Swiss Centre for the Cartography of Fauna

The Centre suisse de cartographie de la faune (CSCF), also known as info fauna, is a Swiss foundation dedicated to gathering, managing and disseminating information on the distribution and ecology of Switzerland's fauna. It was initiated in 1985 by Willy Matthey of the University of Neuchâtel, Christophe Dufour of the Neuchâtel Natural History Museum, Willy Geiger (then at Pro Natura) and Jean-Carlo Pedroli of the Neuchâtel cantonal hunting and fishing service, with Yves Gonseth as director. The foundation was officially established in 1990. Its early work focused on creating two national inventories for monitoring butterfly and dragonfly populations. Since its inception, observation data have been stored in an Oracle database; a geographic information system was added in 1995, and since 2001 distribution information has been published electronically on the Internet. In 2001 the CSCF was recognised as a national competence centre for fauna by the Swiss Confederation, and since 1999 it has been responsible for the strategy behind the periodic revision of Switzerland's Red Lists. In 2003 it was tasked with setting up the Swiss node of the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF). In 2006 the CSCF and karch, its counterpart for reptile and amphibian protection, came together under one roof. The centre publishes the Fauna Helvetica series, issuing one to two volumes per year covering topics such as species distribution atlases and identification keys. It collaborates with public and private nature conservation institutions to conserve species and their habitats, encourages and coordinates ecofaunistic research in Switzerland, standardises field and collection survey methods, maintains links with international faunistic research, and promotes identification documents for Swiss habitats and species. Its online platform, info fauna, serves as the national data and information centre on Swiss fauna, publishing news, studies and awareness campaigns.

The Centre suisse de cartographie de la faune (CSCF) was created in 1985 on the initiative of Willy Matthey of the University of Neuchâtel, Christophe Dufour of the Neuchâtel Natural History Museum, Willy Geiger (then at Pro Natura) and Jean-Carlo Pedroli of the Neuchâtel cantonal hunting and fishing service. Yves Gonseth became its director. Its first activities centred on the creation of two national inventories for monitoring butterfly and dragonfly populations. The foundation was officially established in 1990. From the beginning, all information on animal species observations was stored in an Oracle database. In 1995 the CSCF acquired a geographic information system. Since 2001 it has published information on the geographic distribution of animal species electronically on the Internet. In 2001 the CSCF was recognised as a national competence centre for fauna by the Swiss Confederation. Since 1999 it has been responsible for the strategy surrounding the periodic revision of Switzerland's Red Lists. In 2003 the CSCF was tasked with setting up the Swiss node for the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF). In 2006 the CSCF and karch, its counterpart for the protection of reptiles and amphibians in Switzerland, came together under one roof. The centre is responsible for publishing the Fauna Helvetica series, with one to two volumes issued each year covering topics such as species distribution atlases and identification keys. Its main tasks include gathering, managing and disseminating as much information as possible on the distribution and ecology of Swiss fauna; collaborating with public and private institutions for environmental, nature and landscape protection to ensure the conservation of species and their habitats; encouraging and coordinating ecofaunistic research in Switzerland; rationalising and standardising survey methods in the field and in collections; maintaining and strengthening links between Swiss faunistic research and research abroad to place it in a broader biogeographic context; and promoting and participating in the production of identification documents for Swiss habitats and fauna species.

• 2006

  CSCF and karch come together under one roof.

• 2003

  CSCF tasked with setting up the Swiss node for the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF).

• 2001

  CSCF recognised as national competence centre for fauna by the Swiss Confederation; begins publishing distribution information on the Internet.

• 1999

  CSCF tasked with the strategy for periodic revision of Switzerland's Red Lists.

• 1995

  CSCF acquires a geographic information system.

• 1990

  Foundation officially established.

• 1985

  CSCF initiated by Willy Matthey, Christophe Dufour, Willy Geiger and Jean-Carlo Pedroli; Yves Gonseth becomes director.

National competence centre for Swiss fauna, providing authoritative data, coordination and publications for conservation and research.

• Fauna Helvetica

  Book series published by CSCF, with one to two volumes per year covering species distribution atlases and identification keys.

• info fauna platform

  Online national data and information centre on Swiss fauna, including the Webfauna observation entry system.

1. 1info fauna | Centre national de données et d'informations sur la faune de Suisseinfofauna.ch
2. 2Autres centres de conseils | info faunainfofauna.ch
3. 3Centre suisse de cartographie de la faunefr.wikipedia.org
4. 4Centre suisse de cartographie de la faunewikidata.org