Community mapping by non-literate citizen scientists in the rainforest

Supporting local communities to share their environmental knowledge by utilizing scientifically accepted tools and methodologies can lead to improvement in environmental governance, environmental justice and management practices. Mbendjele hunter-gatherers in the rainforests of Congo are collaborating with the ExCiteS Research Group at University College London to record their local knowledge about illegal poaching activities, which will improve the control of commercial hunters and diminish the harassment they often experience at the hands of 'eco-guards' who enforce hunting regulations. Developing and deploying a system for non-literate users introduces a range of challenges that we have tried to tackle with our Anti-Poaching data collection platform.

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