# Conservation Data

I found there are four states of data which contribute to the picture of the community-led conservation:

![](https://1133336279-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-legacy-files/o/assets%2F-LMfHy2q5j6aiULboyh2%2F-LPOFRV8Z0dLkUGYT6fQ%2F-LPOUdySdoRLZCGNDTPh%2FStates%20of%20Data%20in%20Conservation.png?alt=media\&token=4ced0399-5c7c-4608-bbf9-3aacb849ec46)

Each project will make judgements about what categories of data (Activity, Monitoring, Evaluation) they record, how often, how and when it will be shared and who with, also how long they will store it. My research found that it is cheaper for projects not to record and store data, many will only do it as a compliance task associated with funding.

However, some of the pitfalls of not collecting this data are:

* No data to inform the improvement of the project (or sector) over time.
* No data to use to gain funding or in kind support from stakeholders.
* No data to indicate the individual or collective contribution towards environmental impact of projects in a region.
* No data to use to advocate for increased sectoral funding - such as showing in kind contributions from volunteers to leverage against national funding or philanthropy.
* No possibility to use the data for scientific or open data challenges [\[110\]](../references).
