CSO assessment on conservation technology and digital maturity workshop, St. Vincent and the Grenadines. © The Cropper Foundation.
Port of Spain, 13 March 2026 – Civil society organisations (CSOs) across the Caribbean are on the frontlines of biodiversity conservation, protecting forests, wetlands and coastal ecosystems that communities depend on. Yet as environmental threats grow more complex, so too does the need for smarter, more efficient tools to support conservation work. Around the world, conservationists are turning to data science, artificial intelligence, remote sensing and Geographic Information System (GIS) to guide decisions and maximise impact. However, uptake in the Caribbean has been slower and opportunities for regional collaboration as it relates to emerging technologies remain limited.
In response to this, an initiative led by The Cropper Foundation (TCF) and supported by the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF), under the small grant mechanism administered by the Caribbean Natural Resources Institute (CANARI), set out to explore how data science and emerging technologies can strengthen conservation efforts in the region, and what it would take to make that shift a reality.