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Promoting Digital Literacy and Building Capacity
Resulting Videos | Partners | References | Location

Effective communication is one of the most important yet least valued skills in conservation and development. INCEF is correcting this by holding workshops in the use of digital video for public awareness. Participants learn everything from developing messages to writing storylines and producing and editing video.

The first initiative in this project is the result of an INCEF partnership with the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International. For six days in May 2005, 34 students from the communications department of the Tayna Center for Conservation Biology (TCCB) scrambled across their campus in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, taking turns directing, filming, editing and even acting in their own conservation videos. They hauled tripods into the forest, scripted dramatic scenes and dressed as poachers and park guards. At the end of the week, five short films in French and Swahili were completed and shown to a rapt audience of local community members, many of whom walked over an hour to watch the videos and participate in a discussion of the conservation issues raised by each. The key to generating this strong interest is the core of the INCEF mission: local actors, local directors, local issues, local languages.  Details and photos from the workshop are available in the Conservation Film School feature on this site.

Conservation Film School                 “The typical image of the hungry African was accurate but the hunger was for knowledge and for access to the tools of the trade. Our one-week seminar barely skimmed the surface of the reservoir of ideas that they are eager to communicate."                            - David Weiner

Resulting Videos: Gorillas and Human Activity Everyone for Conservation Children and Conservation Activities of the Conservation Students at Kasugho (TCCB) Women in Conservation Additional References: INCEF workshop in eastern DRC results in five new films (Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International) Preservation Begins at Home: To help spread the word about protecting endangered wildlife, the Congolese are learning to make videos (www.apple.com)

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This project started with a workshop at Tayna Wildlife College in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.  Expansion is expected in other areas of eastern DRC as well as Rwanda. (See bright yellow highlighted areas, below)