Abstract
By enabling the creation of networks of electronic sensors and human participants, new technologies have shaped the ways in which conservation-related organisations monitor wildlife. These networks enable the capture of data perceived as necessary to evidence conservation strategies and foster public support. We collected interview and archival data from UK-based conservation organisations with regard to their use of digital technologies for wildlife monitoring. As a conceptual device to examine these efforts, we used Benedict Anderson’s (1991) work on censuses, maps and museums as social instruments that enabled the imagining of communities. Through a critical application of this framework, the technologically-aided acquisition of wildlife data was shown to inform the new ways in which conservation organisations identify and quantify wildlife, conceptualise animal spaces, and curate conservation narratives. In so defining, delineating and displaying the non-human animal world with the backing of organisational authority, new technologies aid in the representational construction of animal censuses, maps and museums. In terms of practice, large amounts of new data can now be gathered and processed more cost-effectively. However, the use of technologies may also be the result of pressures on organisations to legitimise conservation by being seen as innovative and popular. Either way, human participants are relegated to supporting rather than participatory roles. At a more abstract level, the scale of surveillance associated with instrumentation can be read as an exercise of human dominance. Nonetheless, new technologies present conservation organisations with the means necessary for defending wildlife against exploitation.
Highlights
There has been a discernible proliferation of monitoring and recording projects of varying scales, frequently spearheaded by non-government nature conservation organisations, aimed at plugging the knowledge gaps without which we cannot sustainably use, manage and protect biodiversity resources (Catalogue of Life, 2015; see Wilson, 2003)
As an Instant Wild member of staff explained when discussing the logic of using technologies for conservation: ‘‘[The technologies] can help to answer key questions that have traditionally been either a) very time consuming, b) expensive, or c) very difficult to achieve without modern advancements. [By] passing the identification of camera trap images to the general public, conservationists can analyse the data quicker, which helps us make informed conservation decisions [. . .] Instant Wild [] provides Zoological Society of London (ZSL) with the ability to quickly know if a rare and threatened species has been spotted, and helps us to build up a picture of species type and density in a particular area.” (Instant Wild technical staff 1)
Overall, where there have previously been piecemeal efforts to understand the various ways in which wildlife has been calculated, tracked and exhibited, our examination has covered the breadth of new technological efforts undertaken by conservation organisations that have produced wildlife censuses, maps and museums
Summary
There has been a discernible proliferation of monitoring and recording projects of varying scales, frequently spearheaded by non-government nature conservation organisations, aimed at plugging the knowledge gaps without which we cannot sustainably use, manage and protect biodiversity resources (Catalogue of Life, 2015; see Wilson, 2003). Organisations have increasingly turned to digital technology platforms. We focus on the new technological monitoring and recording efforts undertaken by conservation-related organisations, examining arrangements such as digital applications used to facilitate crowd-sourced identifications of camera trap images of endangered species, and tracking and visualisation set-ups depicting movements of birds. We analyse how these endeavours unfold in practice and examine implications these practices might have for human-wildlife relations
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