A review of participatory mapping in conservation science and practice

Abstract

Participatory mapping is a collaborative process through which participants and cartographers co-develop maps to represent their knowledge, experiences, and preferences regarding a relevant area, enabling communities to visualize and analyze their environment and potentially spur transformative social change. There has been a recent increase and diversification in the use of participatory mapping in the field of conservation; however, methodological standards remain both disjointed and confounding. We conducted a comprehensive review of the conservation participatory mapping literature, providing a road map to the diverse studies of this field and best practices for incorporation into science and practice. We synthesized geographical, temporal, and topical trends across a total of 398 peer-reviewed studies to provide current findings, common pitfalls, ethical standards, strengths and weaknesses. We offer future directions to increase methodological cohesion, propel the field forward, and introduce interested conservation researchers and practitioners to participatory mapping.