Ways and reasons for documenting wildlife species and habitats

Ways

· Field Notes Recording. All observations (which include time, day and place/area of observations), like number of animals food items, foot tracts, behavior and many others, should be recorded in a small field notebook. All field notes will then be transferred to a larger but organized data notebook (also known as journal).

· Print Film Documentation. As the saying goes: "A picture paints a thousand words." Pictures depicting wildlife species and habitats can clearly catch the past, the present and the possible future scenario of the wildlife species.

· Bird calls, songs or lizard sounds, cries and howling sounds can be tape-recorded. A simple Walkman-type of sound recording can be produced.

· If available, a documentary film can be made particularly for the natural history of endangered and unique species.

Reasons

· can be a good audio-visual aid for conservation campaigns;

· would allow and facilitate easier review of the behavior and biology of wildlife;

· can be instrumental in assessing the environmental make-up or conditions of a particular place or ecosystem; and,

· can depict cultural, aesthetic and historical values to local people.

Ideas for Action:

A Technology Information Kit, November 23 - 28, 1992