Question: Awareness Campaign for Salamander - Newt

Hi all,


I am graduating next year as a graphic designer and I have planned to do an "Awareness Campaign for Salamander - Newt" as my thesis. For my love of amphibians and nature, I would like to take positive actions to educate the public about the appreciation of nature through greater knowledge of the tailed amphibians.

I would love to bring out why salamander is very important for people to understand. I would also want to educate people the difference between lizard and salamander.


Can anyone give me any suggestions /comments/ information / ideas on my awareness campaign?

Anything will be really appreciated*

sue

Wow, this question deserves some good answers, but I don't know where to start.

Water quality issues, urbanization, habitat destruction through deforestation and mining...

Ethical discussions of "deep ecology" may help you to support a thesis around the "worth" of creatures that tend to be marginalized by our society.

the idea of the canary in the coal shaft as it relates to amphibian decline and environmental issues.

just some thing s that came to mind

i just finished my thesis in illustration and based it heavily on caudates... so I'm excited for your project.

Something that really gets people interested I think is when they do those walkways under highways for salamanders to migrate.

If what you want is to make people change their views about these animals i´d say, focus on the more spectacular species. After all, what we all want is stuff that catches our eye.
If you show them images of M.alpestris, phryticus, N.strauchii, P.ruber, S.salamandra, etc, i´m sure they´ll make an impact.

Focussing on the more interesting behaviours may also help. Courtship, parental care, metamorphosis, etc, make good interesting subjects. Those will also help see the clear differences between these amphibians and the reptiles.

I guess showing people how similar the early egg/embryo development of amphibian, bird, reptile and human is can be a great impact as well. The concept kind of bridges the connection between amphibian and human. In many cases, human only consider the differences they have between themselves and the wildlife and totally ignorant to the similarities.

bewilderbeast said:

Water quality issues, urbanization, habitat destruction through deforestation and mining...

Ethical discussions of "deep ecology" may help you to support a thesis around the "worth" of creatures that tend to be marginalized by our society.

the idea of the canary in the coal shaft as it relates to amphibian decline and environmental issues.

just some thing s that came to mind

i just finished my thesis in illustration and based it heavily on caudates... so I'm excited for your project.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the idea, i do agree with the idea of the canary in the coal shaft as it relates to amphibian decline and environmental issues. I will consider including this information

otterwoman said:

Something that really gets people interested I think is when they do those walkways under highways for salamanders to migrate.

Click to expand...

it would be another good idea to get aware and report from the public about seeing salamender on highway* maybe while they have stopped their car on highways

But unfortunately a lot of people cannot tell the difference between lizard and salamander..

azhael said:

If what you want is to make people change their views about these animals i´d say, focus on the more spectacular species. After all, what we all want is stuff that catches our eye.
If you show them images of M.alpestris, phryticus, N.strauchii, P.ruber, S.salamandra, etc, i´m sure they´ll make an impact.

Focusing on the more interesting behaviours may also help. Courtship, parental care, metamorphosis, etc, make good interesting subjects. Those will also help see the clear differences between these amphibians and the reptiles.

Click to expand...

I have shown my presentation about salamander in class with the photos of giant salamander/axolotl/newt and no one had a clue of what it is. Some people asked if that's a fish or a monster and is it eatable? Well MAYBE because my class are full of "designers", thats why.

I absolutely agree with you that interesting behaviours is a really good ways to spread out and educate people on. It can really differentiate the reptiles and amphibians.

thanks*!

I've done presentations about amphibians... most people understand the difference between them if you show some photos and explain the difference in the skin. There are other big differences, but this one is the most obvious from the outside. After seeing some representative photos, most people can tell the difference.

Jennewt said:

I've done presentations about amphibians... most people understand the difference between them if you show some photos and explain the difference in the skin. There are other big differences, but this one is the most obvious from the outside. After seeing some representative photos, most people can tell the difference.

Click to expand...

I have start off with a bunch of photos in my presentation, questioning + researching on how much my class actually know about them before starting my explanation.
Unfortunately the outcome is pretty low. I got at least 2 professors who had no idea of what axolot is when I am doing my projects about them and I need to explain to them of what they are.

Right photos must also play a big part in the campaign.
Images help type speak stronger and by combining the photos with type, it will attract the curiosity from the public and will be able to educate them with information next to it.

Do US have any successful awareness campaign for salamander - newt? I know there is awareness campaign for frogs, but i have never heard of one that is for Salamander only.
I really hope the public would start to be aware of the importance of salamander - newt, as if they are paying as much attention to frogs, pandas or polar bear.