Nature Reserve

Synonyms / Other Terms Used

Nature Sanctuary, Protected Natural Area, Wildlife Reserve, National Park, National Nature Reserve

Category

Nature, Natural Attractions, Recreation, Tourism, Public Facilities, Management

Message / Function

For notice in general and to indicate the location of a nature or wildlife reserve

	Source	Description
	Peru 2016	Side view of tree with deer on the right and flying bird above
	WTO-Czechoslovakia	Side view of plant, animal eating on the right and two triangles above
	CNIS	Side view of tree with deer on the right
	Icograda	Jumping deer above three trees
1)	Icograda	Flying bird above two trees
	NZS 8603	Pointed grass on both sides of a bird (only head, neck and breast visible)
	BS 8501:2002	Bird swimming in water shown as two wavy lines
	UKDT	Side view of waterfowl
	WTO-Ghana	Side view of sitting lion
	SADC	Front view of deer skull with twisted horns
	Icograda	Side view of two hands, one from each side, safeguarding three leaves inbetween
	Bolivia	Side view of two hands reaching upwards, safeguarding two leaves above
2)	Icograda	Side view of two hands reaching upwards, safeguarding leaf between
	DER	Side view of two hands reaching upwards, safeguarding three trees between
	Icograda	Side view of two hands safeguarding tree
	RosLilly	Hand at bottom of arc, all forming circle, leaves in the center
	Good Wife	Globe, surrounded by 300° arc ending in leaf
3)	Icograda	Side view of tree with deer in front, all inside circle with dashes
	Ecuador	Side view of two trees, framed by arc, human figure on the right
	Icograda	Two trees on base and water shown as two wavy lines below, all inside rectangle with several openings
	Chile	Side view of Chilean pine inside almost square border made of large dots
	Icograda	Plant with leaves and flowers, next to pit with water shown as two wavy lines
	Icograda	Two footprints, two eyes above
	Icograda	Section sign next to side view of tree
	Icograda	Bold frame, silhouette of forest in outline, several aligned parallelograms below
	Icograda	Leaf shaped border with side view of tree inside
	GSR Portugal	Two trees in side view, filled circle at top inbetween
	UK TSRGD 2016	Pointed grass in side view next to filled arc
	Icograda	Palm holding flower
	Galicia	Oak leaf
	SIS	Six pointed asterisk

Discussion

The collection shown above is only a small selection of the wide variety of graphic symbols used all over the world for messages related to various types of nature or wildlife reserves. As such areas often have specific local characteristicts, pictograms used often also reflect this diversity. Logos of various nature or wildlife reserves were not regarded for this compilation. Several of the pictograms shown above were developed as entries for the Icograda student project (Frascara) including some concepts not found anywhere else. No single visual stereotype can be identified.

In the context of the Icograda student project and the ISO test series 1979/80 (Easterby & Graydon, 1981 a) more than fourty pictogram variants intended for the message were examined using the Appropriateness Ranking method. Three pictograms of the set judged as most appropriate subsequently were selected for further research on basis of a Comprehension Test (Easterby & Graydon, 1981 b, graphic symbols marked 1) to 3) in the table above). None of the variants tested for comprehension reached a sufficient number of correct responses. Among these three variants, the pictogram labeled 3) performed best with 63.3 % answers classified as correct applying lenient scoring, while the variant labeled 2) reached 59.1 % in the corresponding categories. For the design with the label 2), showing two hands reaching upwards, safeguarding a leaf between, almost half of the persons participating did not respond at all or indicated not to know what it could mean. Wrong answers found for this referent were, among others: Beware of Animals, Bird Watching, Duck Shooting, Hunting Area, Gardening, Sightseeing, Welcome, Holy Place, Picnic Area, Playing Area, Farm. No data about the frequency of specific wrong answers is available. Regarding the fact, that no context information was offered, and categorization of answers was far from perfect, the results of that study should be interpreted with care.

No comprehension data is available for any other of the designs shown above.

Recommendations

As no data is available on comprehensibility of many of the concepts shown, we suggest to select the most appropriate designs from all concepts using the Comprehensibility Estimation Procedure, and then to conduct a Comprehension Test for the best graphical symbols of that preselection. Detailed information about the most frequent responses given in each of the response categories should be provided to correctly judge comprehensibility and improve designs. To improve validity, the study should be conducted in several countries with diverse types of nature reserves.

Tests of pictograms of referent Nature Reserve

Easterby, R.S. & Graydon, I.R. (1981 a): Evaluation of Public Information Symbols: ISO Test: 1979/80 Series. Part I: Appropriateness Ranking Tests. AP Report 99, Applied Psychology Department, University of Aston in Birmingham, January 1981.

Easterby, R.S. & Graydon, I.R. (1981 b): Evaluation of Public Information Symbols: ISO 1979/80 Test Series. Part II: Comprehension/Recognition Tests. AP Report 100, Applied Psychology Department, University of Aston in Birmingham, January 1981.