On the merits and pitfalls of introducing a digital platform to aid conservation management: Volunteer data submission and the mediating role of volunteer coordinators.

Against a backdrop of accelerating digital innovation in nature conservation and environmental management, a real-world experiment was conducted with the research aims of assessing: 1) the effects of introducing a digital data-entry platform on volunteer data submission; and 2) the extent to which coordinators influence digital platform use by their volunteers. We focussed on a large-scale volunteer-based initiative aimed at eradicating the non-native American mink (Neovison vison) from northern Scotland. This geographically dispersed conservation initiative adopted a digital platform that allowed volunteers to submit records to a central database.

Towards more effective online environmental information provision through tailored Natural Language Generation: Profiles of Scottish river user groups and an evaluative online experiment.

As a result of societal transformations, political governance shifts, and advances in ICT, online information has become crucial in efforts by public authorities to make citizens better stewards of the environment. Yet, their environmental information provision may not always be attuned to end users' rationales, behaviours and appreciations. This study revolves around dynamic river level information provided by an environmental regulator - updated once a day or more, and collected by a sensor network of 333 gauging stations along 232 Scottish rivers.

Digital technology and the conservation of nature.

Digital technology is changing nature conservation in increasingly profound ways. We describe this impact and its significance through the concept of 'digital conservation', which we found to comprise five pivotal dimensions: data on nature, data on people, data integration and analysis, communication and experience, and participatory governance. Examining digital innovation in nature conservation and addressing how its development, implementation and diffusion may be steered, we warn against hypes, techno-fix thinking, good news narratives and unverified assumptions.

Digital technology and human development: a charter for nature conservation.

The application of digital technology in conservation holds much potential for advancing the understanding of, and facilitating interaction with, the natural world. In other sectors, digital technology has long been used to engage communities and share information. Human development-which holds parallels with the nature conservation sector-has seen a proliferation of innovation in technological development.