Our Mission Statement and Objectives

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Our Mission Statement

Habitat preservation, censusing and monitoring are the fundamental tools of wildlife conservation.

The conservation of endangered species and the assessment of their associated ecosystems can only be achieved if reliable data are available. Knowledge of numbers and distribution is key to the implementation of strategies for protection and management.  Non-invasive approaches may hold the key to sustainable monitoring.1.black_rhino-200-301

The future of wildlife conservation likely depends on the development of non-invasive, cost-effective and sustainable methods of censusing and monitoring. Many current techniques employed for conservation (radio-collaring, tagging, notching etc) are expensive, sometimes ineffective and often unsustainable. In addition, our research and that of others suggests they may negatively impact on the animals they are trying to protect, by interfering with behaviour and fertility. Developing countries, home to many endangered species, are best able to sustain and manage techniques which are inexpensive. If these techniques can utilise indigenous tracking skills then they have further benefits in terms of providing local employment. Footprint identification can make a very valuable contribution to wildlife conservation.

Our Objectives

1. To develop and apply non-invasive and objective censusing and monitoring techniques as a fundamental resource for wildlife conservation. The Footprint Identification Technique (FIT), and others based on non-invasive approaches, can provide accurate and objective data to monitor endangered species.

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An expert tracker on anti-poaching patrol in Zimbabwe

2. To engage expert local ecological knowledge in communities who have lived with endangered and elusive species over generations.

3. To invite participation in this project from volunteers around the world who would like to be part of this project.  We need help with footprint image collection, we can always use expertise in software and hardware engineering, forensic sciences, environmental impact assessment, social media, anthropology...and numerous other areas. If you have a talent to share and are interested in being involved in this project please contact us!

 

Why are we losing biodiversity?

The World Resources Institute reports: ‘The world is being impoverished as its most fundamental capital stock–its species, habitats, and ecosystems–erodes. Not since the Cretaceous era ended some 65 million years ago have losses been so rapid and great’. Many factors are responsible for this decline, but predominantly illegal hunting of endangered species for products (eg. rhino horn, tiger bones), direct habitat destruction by human activity (eg. deforestation, encroachment of human settlements), and now the dramatic spectre of climate change, are between them responsible for delivering the highest rates of extinction in millions of years. Because climate change is impacting on endangered species, monitoring their status can inform on its progression. The overall mobility of wildlife makes it an effective indicator of climate change. Monitoring is also essential because of the goods and services provided by intact ecosystems. Most of the goods and services provided by wildlife (e.g., pollination, natural pest control) derive from their roles within systems.

A major UN report, due to be published this summer (2010), on the economics of ecosystems and biodiversity, is hoped to encourage governments to better fund conservation during the International Year of Biodiversity.