Fostering adoption of conservation technologies: a case study with wildlife law enforcement rangers

摘要

New technologies can aid the success of conservation outcomes. Technology alone will not however guarantee conservation success; this hinges on user adoption. Hence, there is a need to understand users' adoption decisions and how to account for these to streamline the introduction of new technologies. Wildlife law enforcement rangers constitute a key end-user group for conservation technologies, and although some studies have focused on ranger experiences, and on the impacts of policing technologies on crime rates, few have addressed technology adoption among law enforcement personnel, and none among rangers. To address this gap we conducted a case study focused on a new technology called the Protection Assistant for Wildlife Security (PAWS), which was developed to deter poaching by improving the deployment of wildlife law enforcement ranger foot patrols. We evaluated the impacts of an educational programme on the willingness of Indonesia-based rangers to adopt the tool. Following the programme, rangers reported high levels of willingness to adopt PAWS. Furthermore, the more engaged rangers were in the programme, the more useful and easy to use they perceived PAWS to be, and the stronger their adoption intentions. In contrast, rangers who were more resistant to technology from the outset were less engaged in the programme, highlighting the importance of identifying and addressing sources of resistance. Overall, the findings of this case study stress the significance of accounting for and educating end users in disseminating conservation technologies, reinforcing the importance of accounting for human dimensions of conservation.