A Sonic Ethnography: a sound journey in Val di Rabbi Stelvio-Trentino National Park

Abstract

This sonic ethnography comprises my research on the multispecies soundscape of Val di Rabbi, in the Stelvio-Trentino National Park. My ethnography is a combination of participant observation activities, field notes, semi-structured interviews, black-and-white photographs, automated sound recordings made with AudioMoth, and sound field recordings. In this research, sound is both my main methodology and the object of my study. I conducted an ethnographic study inspired by the sensory ethnographic approaches of anthropologists Steven Feld, Tim Ingold, and Sarah Pink. I have taken an interdisciplinary approach to sound, drawing on both ecoacoustics and anthropological approaches to sound. In addition, I conceive sound as going beyond human language as it is a way of getting in touch with other species. Sound in the park is used at specific moments of the investigation; even in outreach, environmental education and citizen science activities rely mainly on vision, with a few exceptions. In this thesis, I ask various people working in the park whether a specific way of monitoring sound can be integrated into the research programs of the park and whether sound can be incorporated into environmental education activities by implementing sound walks and a form of sound mapping. As shown, both methods can be implemented and have a number of advantages. Automated sound monitoring and the incorporation of listening initiatives, recording during sound walks, and sound mapping can help monitor nature more accurately and systematically map biodiversity, improving human experiences in the park and preserving a biodiverse communication system.