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Enhancing data justice in community-led conservation
Biodiversity conservation is undergoing a process of datafication, driven by calls for evidence-based conservation and rapid technological advances. These developments promise to enhance conservation efforts, but they also raise ethical questions. While most existing research on conservation data justice focuses on large data sets and novel technologies, this paper explores data justice in community-led conservation. We build on a conservation data justice framework, which distinguishes five dimensions of conservation data (composition, access, use, control, and consequences), by adding a sixth dimension: data collection. We apply this framework to two community-led programs in Indonesian Borneo, supported by the Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) Planet Indonesia. Through semi-structured interviews with NGO staff and local community members, we examine how data justice is perceived and assessed in conservation practice.
Key points
- Respondents viewed data composition and consequences positively, but raised critical concerns about access, use, and control.
- Ensuring fair access to and control over data by local communities is crucial for strengthening their role in conservation decision-making, rather than leaving data predominantly in the hands of external organizations or researchers.
- Different community groups have varying data requirements and technical capacities, and conservation initiatives should be tailored accordingly to avoid reinforcing existing power imbalances.
- Limited access to data collection technologies, gaps in digital literacy, and institutional structures that prioritize externally generated data were identified as obstacles that can undermine local agency and leadership.
- When communities have greater ownership and oversight of data, they are better positioned to influence conservation strategies and advocate for their interests in broader policy or resource-management contexts.
These findings help illustrate the variety of opportunities and challenges for data to enhance social justice in conservation and reveal the need for practical strategies to address the priorities and trade offs identified by ground-level actors.
Suggested citation
Thung, P. H., Damatashia, P., Kartikawati, S. M., Muflihati, & Pritchard, R. (2026). Enhancing data justice in community‐led conservation: A case study from Indonesian Borneo. Conservation Science and Practice, e70230.
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