When digital technologies stumble: Exnovating for conservation science and practice

Abstract

Digital technologies are rapidly transforming conservation efforts in response to pressing planetary environmental challenges. However, these expanding innovations also introduce significant risks and failures that can deepen existing injustices. Although growing approaches to responsible innovation establish ethical standards and best practices for conservation technologies, gaps remain in addressing limited and obsolete methods. This perspective article presents the integration of exnovation strategies into conservation science and practice as a set of deliberate efforts to mitigate, diagnose, repair, remove, and substitute misaligned, ineffective, or harmful technologies. We propose exnovation interventions not only to address technological shortcomings but also to open space for responsible innovation pathways that foster negotiation, reflexivity, and context-sensitive approaches. These insights highlight the need for collaboration, the redistribution of accountability, and participatory engagement to ensure conservation technologies are responsive to local realities and diverse capabilities.