Scientific contributions and learning experiences of citizen volunteers with a small cat project in Sanjay Gandhi National Park, Mumbai, India

Shomita Mukherjee,R Nandini R Nandini,Nayan Khanolkar,P.v Karunakaran P.V Karunakaran

doi:10.11609/jott.7595.13.13.19930-19936

Abstract

We conducted a project on small wild cats in Sanjay Gandhi National Park near Mumbai during 2017–2019 with the participation of 35 citizen volunteers. Volunteers underwent a training period after which they collected scat samples, placed camera traps and participated in data analysis. Volunteers answered a questionnaire to gauge the impact the program had in furthering their interests and knowledge. Nineteen participants responded to the feedback survey. Most indicated an increase in their knowledge of wildlife research, conservation issues and small wild cats. We discuss the value of research projects where citizens can actively participate and learn semi-technical skills.

Highlights

Planning conservation for rare and cryptic species is contingent upon reliable and adequate data, which requires considerable funding and labour over long periods (Buxton et al 2020)
Most citizens are aware of the general impacts of human spaces on wild habitats, they are perhaps not aware of how they can contribute towards conservation and generating information (Miller 2005; Bhardwaj & Kumar 2021)
We aimed to bridge the gap in information and awareness through a citizen science participatory project by training citizen volunteers in various aspects of small cat biology, techniques in researching them and issues related to the conservation of small wild cats

Summary

Introduction

Planning conservation for rare and cryptic species is contingent upon reliable and adequate data, which requires considerable funding and labour over long periods (Buxton et al 2020). Involving citizens in collecting information for scientific endeavours in the field of biodiversity conservation is gaining popularity across the globe (Frigerio et al 2018), including in India (Surve et al 2015; Singh 2018; Mukherjee 2019; Srivathsa et al 2020), especially as climate change and changing land regimes become major issues of concern. Some authors stress on the importance of training citizen volunteers in science prior to field collection of data to increase reliability of data collected (Bonney et al 2014; Frigerio et al 2018). We employed both the investigative and educational approaches to citizen science (Wiggins & Crowston 2011) during our study

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