Project: Conservation Portal
Team Members:
Scott Trageser, Project Lead
Chris Wagner
Summary:
As biodiversity is increasingly threatened throughout our world, a disconnected network of conservation organizations does its best to protect our environment. This siloed network could benefit from increased connectivity, access to pan-network information, access to desired resources, and a global certification standard. Without the ability to gauge overall impacts and resource allocation there likely exists inefficient use of the limited resources available. Additionally, many international nonprofits struggle to capture both the interest and the trust of the public which could be overcome with the increased visibility from this database and implementation of a certification scheme.
The “Conservation Portal” is a digital initiative that will aggregate wildlife conservation organization data into a single platform to provide searchable data dashboards to the network, funding agencies, and the public. A certification standard and fiscal sponsorship model will also be implemented and applied through Conservation Portal which will provide increased access to United States-based funding.
Hackathon Summary
The team delivered a viable proof of concept through creation of a React Native front end which is embedded with a Tableau based map display and fetches data from the largest database of conservation organizations ever created (to the best of our knowledge).
Financial data for the organizations in this database are largely forthcoming, but the datasets for organizations in the Global North have been identified and will be easily integrated in the near future. Basic data for organizations (e.g. country worked in, taxon focus, and service provided) in the Global South has been successfully scraped from their respective websites, but this does not capture financial information.
The main identified challenges will be to acquire and routinely update financial data for the Global South; increase the resolution of all financial data to represent specific activities; trace inter-organizational funding to avoid misrepresentation of expenditures; and how to factor in overhead costs to refine our ability to monitor and evaluate efforts.
Skills & Resources Needed:
Funding to continue general development and purchase technical products such as Tableau embedded analytics https://www.tableau.com/pricing/embedded
Developer with React Native proficiency to finish design.
Web scraper to continue developing algorithms.
The most difficult to attain resources are those that enable several of my proposed co-benefits eligible only for participating organizations and provided by The Biodiversity Group. These are the key to further incentivize organizations to contribute financial data and report figures of higher temporal and spatial resolution – a transformational change for many organizations. I, and others, believe this is the only way to achieve the desired data resolution from conservation organizations. Numerous high-value benefits have already been secured through The Biodiversity Group, but several others could be hugely beneficial in addressing the needs of this eclectic sector:
Access to shipping and insurance discounts to enable an equipment loan program between organizations. For instance, if an organization requires a drone for a specific project to e.g. map a forest, and there is a suitable drone which is not being used by an organization (or individual) in Ecuador, the organization in Ecuador could loan this drone out for a specified time frame. The cost to enable the project in Peru is then reduced by several thousand dollars as the only costs would be shipping and insurance. At scale, this then allows the limited grant funding pool to be stretched further.
Shipping discounts for donors to donate equipment to The Biodiversity Group to supply the equipment loan and distribution program (currently the Cameras for Conservation program)
Camera refurbishment services to repair donated cameras for distribution within conservation network
Field equipment discounts e.g. Fenix, Petzl, Garmin, Marmot, etc. for conservationists in the Global South.
Sustainable Development Goals:
No Poverty
Zero Hunger
Good Health and Well-Being
Quality Education
Clean Water and Sanitation
Gender Equality
Decent Work and Economic Growth
Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure
Reducing Inequality
Sustainable Cities and Communities
Life on Land
Life Below Water
Climate Action
Responsible Consumption and Production
Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions
Partnerships for the Goals
Post-Capsule Goals:
Incubator Program
University Partnership or Collaboration
Launching Your Own Startup
Project Motivation:
A reliable communication and networking tool for international conservation organizations does not currently exist. Empowering the world's conservation organizations with a tool that allows them to connect and learn from each other faster, reach funders more easily, assess the efficacy of current conservation approaches, better conduct research, and benefit from various technical resources which are greatly desired yet are cost-prohibitive on an individual basis, will positively affect the efforts of all organizations within the network. This will result in improved outcomes during the climate crisis.
The Conservation Portal initiative was born from Scott Trageser’s experiences in the field of wildlife conservation where he witnessed conservation efforts hindered by the lack of connectivity and access to desired tools. The Conservation Portal is a possible solution to this problem which Trageser believes, if implemented intelligently, will solve many current problems in the field.