New Nature paper on applying the ‘CARE Principles' for ecology & biodiversity research

Fig. 1 | The CARE Principles of Indigenous Data Governance. The CARE Principles of Indigenous Data Governance were created to advance the legal principles underlying collective and individual rights by considering power differentials and historical contexts of data in advancing Indigenous innovation self-determination. Image adapted from ref. 9, © Carroll, S. R. et al. CC-BY 4.0.

This recent publication, led by Dr. Lydia Jennings, Dr. David-Chavez, and a team of Indigenous scholars, focuses on implementing standardized data governance protocols in ecology and natural resource sciences. This paper specifically focuses on the application of the Collective benefit, Authority to control, Responsibility, and Ethics (CARE) Principles for institutions and researchers to ethically engage Indigenous Peoples, knowledges, lands, and waters, providing key tools, concepts, and examples of CARE in practice to improve the quality of our work and relationships.

“By going beyond voluntary and aspirational guidelines, research partnerships increase in value and are rooted in community and intergenerational expertise. Formalizing these changes and nurturing relationships across multiple levels individual researcher practices, community support, funding institutions and cooperation from governmental entities — will increase accountability, collective benefit, responsibility and ethics in relation to Indigenous data.”