Plant Identification
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Finally, where a range of stakeholders is involved, it can be desirable (and normal institutional practice) to formalize the project and the action plan through agreements.
This helps to ensure that stakeholders’ roles are defined and feasible, and that the institutional management structures can accommodate the work that each member of the team is expected to do.
56 Plant Identification
Case studies 3.7 and 3.8 illustrate two contrasting approaches in projects in Bolivia and Brazil. In both cases, those involved were enthusiastic; but there were differences between the two experiences. In Bolivia (see Case study 3.7), there had long been a demand for field guides in the Noel Kempff Mercado national park, and park guards were keen to contribute. Nevertheless, the communities had no experience of producing a guide, and experience with participatory conservation projects shows that misunder-standings can arise when rural communities have great expectations of a project’s outcome. Considerable care, therefore, was taken to discuss the objectives, who would participate and how, and how the outcomes would be shared. This became rather an extended political process, which respected the indigenous decision-making structures –
but in the end, it was the process, rather than the formal agreement, that made everyone feel happy to participate.
In Brazil (see Case study 3.8), the issues were more inter-institutional. The initiative came from one NGO – the Serviço de Assessoria às Organizações Populares Rurais (SASOP) – and while the other NGO partners were interested, especially to learn about the participatory methods and to use them in their own extension materials, they were also concerned about their work plan. It was important, therefore, to clarify how SASOP would bear the burden of the work involved, but to ensure that the NGOs and farmers were available for key events, such as workshops for planning and testing the guides. SASOP’s experience also demonstrates the importance of ensuring that the right staff are involved, with coordination and administration available as necessary.
SUMMARY: CHECKLIST OF QUESTIONS FOR
THE PLANNING STAGE
•
Who will use the field guide?
•
What will it be used for?
•
What should it ultimately achieve?
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Which species will be included?
•
Why will they be included?
•
What information should be included about each species?
•
What other information should be incorporated within the guide?
•
What illustrations should be included?
•
How will the information and illustrations be formatted?
•
How will it all fit together into a complete guide? What will be the medium?
If a book, what will be the overall size, type of binding, paper thickness and cover quality?
•
Above all, how can these decisions be tested to see if they really work for the users?
•
Who will do all of this?
•
How will they be paid?
•
How will the field trips, the workshops and the materials be paid for?
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How will the printing be paid for?
•
Who will print it?
•
Who will publish it?
•
Will the guide be sold commercially?
•
How can project initiators ensure that it will reach the intended users?
Planning and budgeting 57
CASE STUDY 3.7 DEVELOPING AGREEMENTS WITH INDIGENOUS
COMMUNITIES IN BOLIVIA
Bajo Paraguá is an area of lowland Amazon forest in the buffer zone of the Parque Nacional Noel Kempff Mercado (PNNKM) in Bolivia. The conservation NGO Fundación Amigos de la Naturaleza (FAN) is working with the indigenous communities there to support community forest management. It was FAN who proposed the idea of making a field guide (Vargas and Jordán, 2003); but the decisions about what kind of guide was needed were made by the communities themselves. Researchers from FAN wanted to make sure that the communities would contribute and feel that the guide they were preparing was their own. They spent considerable time discussing the objectives and issues to ensure that they and the communities were aware of the difficulties which can arise when communities contribute their time and knowledge to a project of this kind, without being sure of the benefits that might arise. The researchers wanted to ensure that all of the participants who were involved were quite clear about who could contribute and in what way, at the same time as feeling free to make decisions about what type of information they wanted to include and publish in the guide.
These discussions are time-consuming but essential, in order to ensure that everyone is clear about the results. Bajo Paraguá is a remote area, and every trip from FAN’s offices in the regional capital of Santa Cruz required four days’ travel (two in each direction). A further two days was usually needed to travel between the various communities along the muddy and waterlogged tracks. Each community meeting would also take at least half a day. Nevertheless, the result was that everyone in the community was aware of the project, trusted the researchers and could make their own decisions about contributing. In the end, four out of five communities chose to participate fully and to receive the field guides for sale in their communities.
The communities are organized as indigenous groups, with their particular political decision-making structures. Each community is represented by the caciques (authorities) who have two deputies; at the same time, all communities are represented by the authorities of the Central Indígena del Bajo Paraguá (CIBAPA – the indigenous central cooperative of Bajo Paraguá).
The communities initially wanted to develop a formal agreement, and held a preliminary discussion about how to distribute the benefits that would derive from selling the guide. However, right from the beginning the communities did not expect to sell many copies; so they did not consider this aspect very seriously. In any case, they trusted that the agreement, having been made by CIBAPA, would allow the financial benefits to be channelled into a common fund to be used for school materials and medicines for the community health post; a further fund was envisaged to be invested in the production of other guides for the zone.
In the end, political processes take time; the field activities progressed, and the communities developed trust and enthusiasm through regular interaction with the researchers. Through various meetings with the villagers, field trips and a series of small workshops, they understood that the guide would be created according to their needs and preferences, and that it really was going to be useful for the communities themselves.
The formal agreement was not signed in the end; but the process and the draft document stimulated discussion, which averted possible conflicts over the dissemination of information, the distribution of the product and the possible benefits that might arise in the future.
58 Plant Identification
CASE STUDY 3.8 GUIDELINES FOR TEAM-WORKING TO PREPARE
FIELD GUIDES, BASED ON THE EXPERIENCE OF THE
FIELD GUIDES PROJECT IN BRAZIL
Over the four years in which the Field Guides Project was carried out, we experienced various team compositions and institutional partnerships, which changed in response to the needs that came up. Through these partnerships we were able to produce the two guides (Costa et al, 2002; de Queiroz et al, forthcoming). This process brought interesting results that also provide tips about what would make the perfect team for such a project.
If you are thinking about preparing a guide, before establishing the team who will carry it out, define the authorship of the field guide or project. The following possibilities exist:
•
The guide is the project of an author (physical person).
•
The guide is the work of an institution.
•
The guide is the collaborative work of a group of institutions, with established partnerships.
•
The guide is the product (output) of a project.
As indicated in this chapter, the team can only be defined once you are clear about the:
•
guide’s theme and content;
•
target audience;
•
availability of existing information;
•
time available;
•
resources available.
Regardless of the format and authorship of the guide, it is very important to have a project plan that includes an:
•
objective;
•
methodology;
•
timetable;
•
budget.
Even if the planning is as realistic as you can possibly make it, you must remember that contingencies and unforeseen problems always arise; therefore, management must be flexible so that you don’t compromise the end result of the project. After defining the responsibilities for authorship, the aspects of the guide and the action plan, you can define the number of people necessary to carry this out and the role/time that each will have during the project.
To help in defining a working team, we offer a few reflections based on our experience in Bahia:
•
For the content of the guide, it is important to engage a specialist who is knowledgeable in the guide’s theme. For example, for the guides to the legumes of the Caatinga, one author is a specialist in the botanical family Leguminosae. If you can’t manage this, you will have to explain how the information is going to be acquired. Even if the information already exists and is available, the author must have the technical advice of, or must have the work reviewed by, a specialist.
Planning and budgeting 59
•
If the guide is the product of one or more institutions, it must be very clear who is going to write the guide or compile the information of the various researchers and authors. If that person is not a specialist, the participation of a specialist must be ensured either through one of the participating institutions or by contracting a consultant in order to verify that the information is correct.
•
If the guide is the product of one person’s work, he or she will have to ensure that various professionals can be contracted from time to time in order to carry out specific activities, with specific time and money allocated to the tasks. Depending upon his or her abilities, the author may be able to carry out some of these functions, thereby reducing costs, but must bear in mind that the time required will be greater than if a specialist is involved. In order to decide whether the author has the necessary skills, you need to define the type of product and its qualities, and give details of the format.
For example, if the guide will include photographs of flowers, you must ask whether the author is capable of taking close-up high-quality photography. Furthermore, will the author have the time to do this, apart from compiling and writing the guide?
•
If the guide is the product of one or more institutions, it is still necessary to have one author or person ultimately responsible, with the same need to define his or her role and responsibilities. Staff responsibility, function and hours/proportion of time allocated, as well as resources available to that person, procedures for reporting, expected results and deadlines, must all be defined within the institutional framework if this person is not to experience difficulties.
•
If the field guide is the result of a particular project, there is still a need to define who will be responsible for the guide, apart from the other project activities. If the institution makes available a staff member who already has other responsibilities, it is only fair to that person and to the institution to ensure that these new responsibilities, and the proportion of time allocated, are formally recognized. Above all, the personnel assigned to the new tasks must be in agreement, otherwise they will become a member ‘on paper’ only. This will seriously hold up the other team members and jeopardize the whole chain of activities needed for the guide’s production.
•
If the guide is the result of a project carried out by a collaboration of various institutions, the same criteria apply to defining institutional and other responsibilities.
•
If the guide is the result of a participatory project – in other words, based on research, together with locally knowledgeable people or with the target audience for the guide –
you need to include experienced facilitators. Planning and facilitating participatory workshops and research requires experience. It will be very important and productive if this person also has knowledge of the guide’s theme; but if this is not possible, the authors or specialists must be included in such workshops.
•
The definition of other professional needs will greatly depend upon the specific activities and planned content and style. In particular, the illustrations, design and layout, technical editing and printing will all require expertise, time and resources.
•
After defining the team involved for the preparation and technical production of the field guide, you also need to be able to rely on a support team who can take care of administrative and financial aspects. A financial assistant will manage the budget, authorize purchases and payment of expenses, and prepare financial reports for the funders. A secretary will deal with the public, disseminate information about the project, organize workshops and other project events, and send letters and invitations.
It might seem that these jobs can be carried out by the same people who are responsible for producing the guide. However, these administrative tasks take time. In addition, if you have funders for your project, you will need the authority of a financial officer to report on spending.
60 Plant Identification
•
If the guide is the product of one or more institutions, it is helpful to appoint a coordinator or a senior figure who can manage activities and staff to ensure that the objective is reached on time. The role of this person is to manage and report on activities, use of resources, inter-institutional relations, contact with rural communities and contact with donors, as well as to plan a strategy for promoting and distributing the guide. This person must be a professional familiar with the topic of the guide, but also with experience of team management.
•
If you have to contract the services of a photographer or artist, as well as other specialist services such as graphic design and editing, the coordinator must review and authorize the contract. You will need to define who will own the negatives and copyright, and how the illustrator will be credited in the guide.
In conclusion, some of these activities can be carried out by just one person whose time is dedicated to the project; but it is still necessary to outline who exactly will carry out each task, while ensuring that each person has the necessary skills to do so. Table 3.6 provides some suggestions for professionals required to produce a field guide.
Table 3.6 Suggestions for professionals required to produce a field guide Team function
Staff
Comments
Team to
One person responsible
The author or person who will research, collect
produce the
for compiling the content
and compile the information, or assemble the
content
and writing the guide
work of the professionals
One specialist in the
This may be the author – but external review is
guide’s topic to review
always important
the technical aspects
One illustrator (artist or
To be contracted
according to the quantity and
photographer)
type of illustrations, which will depend upon the
preliminary consultations. The illustrator must
be guided by the specialist or author of the
guide.
One graphic designer
Contracted service for specific periods
One copyeditor
For reviewing grammar, style and
inconsistencies in content
Team to test
One facilitator experienced Must also be familiar with the guide’s topic the content
in participatory
with the
methodologies, workshop
target organization,
evaluation
audience
methods, etc.
One professional to
Must document and analyse the results;
record the results and
contracted for specific events
write the workshop reports
Administrative One coordinator
The number of hours per week dedicated to
support team
the project must be defined since it is unlikely
that this person will be working exclusively on
the production of the guide
One finance officer
Responsible for managing accounts, paying
expenses, making purchases of materials, etc.
One secretary
Works alongside the coordinator
4
Plant names and botanical publication
William Hawthorne and Stephen Harris
INTRODUCTION
This chapter concentrates on those aspects of field guides that relate to plant naming, leading into the subject of identification in Chapter 5, and the types of information required for naming and identification in Chapter 6. En route, we discuss ‘botanical identity’ – how a plant’s name is defined – as this is central to understanding the role of any plant guide book. We concentrate on scientific names, but also discuss the use of common names. If scientific nomenclature is new to you, do not be put off: work with a botanist and the chapter will help you to understand the steps they go through.
This chapter also describes the range of publications involved primarily with botanical names. As a guide writer you should be aware of the botanical resources available in order to avoid overlooking useful information. The chapter should help you clarify the niche your field guide might fill in the botanical world, which in turn will help you to make the most efficient and appropriate choice of content and style. Should you really be aiming to produce a small Flora or checklist (see the section on ‘The spectrum of botanical literature’ for explanations of these terms), rather than a field guide? Should you include Latin names? What about the species’ authors and synonym lists?