Digital Conservation Can Fill Data Gaps in Data-Poor Regions: Case of Elasmobranchs in India

Abstract

Internet and social media use has increased significantly over the past decade resulting in huge volumes of biodiversity data that are potentially cost-effective means to better inform biodiversity conservation and resource management. We examine the role of digital conservation in a data-poor context of the Global South, using sharks and rays in India as a case study. India is a top shark fishing nation characterised by few, disconnected species-specific research and conservation projects but lacking nation-scale conservation insights. We analysed 1,293 elasmobranch-related posts and recorded 83 species, from six social media and citizen science platforms. We identified two key dimensions of data- ecological and social (including politics and governance) and tested the effectiveness of these data in mirroring or complementing scientific research. We found that digital platforms were: (i) spatio-temporally better representative than scientific research, since they included 96 underrepresented regions and spanned 18 years, despite some biases; (ii) useful to detect the presence of data-poor and rare species; (iii) effective to detect human-elasmobranch interactions and public perceptions towards sharks and rays, topics which are poorly represented in the scientific literature. We find that digital conservation can therefore be utilised to generate national-scale insights in regions with limited resources and site-specific data. It is also useful to fill socio-ecological data gaps to drive better management and increased public participation/awareness for conservation. The multi-disciplinary nature of data emerging from digital conservation has high relevance for current and future conservation of species.

Keywords: Human dimensions, social media, Citizen science, sharks, rays, South Asia