Integrating Indigenous and Scientific Knowledge: Epistemic Justice, Decolonised Conservation Policy, and Artificial Intelligence

Conservation policy depends on digital technology, global rules, and scientific knowledge. As land degradation increases, conservation efforts are becoming more evidence-based and data-driven. Digital technology boosts technical skills and equips people to manage the environment at a larger scale. However, it reflects Western scientific culture to the neglect of indigenous and local knowledge, especially in the Global South, where most biodiversity hotspots overlap with indigenous lands. This paper examines the problems in the two knowledge systems in environmental governance. The focus is to decolonize conservation. Using epistemic justice, the paper highlights conservation projects and the interplay between colonial power and data-driven, technocratic solutions, often skewed towards data-driven, technocratic solutions over lived, place-based knowledge of indigenous origins. The paper also delved into the role of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in influencing conservation efforts. The research employed qualitative data and a desk study. It drew on political ecology, science and technology studies, indigenous studies, and sustainability research to try to establish a clearer view of what AI integration means for conservation. The results confirm the important role AI plays in environmental monitoring, environmental predictions, and informing decision-making. They reveal AI's tendency to exclude indigenous knowledge. The paper concludes that when combined, indigenous knowledge and AI tools provide the desired outcome. Therefore, co-existence is recommended to enhance knowledge sharing, improve local governance, and ensure indigenous control over data. Also, the combination process, AI has to leverage epistemic justice to ensure real collaboration, and indigenous self-determination and conservation decolonisation. Again, AI governance needs to be built on indigenous data sovereignty, accountability, and shared authority.