Observing wildlife in tropical forests: 1 a geosemeiotic approach

Abstract

Wildlife tourism has been the subject of a number of books over the past 25 years. They include contributions by Shackley (1996), Newsome et al. (2005) and Green (2013). This book is very different and its author describes his vision for it in the Preface. He says it stems from some original research in Barro Colorado Island, Panama, which investigated aspects of wildlife observation amongst tourists visiting tropical forests, as well as other kinds of ecosystems. He notes that this is the topic of this book with a second to engage in a genealogical inquiry, which is to say a ‘history of the present’ of wildlife observation amongst tourists on the Island. Both aspects of the investigation involve ‘geosemeiotics of wildlife observation – a transdisciplinary inquiry that articulates geographic, semeiotic, ecological and socio-anthropological perspectives on wildlife observation’. Elliot’s research on visitors observing wildlife in the forests uncovered some interesting findings. A key one was that many of the visitors expected to not only find a forest that was teeming with ‘charismatic’ fauna, that is, the larger mammals, reptiles and snakes, but also to have close encounters with them. With the numerous nature programs on television and streaming services on offer, it is understandable that the viewing public assumes that the encounters being shown upclose on their screens is what they will enjoy whilst wildlife watching. Yet many programs may film wildlife in the wild for up to one year for a single one-hour documentary program. This then heightens the expectations of the wildlife tourist and often leaves them disappointed when their viewing and/or encounter experience does not match what they saw on the screen at home. The book takes the reader on a journey through 14 chapters in 4 parts. The first part covers Perceptions of Wildlife from a range of ‘Positivist Perspectives’. Chapters are included on The Rules of Positivism; Sociobiology and Biophilia; The Computation of Vision; and Ecological Psychology and Direct Perception. Overall the author notes that there are different techniques of observation and for some, it is both a collaborative and instituted process. The second part of the book outlines Signs of Wildlife Observation from ‘SemeioticPhenomenological Perspectives’ Chapters are included on Peircian Pragmatism; Semeiotic Logic and Phenomenology; and Types and Classes of Signs. From a Peircian perspective, wildlife observation is all about the detection and the interpretation of signs. But wildlife observation is more than that and Elliott suggests that it also includes a dynamic mode, which includes a reaction to the viewing as well as a ‘mediate’mode which are signs that there is something to observe and therefore the observed wildlife actually exists. The third part describes Assemblages of Wildlife Observation from ‘Sociological-Philosophical Perspectives’. Chapters describe Cultural Practice; Body, Biopower and Situation; and Mode, Affect and Assemblage. A conclusion to this part includes