The emergent use of digital technologies for reversing land degradation reveals critical equity and justice concerns.
A growing number of digital technologies are increasingly aligned with an international target of restoring 350 million hectares of degraded lands by 2030. Our recently published research article in the journal Environmental Politics examines how digital platforms influence power dynamics in
restoration
activities. A wide range of digital devices and techniques promise a new paradigm for restoring hundreds of millions of hectares of degraded lands worldwide. Examples include digital systems for
mapping
degraded landscapes,
robotics
for tree planting, and mobile applications for plant species identification and selection for
restoration
. At the same time, our recent assessment discloses how digital platforms influence
restoration
decision-making processes that can create or exacerbate unequal power dynamics in knowledge production, financing, and market arrangements.
As part of a global search, we identified and tested 55 digital platforms applied to
restoration
activities to understand their operations. These platforms include multi-user databases,
geospatial
mapping
and planning, smartphone applications,
games
,
blockchain
systems, crowd-funding
networks
, and social media. You can find the complete list of the selected digital platforms here. By analyzing these platforms, we identified four social-political drivers of technological developments. You can learn more about each of them below.
Global digital
networks
for capacity building
In the form of collaborative channels, these capacity-building
networks
interconnect diverse stakeholders for data collection, resource exchange, and
communication
. These digital
networks
seek to decentralize information, promote collaboration, and support access to financial resources for
restoration
projects. For instance, the Restor
platform
is a digital network that connects practitioners and organizations running
restoration
actions worldwide. The Land Accelerator program is another example of an international channel to connect multiple stakeholders in order to mobilize resources for projects at the local level. These platforms offer tools for managing systems and resources to support decision-making processes, which further generate specific models and arrangements for
restoration
actions. At the same time, there are several ethical and
sovereignty
issues on how these systems enforce particular practices and use data, particularly when these datasets are applied to develop
carbon
markets, for example.
Digital tree-planting markets to operate
restoration
supply chains
Our study also identified emerging
restoration
markets that are materializing through digital supply chains that link stakeholders with tree-planting commercial arrangements. Through digitally enabled
networks
, the British online
platform
, TreeApp, supports planting hundreds of thousands of
trees
yearly. This mobile application encourages users to engage with advertisements from several brands to generate credits for tree planting across 14 projects in the Global South. These digital
restoration
platforms create easy-to-use infrastructures for individuals and companies to offset
carbon
emissions. Still, they commonly present a potential disconnect with actual
restoration
practices on the ground, which could work to develop meaningful livelihood improvements and transparent
restoration
actions.
Digital platforms are also a critical component of diverse grassroots
restoration
initiatives and practices of community stakeholders in everyday experiences. Community-led
restoration
actions adopt digital platforms to improve
communication
processes between local stakeholders to activate and mobilize regional
restoration
networks
. These
restoration
groups and community
networks
are, for example, present on social media to share practices, lessons, and struggles that help share experiences and improve
restoration
actions. In Brazil, a partnership between community-based seed suppliers led to the formulation of Redário, a national
platform
to assist regional
restoration
networks
. Redário has co-produced a seed supply management
platform
to coordinate commercial operations of seed suppliers with
restoration
markets. Notably, the co-creation process is not a simple participatory activity and may not always include the diversity of local values, interests, and financial goals.
These four different drivers of technological developments highlight how digital platforms can shape
restoration
projects. This study suggests the need for critical attention to these emerging environmental technologies to comprehend how knowledge and expertise are coded into the politics of platforms. Such
platform
-led
restoration
actions can contribute to and amplify inequality issues when implementing
restoration
initiatives across scales.