Participatory Science in Colombia: Trap Camera Days

Camera Trap Days (CTD) is an instrument that promotes participatory science in Colombia, led by the Colombian Phototrapping Network and the Humboldt Institute with the support of Wildlife Insights, which seeks to compile wildlife records using camera traps for one month (October 2021) and very quickly thanks to technological advances in data organization and artificial intelligence generate a local and national report on the biodiversity of medium and large mammals and birds mainly of terrestrial habits. The implementation of this instrument contributes to the appropriation of nature through knowledge and detonates actions at a local scale for the conservation of the species recorded thanks to the instrument. The instrument also allows the transfer of multiscale knowledge starting from a local level data collection from the new citizen scientists and becoming available at the national level for decision making by different entities, whether individual or collective, governmental or NGOs, among others. The implementation of the instrument can take place in rural or urban territories.

Overview

Type of instrument:

Knowledge, communication and innovation instruments›Knowledge and/or innovation

Challenges addressed

Nature appropriation / stewardship
Reconnection to the biosphere / environmental education

Targeted (peri-)urban areas:

Parks and (semi)natural urban green areas

Allotments, community gardens or agricultural areas

Green areas for water management

Urban green space connected to grey infrastructure

Good practice characteristics:

Effective

Locally appropriate

Potential to be replicated / upscaled

Innovative

Inclusivity

Reconnecting with nature and triggering actions for biodiversity conservation

Governance

Non-governmental actor(s)

Initiating body:

Instituto de Investigación de Recursos Biológicos Alexander von Humboldt (mixed public-private entity) and Red Colombina de Fototrampeo (Colombian Photo-Trapping Network)

Details about how the instrument was designed:

The design of the instrument is the response to co-creation spaces in which the different actors related to the use of camera traps or users of biodiversity information have expressed their interest in being involved and in contributing to the construction of national knowledge approached from local particularities.

Targeted actors:

Public sector institution (e.g. school or hospital)

Private: household, real estate developer, business , financial

Researchers, university

Citizens or community groups (CBOs), NGOs, NGOs, etc.

Details about the implementation:

The instrument was implemented by governmental entities such as municipal mayors' offices and National Natural Parks, which contributed to the collection of information in their territories. Additionally, the data collected by all participants contribute to the national biodiversity database.

How did the government support the instrument?:

So far, no formalization process has been carried out to transform the instrument into public policy.

Financing

Budget:

Unknown

Details about instrument financing:

For the design of the instrument, the Humboldt Institute provided the human capital and for the implementation, each of the participants provided the human and financial resources for its execution.

Monitoring, evaluation and impacts

Is a monitoring framework in place?:

Yes

The number of participants, the number of camera traps, geographic coverage, species diversity

Did an evaluation take place?:

Achieved outcomes and impacts:

In the first version of the Camera Trap Days in October 2021, 41 citizen scientists participated and 29,665 images were processed from 159 camera traps located in 14 departments of Colombia. Wildlife corresponding to 178 taxa, 81 mammals and 97 birds were recorded in 13,700 photographs. The records include threatened species such as the ocarro (Priodontes maximus), the palm bear (Myrmecophaga tridactyla), the tapir (Tapirus pinchaque) and endemic species such as the guacharaca (Ortalis columbiana), the pava maraquera (Chamaepetes goudotii) and the red-legged partridge (Odontophorus hyperythrus). The species with the most records was the paca (Cuniculus paca). This joint effort allowed us a unique view of the state of Colombia's less visible biodiversity, with the greatest sampling effort obtained in a participatory manner using camera traps. After the event, some of the participants have shared some actions after learning that these species inhabit their territories, for example, the students of the Tilatá School designed research and intervention projects in the school for the following academic year based on the results of the implementation of the instrument.

Success factors and lessons learned:

The dissemination of the instrument is a key element for its implementation, together with a good training process for each of the phases. Of course, the overall success depends on the cooperation processes that can be established to amplify the impact. The tool has been welcomed not only by the participants of the Colombian PhotoTrapping Network, but also by mayors, NGOs, schools and civil society initiatives.

Sources and further information

References

List of references:

https://ddct-iavh-ewutmovdfa-uc.a.run.app/ User: DDCT Password: October2021! (With this information you can access to the results display)

Interview(s):

Angélica Diaz Pulido - Researcher Instituto de Investigación de Recursos Biológicos Alexander von Humboldt - Colombian Network of Phototrapping

Further documents

Weblinks:

http://www.humboldt.org.co/es

https://redfototrampeo.netlify.app/

https://www.wildlifeinsights.org/