Guardian Connector
Guardian Connector
A platform where Indigenous communities control, connect, and protect their data
Why it matters
Indigenous Peoples safeguard over 80% of the world’s biodiversity, and are increasingly in need of digital tools to monitor it. However, most digital tools are poorly designed for their realities: overly complex, tied to Western data frameworks, dependent on external servers, and inaccessible in remote environments. Just as critical, little attention is given to where the data resides once collected, leaving communities without true ownership or control.
As the UN Human Rights Council’s Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples notes:
“Indigenous Peoples remain largely excluded from the collection, use and application of data about them, their lands and their cultures. Existing data and data infrastructure fail to recognize Indigenous knowledge and world views and do not meet Indigenous Peoples’ current and future data needs.”
Guardian Connector is being built with Indigenous partners to close this gap, guided by principles of Indigenous Data Sovereignty, so communities can fully own, manage, and trust their data.
Malaita, Solomon Islands
What Guardian Connector enables
🔑 Own your data. Communities run Guardian Connector on infrastructure they control, keeping sensitive information safe.
🔗 Connect and act. Integrate multiple data collection and monitoring tools in one secure place, receive real-time alerts, and explore your data through visual dashboards.
🌳 Sustainability built in. Designed for long-term community use.
Works with tools you already use
Guardian Connector connects seamlessly with widely used tools: KoboToolbox, CoMapeo, ODK, Superset, Terrastories, Timelapse — and integrates with Locus Map, Global Forest Watch, OpenStreetMap, ArcGIS/Survey123, and more.
Guardian Connector provides the flexible, interoperable, and extensible platform that makes these seamless connections possible, bringing together all environmental and cultural data in one place.
A diagram of the Guardian Connector system
Wayana territory, Suriname
Coming soon
Guardian Connector is co-created with Indigenous organizations, a consortium of technical partners, and Nia Tero. It is free, open-source, and self-hostable, so communities can adapt it to their own contexts.
Please stay tuned for updates, or contact us at guardianconnector@conservationmetrics.com for inquiries.
❗ Note: Guardian Connector is a working title. A new name will be announced soon.
