The Kaufman Challenge
is a fun project that encourages participants to engage in their local
environments and learn to recognise, identify and appreciate indigenous fauna.
The Challenge sounds simple; photograph 25 different local animals – mammals, birds,
reptiles, amphibians, fish, insects, arachnids etc – identify them, research
them and display them!
The Challenge is named after Kenn Kaufman, a well-known American naturalist, birder and
conservationist, whose series of North American Field Guides were designed to
encourage his fellow citizens to learn about nature.
Kenn said, in 2007, “My wish is that every person might learn to
recognize fifty species of plants and animals native to his or her own region.
That may not sound like much, but I’m convinced that it would profoundly change
each person’s sense of values, each person’s sense of responsibility to the
ecosystems that support all of our fellow creatures. That basic level of
natural history could revolutionize our view of humanity’s place in the world.
Maybe I’m just a dreamer, but I’m going to go on trying to communicate that
basic appreciation of nature to everyone.”
Here in Australia we must too realise these basic facts; to
conserve nature, or anything for that matter, it must first be known and
recognised before it has value placed upon it. And only when it is valued will
people begin to strive for its protection. Too many Aussies know too little
about our nature. The Kaufman Challenge
encourages all to claim this knowledge.
The first part of the Challenge is to understand it and
accept it. The first step is to march into the great outdoors with enthusiasm
and a digital camera. As stated native animals are the targets; birds who do
not take fast flight, lazy lizards, frogs
and, if you are very lucky, mammals! Failing to find such fauna? Look
for the smaller – Butterflies, bugs and beetles, moths and mites, spiders and
cicadas. They are all fair game. Please remember when and where you took each
photo – this is important in the labelling.
Once the photos are taken they need to be identified. This
is the second part. Luckily in Australia we have some excellent guide books and
hopefully they can be found in school and local libraries. See the list at the
end of this article for some of the best of the basic books.
The third part is to find out and tell a story. Each Kaufman
challenge photo needs a label – the species name and where and when it was
photographed. It would be preferred though that each ‘Kaufmann’ species needs a
story, a piece of its natural history – why is it what it is? What does it eat?
What eats it? Where or how do you find it? What is it good for? Why is it
special? Superlatives? Is it fast? Colourful? Dangerous? Small? Big? Each participant
should recognise that they are both student and teacher.
The final part of the Challenge is to display your first 25
pictures of you chosen 25 animal species. Don’t keep them hidden – the
Challenge will work best if it continues to encourage others. This page exists
to promote your work. Please share!!
