Science at Museo delle Scienze - Museo Tridentino di Scienze ...

the udzungwa international summer school on tropical biodiversity
Section of Tropical Biodiversity
during the first two weeks of July
2011, the first edition of a summer
school titled “Tropical rainforest biodiversity:
field and Gis tools for assessing,
monitoring and mapping” was held in
the udzungwa Mountains of Tanzania as
a collaboration between Trento science
Museum and the university of Trento
(department of environmental engineering),
in partnership with Tanzania national
Parks. The school was based at the
udzungwa ecological Monitoring centre,
the field station managed by Trento science
Museum, and was designed to address
one of its objectives: the provision
of field-based, higher education to university
students and ecologists.
Through a combination of field trips
in the fascinating rainforests of the udzungwa
Mountains national Park, lessons
and practical exercises on the computer,
the course introduced the participants
with key field and Gis tools for assessing
forest biodiversity, especially rainforest
mammals. The course aimed to integrate
state-of-the-art field techniques to assess
key indicator species (primates and
forest ungulates) with Gis tools to map
and model species distribution. Follow-
The main results and projects 2010-2011
ing introductory lessons on tropical biodiversity
and its evaluation, the course
provided the practical and theoretical
skills on abundance estimation methods
(line-transect, camera-trapping) and vegetation
sampling for habitat modeling
using real-world data, in parallel with Gis
training on storing, visualizing and analyzing
environmental using open source
software (QGis and GRAss).
The first edition was attended by 20
participants coming from congo, Tanzania,
italy, netherland and uK. Besides
11 international students that contributed
with a registration fee, the school
offered free attendance to Tanzanian
students and ecologists from the udzungwa
Mountains national Park and
other parks in Tanzania. The participation
of ecologists from Tanzania national
Parks was functional to contribute
towards capacity building and standardization
of biodiversity monitoring in the
country, using the extensive experience
in udzungwa as a model for replication
in other parks. Following the successful
first edition, the school will be repeated
in 2012 with a view to establish a larger
and long-term training programme.
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