Create 2024/Challenges in Citizen Science Data Platforms for Andean Potato Agrobiodiversity Conservation: Submissions:2023/WikiJournal

This submission has been accepted for WikiConference North America 2024.

In recent years, biodiversity monitoring has become a citizen-driven activity. Platforms such as iNaturalist and eBird have incorporated citizens' observations into conservation science. Similarly, WikiPapa and WikiPapa are two agrobiodiversity monitoring platforms that engage potato farmers, students, extension workers, and researchers in conserving Andean potato varieties in Peru. WikiPapa is a curated website hosting records of local potato varieties, including agronomic, geographical, and gastronomic traits. VarScout allows users to collect data on local names, color, frost resistance, and yield directly from farms. This data is curated and uploaded to WikiPapa, forming an online agrobiodiversity monitoring system supported by the International Potato Center (CIP) and local actors. Recently, developers have considered adding e-commerce features to promote Andean potato consumption.

Citizen science platforms aim to reduce knowledge and societal gaps between experts and non-experts, incorporating Open Science (OS) principles like FAIR and CARE. These principles ensure data is findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable, while respecting indigenous knowledge. However, fostering openness may not always be fair to those contributing data. Concerns about the platformization of science and the privatization of common resources raise questions about these platforms' future. This research, through interviews, workshops, and ethnographic data, examines how economic interests are integrated into the WikiPapa data chain and explores the fairness of implementing OS principles in agrobiodiversity conservation.