technology, and innovation, harnessing cutting-edge science and market forces to tackle the planet’s most urgent challenges. Our vision is a future where biodiversity thrives, economies are inherently sustainable, pollution is eliminated at its source, and human well-being is in harmony with nature.
To achieve this, we’re working to accelerate the transition to nature-positive economies, invest in human and planetary health, and deploy scalable technologies to protect ecosystems. We are working to ensure the effective protection of 30% of land and water by 2030, combat invasive species, and prevent zoonotic diseases.
Beyond solutions, we’re cultivating the next generation of conservationists - expanding the field, changing mindsets, and advancing transformational approaches to conservation. Through interdisciplinary collaboration and bold innovation, we believe humanity can rewrite the future and shift from a path of loss to one of regeneration.
Q: What are the current key barriers to taking action & driving real change as you see it? What’s slowing the progress of current conservation efforts?
One of the biggest barriers to driving real change in conservation is that traditional approaches are not scaling at the speed or magnitude required to address the biodiversity crisis.
Many efforts remain fragmented, incremental, and reliant on outdated economic models that prioritize short-term gains over long-term sustainability. Conservation is often underfunded, and solutions struggle to move beyond research and pilots into widespread deployment. Additionally, innovation in conservation has lagged behind other sectors because the field has historically been slow to embrace new technology, market-driven solutions, and interdisciplinary collaboration.
Another major challenge is the lack of alignment between economic systems and planetary health. Extractive industries dominate global markets, making it difficult to transition toward nature-positive economies. Regulatory and policy frameworks are often reactive rather than proactive, and enforcement remains weak.
Conservation narratives have also sometimes struggled to engage diverse stakeholders, failing to show how investing in biodiversity benefits not just ecosystems but also economies, public health, and global stability.
Q: Tell us more about Conservation X Labs & the work you do, and how you’re doing it. What’s unique about your approach? How is technology helping you to solve nature problems in new ways?
What makes our approach unique is our embrace of emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence, to tackle conservation challenges in new ways. AI is helping us analyze vast datasets, detect patterns in environmental threats and species movements, and automate monitoring of ecosystems at an unprecedented scale.
Wildbook
In January 2024, we merged with Wild Me, strengthening our ability to support conservationists and resource managers globally, particularly through the integration of Wild Me’s AI-driven wildlife monitoring capabilities. Wild Me accelerates animal population assessments and research with open-source platforms that use AI to process vast amounts of data and foster global collaboration.
Wild Me’s flagship tool, Wildbook, blends structured wildlife research with artificial intelligence, citizen science, and computer vision to speed up population analysis and generate insights that aid in species conservation. Additionally, ‘Scout’ provides an open hardware and software solution for analyzing large datasets from aerial wildlife surveys, making these surveys faster, safer, and more cost-effective.
Sentinel
We also sell the Sentinel, a smart device that enhances traditional wildlife camera traps, transforming them into AI-powered tools connected to satellites, LoRa, and cellular networks for real-time conservation. It plugs into the camera’s SD card slot, using advanced AI to analyze photos and videos, identifying species, potential threats, and other critical insights in near real-time.
Once an important observation is detected, Sentinel sends an alert via satellite (or through LoRa, cellular, or Wi-Fi networks) directly to conservationists. For example, detecting an invasive species on an island of endangered animals may prompt rapid removal to prevent ecological damage. The platform drastically reduces the time and effort required for manual data retrieval and analysis, enabling teams to focus on actionable insights. By providing rapid, reliable, and actionable data, Sentinel bridges the gap between data collection and response, empowering users to make timely, data-driven decisions in the world’s most remote and challenging environments.
Nabit
Finally, we sell the NABIT (Nucleic Acid Barcode Identification Tool), a groundbreaking, low-cost, handheld device that empowers anyone, anywhere in the world, to rapidly identify the presence or absence of any species with a known genetic sequence. No lab, no reagents, no specialized training - not even continuous power - required.
By harnessing the power of these cutting-edge technologies, we are revolutionizing wildlife monitoring - equipping conservationists with real-time, actionable data that drives smarter, faster, and more effective responses to the global biodiversity crisis.
Q: What’s the story behind Conservation X Labs? Who are the people behind it & how did the company get started in the first place? How has your journey evolved until now?
The story of Conservation Labs started with an unlikely introduction and a shared frustration with the status quo in conservation. Alex Deghan (our CEO) and Paul Bunje (our President) met through a mutual friend, who had worked with Alex in Afghanistan and with Paul at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Their early conversations centered around a bold idea - treating conservation not as a "nice-to-have" but as a global security imperative. They saw firsthand that traditional conservation efforts weren’t keeping up with the scale of the extinction crisis and that new tools, new models, and a new way of thinking were needed.
Both had backgrounds in leveraging technology, open innovation, and grand challenges to solve massive global problems - Alex at USAID, where he helped create the Global Development Lab, and Paul at XPRIZE, where he worked on game-changing competitions in energy, oceans, and space. They both realized that the same open innovation tools used to revolutionize health, development, and space exploration could be applied to conservation.
What started as early-morning meetings in D.C. cafes, fueled by big ideas and little funding, evolved into a transformation factory - a place designed to empower problem solvers around the world to create and scale breakthrough solutions for biodiversity loss. The journey has been unpredictable, but the mission has never wavered: harnessing the best of human ingenuity to prevent the sixth mass extinction.
Q: Are you able to share 1 or more of your favorite success stories to date?
One of the success stories we love to share is Spot A Shark USA, a citizen science project powered by Wildbook’s AI technology, which has completely transformed the way we study and protect sand tiger sharks. These sharks are widely misunderstood - people assume they’re aggressive, but in reality, they’re slow-moving and pose no threat to humans. What’s fascinating is that before this project, we had very little data on where they migrate, give birth, or how their populations were changing over time.
With Spot A Shark, anyone - from recreational scuba divers to marine researchers - can take a photo of a sand tiger, upload it, and AI maps the shark’s unique spot patterns to track individuals over time. The project has already identified nearly 3,000 individual sharks, and the insights gathered have led to new hypotheses about how and where sand tigers give birth - challenging old assumptions. The best part? No invasive tagging is needed. It’s a completely hands-off way to study these incredible animals while engaging thousands of citizen scientists in conservation.
What’s really exciting is how this technology-driven, community-powered approach is scaling. Spot A Shark has become a critical tool for researchers at North Carolina Aquariums, Coastal Carolina University, and beyond, and the model is expanding to new regions. This is exactly the kind of work we aim to do at Conservation X Labs - using AI and innovation to empower people, accelerate science, and ultimately, drive real conservation impact.
Q: Where do you see Conservation X Labs sitting within the broader category of nature tech? Do you see the evolution and growth of nature tech as a category as directly supporting the work you do?
Absolutely. Nature tech is really taking off, and we see that growth as a huge opportunity. The sector is attracting more investment than ever - venture capital funding for nature tech startups has been climbing year over year, with billions now flowing into the space. That tells us there’s a real shift happening: people are starting to see technology as essential to conservation, not just a side project.
For us at Conservation X Labs, that’s exciting because we’ve always believed technology and innovation are key to solving the extinction crisis. Our work sits right at the intersection of nature tech, open innovation, and conservation. We’re not just building solutions in-house, we’re designing open innovation challenges that tap into the best ideas from around the world. The whole sector’s growth fuels what we do, because as more funding, talent, and new technologies enter the space, it expands the toolbox for tackling biodiversity loss. And that means we can move faster, scale better solutions, and get real results where they matter most.
Q: What led you to the Nature Tech Collective? How do you think Conservation X Labs benefits from being associated with the community?
We first joined the Nature Tech Collective when it was called the “MRV Collective”, drawn by an obvious synergy - CXL has long been developing technology that can serve as MRV support tools. But what truly solidified our connection was a shared philosophy. Like CXL, the Nature Tech Collective embraces a bold, systems-driven approach to developing technology for nature. We found an immediate kinship in our vision for how innovation can tackle some of the most complex environmental challenges of our time.
Being part of the NTC has been very valuable for CXL. The collective provides access to a diverse and dynamic community—founders, scientists, ecologists, finance experts, and beyond—who bring critical perspectives and expertise. This network has helped strengthen our own work, enabling us to collaborate, learn, and push the boundaries of what’s possible in conservation technology. Additionally, and more specifically, our membership has opened up speaking opportunities, allowing us to share our insights, highlight our innovations, and engage in critical discussions that shape the future of nature tech.
Q: Where are you going next? What are you working on at the moment? What’s on your current roadmap - and what’s your long-term vision?
One of our strategic focus areas is the Amazon. It is on the brink of a tipping point, and if we don’t act now, we risk losing one of the most important ecosystems on the planet. That’s why we’re doing deep work designing a constellation of programs we are calling Amazon X Labs - a bold initiative to catalyze regenerative economies and make conservation the smarter economic choice.
Many of these programs will leverage our expertise in designing open innovation challenges, ensuring that we harness the best ideas and solutions humanity has to offer. We’re focused on developing sustainable alternatives for industries like protein, feed, fiber, and materials, while fostering a new generation of nature-positive entrepreneurs. We’re also accelerating bioeconomy enterprises that drive preservation while creating jobs and economic value for local communities.
Our goal is to reshape the future of the Amazon by making conservation more valuable than destruction. By using technology, innovation, and market-driven solutions, we aim to outcompete extractive industries and build an economic model where protecting nature is the default.
Our long term vision is a world where humanity leverages its collective genius, innovative spirit, and cutting-edge technology to transform our trajectory for extinction. In this future, biodiversity flourishes due to economies that are inherently sustainable and nature-positive, replacements that are non-polluting and carbon negative, global habitats free of invasive species and pathogens, and human well-being that is symbiotic with nature.
Q: Finally, how can others support the work you do & what kind of support would be of most use to your organization’s goals right now?
Conservation X Labs is always looking to grow our international network of innovators, partners, programs, funders and technology deployments that at present span 67 countries and six continents.
We are proud of the diversity of solutions and innovators that we engage and support. To date, we have run 19 challenges, spurring on and supporting 165 game-changing innovations. Of the $12M in funding we have given for breakthrough solutions, these innovators have gone on to leverage this with $565M in follow-on support after working with CXL. None of this would be possible without the support from our funders who believe in our work, share our vision, and are committed to creating meaningful efforts to prevent the sixth mass extinction.
Extinction is our only competitor and our community is our greatest ally. It is only by working together that we can solve problems of planetary proportions, and create the kind of sustainable change that is needed for the future of conservation. Your support can help us implement a proven model of conservation that sources and inspires innovation from around the globe, integrating local communities, entrepreneurs and leveraging impact.
Support can come in many forms and we are grateful for a network that helps on any and all of the following potential engagement options:
Help raise awareness.
Contribute wildlife photos to Wild Me.
Deploy Sentinels enabling data-driven and real time conservation action.
Be a reviewer of innovator applicants for one of our many challenges.
Help connect CXL to new partner opportunities.
Become a critical direct supporter by providing funding for our work: We welcome general support and also work with partners that want to fund specific projects.
We also co-create opportunities with partners that will help achieve our bold and audacious vision.
You can find more details on how to support Conservation X Labs on our website.
