Hype or hero: will blockchain boost conservation?
Zachary Baynham‐Herd · Proceedings of the 5th European Congress of Conservation Biology · 2018
ouragement to donors. Similar tokens could create more efficient payments for environmental services (PES) schemes. In theory, by removing the barriers to funding, a peer-to-peer conservation platform could empower anyone, anywhere to do conservation work – ranging from urban ecological restoration, to human-wildlife conflict prevention. Blockchain technology has also been tipped to improve environmental governance via increased transparency and decentralisation. For instance, The IUCN have recently launched their ‘Green List Standard’ token on the blockchain, which they claim will improved protected area governance. However, to-date there has been limited critical reflection on the credibility of these claims. This presentation will both outline and challenge recent developments in so-called ‘crypto-conservation’. The aim is to introduce the wider conservation audience to the technology, so that more practitioners and researchers can explore new possible applications of blockchain for conservation, but also so that they might be better equipped to challenge such claims. Baynham-Herd, Z., 2017. Technology: Enlist blockchain to boost conservation. Nature, 548(7669), p.523. Chapron, G., 2017. The environment needs cryptogovernance. Nature, 545(7655), p.403.