Transformative potential of digital systems for promoting human-wildlife coexistence: A systematic literature review
8 affiliations
- 1Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands
- 2School of ICT, Fontys University of Applied Sciences, Eindhoven, The Netherlands
- 3Information and Computing Sciences, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands
- 4Department of Wildlife, Fish, and Environmental Studies, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Umeå, Sweden
- 5Centre for African Conservation Ecology, DepartmentofZoology, Nelson Mandela University, Gqeberha, South Africa
- 6Institute for Science in Society, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
- 7Ecology Department, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden
- 8Environmental Sciences, Open Universiteit, Heerlen, The Netherlands
Abstract
Digital technology plays an increasingly important role in wildlife management and conservation, by enhancing monitoring capabilities and reshaping human-wildlife interactions. However, the transformative potential of these digital solutions for coexistence remains unclear. This paper presents a novel framework to assess the transformative potential of digital systems in wildlife management and conservation, focusing on two key factors: Digital Maturity, which evaluates technical sophistication of digital systems, and Systemic Depth, which measures their capacity for enabling lasting change. We used this framework to evaluate 524 studies in a systematic literature review in wildlife management and conservation, and found that although sometimes higher Digital Maturity or Systemic Depth was achieved, overall the transformative potential of applied digital systems was still low. Studies that scored high emphasize interdisciplinary collaboration, adaptability, data sharing, and technologies such as machine learning. This research highlights achieving transformative potential requires a holistic approach integrating ecological, social, and technological perspectives.
Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-026-02399-7.
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BibTeX
@article{michielsen2026transformative,
title = {{Transformative potential of digital systems for promoting human-wildlife coexistence: A systematic literature review}},
author = {Bas S. H. T. Michielsen and Gerard Schouten and Joris P. G. Cromsigt and Remco C. Veltkamp and Irma Arts and Jitse Bijlmakers and Magali Frauendorf and Tim R. Hofmeester and Amy Newsom and Minh-Xuân A. Truong and Helen Verploegen and Els Weinans and Wenjin Yu and Silja Zimmermann and Ine Dorresteijn},
journal = {Ambio},
year = {2026},
month = may,
doi = {10.1007/s13280-026-02399-7},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-026-02399-7},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Transformative potential of digital systems for promoting human-wildlife coexistence: A systematic literature review
AU - Bas S. H. T. Michielsen
AU - Gerard Schouten
AU - Joris P. G. Cromsigt
AU - Remco C. Veltkamp
AU - Irma Arts
AU - Jitse Bijlmakers
AU - Magali Frauendorf
AU - Tim R. Hofmeester
AU - Amy Newsom
AU - Minh-Xuân A. Truong
AU - Helen Verploegen
AU - Els Weinans
AU - Wenjin Yu
AU - Silja Zimmermann
AU - Ine Dorresteijn
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/05/21
JO - Ambio
DO - 10.1007/s13280-026-02399-7
UR - https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-026-02399-7
AB - Digital technology plays an increasingly important role in wildlife management and conservation, by enhancing monitoring capabilities and reshaping human-wildlife interactions. However, the transformative potential of these digital solutions for coexistence remains unclear. This paper presents a novel framework to assess the transformative potential of digital systems in wildlife management and conservation, focusing on two key factors: Digital Maturity, which evaluates technical sophistication of digital systems, and Systemic Depth, which measures their capacity for enabling lasting change. We used this framework to evaluate 524 studies in a systematic literature review in wildlife management and conservation, and found that although sometimes higher Digital Maturity or Systemic Depth was achieved, overall the transformative potential of applied digital systems was still low. Studies that scored high emphasize interdisciplinary collaboration, adaptability, data sharing, and technologies such as machine learning. This research highlights achieving transformative potential requires a holistic approach integrating ecological, social, and technological perspectives. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-026-02399-7.
SN - 0044-7447
SN - 1654-7209
ER -