BSP's Peoples and Forests Program is designed to: 1) develop participatory methods for applying geomatics technologies for mapping and land-use planning in order to improve community-based natural resource management 2) assist community groups and NGOs to apply these methods more widely 3) clarify and strengthen the legal status of indigenous rights to ancestral lands 4) assess the spatial overlap between indigenous peoples and forests and 5) link these findings to the national policy level through workshops, publication of case studies, and other forms of outreach.
BSP's Peoples and Forests Program Discussion Papers are circulated to encourage discussion and comment among interested parties. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this paper are entirely those of the author and should not be attributed in any manner to the US Agency for International Development (USAID), the Biodiversity Support Program (BSP), World Wildlife Fund (WWF), World Resources Institute (WRI), or The Nature Conservancy (TNC). BSP does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this publication.
©1995 by the Biodiversity Support Program. All rights reserved. Portions of this document may be reproduced without explicit permission of the Biodiversity Support Program within the terms of US copyright law provided appropriate credit be given to the author and to the Biodiversity Support Program.
CONTENTS
PART I. ANALYSIS
1.0 INTRODUCTION
1.1 Objective
1.3 Characteristics of Projects Surveyed
2.1 Gaining Recognition of Land Rights
2.2 Demarcation of Traditional Territories
2.3 Protection of Demarcated Lands
2.4 Gathering and Guarding Traditional Knowledge
2.5 Management of Traditional Lands and Resources
2.6 Community Awareness, Mobilization, and Conflict Resolution
3.0 MAPPING METHODOLOGIES
3.1 The Scope and Local Potential of Geomatics
3.2 Basic Mapping: Participatory Rural Appraisal, Sketch Maps, and Cartography
3.3 The Global Positioning System
3.5 Aerial Imaging
3.6 Computer-Based Image Analysis
4.0 MATCHING TECHNOLOGY, APPLICATIONS AND LOCAL CAPACITIES
4.1 Levels of Technical Activity
4.2 Gathering Local Knowledge for Sketch Maps or Cartographically Produced Maps
4.3 Geocoding with Global Positioning Systems
4.4 Using External Image Sources
4.5 Generation of Geocoded Imagery
4.6 Geographic Information Systems
5.0 CONCLUSIONS: COMMUNITIES, MAPPING, AND THE BIODIVERSITY CONVENTION
5.1 Anticipating Agenda Differences: Whose Maps? And for What Purposes?
5.2 Implementation of the Biodiversity Convention
PART II. SURVEY: PROJECT DESCRIPTIONS
SOUTH AMERICA
Argentina: Wichi Land Occupancy / Basic Mapping
Bolivia: Yuqui Self-Demarcation / Aerial Imagery, GIS
Brazil: Acre Community Agroforestry / GIS
Brazil: Jau National Park / Basic Mapping
Brazil: Menkragnoti Kayapó Demarcation / GPS
Brazil: Paraná Land Titling / Satellite Imagery
Brazil: Xikrin Kayapó Forest Management and Land-Use Planning / GPS
Paraguay: Ache Mbaracuyo Reserve / GPS
Peru: Communal Land Titling and Reserves / Basic Mapping
Peru: Land Titling / Basic Mapping
Venezuela: Ye'kuana Demarcation Project / Basic Mapping
COICA: Regional Land Management / PRA, GIS
CENTRAL AMERICA
Belize: Maya Land Use / Basic Mapping
Honduras: La Mosquitia Land Use and Occupancy / Basic Mapping
Nicaragua: Miskito Coast Protected Area / Cartography, Sketch Maps
Panama: Indigenous Mapping of the Darien / Cartography, Sketch Maps
CARIBBEAN
Dominican Republic: Social Forestry Initiatives / PRA
NORTH AMERICA
Canada: Ditidaht Traditional Knowledge Mapping / GIS
Canada: The Eagle Project / GIS
Canada: Inuit Land Use and Occupancy Study / Basic Mapping
Canada: Inuit of Quebec Land Use and Ecological Mapping / GIS
Canada: Mamo Atoskewin Association Impact Assessment / GIS
Canada: Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak / GIS
Canada: Sanikiluaq / Aerial Photographic Animal Census
Canada: Shuswap Nation Tribal Council / GIS
United States: Colville Confederated Tribes / GIS
United States: Tulalip Fisheries / Aerial Videography
United States: Zuni Sustainable Resource Development Plan / GIS
AFRICA
Ethiopia: Local Land Use Planning / Aerial Photography
Guinea-Bissau: Wetlands / Aerial Photographs
Kenya: Ukambani Mapping Land-Use Changes / PRA
Kenya: Machakos Land Use Changes / PRA, GIS
Kenya: Aerial Photography and Household Studies
Namibia: Ju/'hoansi Bushmanland Land Use Planning / PRA, GPS,& GIS
ASIA & SOUTH PACIFIC
Indonesia: Asmat Traditional Forest Use
Indonesia: Bentian Dayak / Basic Mapping
Indonesia: Bukit Baka-Bukit Raya National Park / Basic Mapping
Indonesia: Kayan Mentarang Reserve / PRA, GPS, GIS, Aerial Imagery
Indonesia: Kenyah Uma Lung, Long Uli Village / GPS, GIS
Indonesia: Wasur National Park / Sketch Mapping, GPS
Nepal: Land Use Planning / Aerial Photography
Papua New Guinea: Resource Appraisal / Aerial Photography
Philippines: Ancestral Domain Mapping / Basic Mapping, GPS, GIS
Philippines: Cagayan de Oro / Sketch Mapping
Philippines: Iraya Mangyar, Mindoro / Basic Mapping, PRA
Philippines: Kalahan Reserve, Nueva Vizcaya / Sketch Mapping
Thailand: Participatory Land Use Planning / 3-D Maps
Thailand: Sam Mun Watershed Planning / 3-D Maps
Thailand: Karen Natural Resources Management Planning / 3-D Maps
Bangladesh: Social Forestry Opportunity Maps
Brazil: Xavante Border Monitoring
Canada: Ayuukht Nisga'a Mapping Land Ownership / Protected Knowledge
Canada: Chipewayan Land Use, Northwest Territories / Map Biographies
Canada: Cree, Fort George Resource Use and Subsistence Economy
Canada: Cree & Beaver, Infrastructural Impact Assessment / Map Biographies
Canada: Manitounuk Sound Waterfowl Ecology Mapping
Canada: Nimpkish Kwakiutl Resource Management Study / Basic Mapping
Canada: Nisga'a / Aerial Video-Mapping
Canada: Whapmagoostui Land-Use Study / GIS
Senegal: Ndam Mor Fademba Boundaries / RRA
DIRECTORY OF MAPPING SUPPORT PROGRAMS
Indigenous communities and conservation organizations are increasingly turning to mapping and geomatics technologies for implementing their strategies to strengthen tenurial security over resources and improve natural resource management. The Peoples and Forests Program of the Biodiversity Support Program (BSP) aims to foster communication between groups concerned with these issues and methodologies. To meet this goal, the Peoples and Forests Program publishes the Discussion Paper Series and supports study tours and workshops to bring together community groups, NGOs, government agencies and other interested parties from Indonesia, the Philippines, the Americas and other regions of the world to share their experiences and build informal networks for future communication.
The Peoples and Forests Discussion Paper Series was created to disseminate analyses of issues, methods, and policies related to tenure, community-based natural resources management, and mapping. It is hoped that these analyses will be reproduced and shared widely by all interested parties.
In this paper, Peter Poole summarizes the results of a global search for community-based projects that have used maps for natural resource management and/or land claims. His search was primarily done through personal contacts since most reports on community-based work are distributed very locally and do not appear in most libraries nor standard databases. Because his personal contacts are primarily in Canada and Latin America, more activities in those areas are included in this survey the fact that fewer projects are listed for Africa, Asia, and Australia should not be considered indicative of fewer mapping activities being conducted on those continents.
To encourage information networking, contact numbers have been provided so readers can contact people directly involved with particular projects in order to learn more of their experiences.
We hope this survey proves useful to others who are considering mapping as a strategy and are wondering about the potential pitfalls to avoid, or who are trying to evaluate the technical options. We ask that users of this survey contact us at BSP so that we may add new information about experiences and lessons learned from these or other projects and can update the survey in the future.
To discuss this survey, or to request more information about the Peoples and Forests Program, please contact Janis Alcorn, Director, Peoples and Forests Program, Biodiversity Support Program, c/o World Wildlife Fund, 1250 24th Street NW, Washington, DC 20037 USA. Tel: 1-202-861-8313, Fax: 1-202-861-8324, Internet: alcorn+r%wwfus@mcimail.com.
Until recently, advances in mapping technologies (geomatics) have been limited to satellite sensing systems and costly Geographic Information Systems (GIS). But these are now becoming cheaper, more user-friendly and more versatile. It is widely accepted that such technology has extensive potential for environmental monitoring and management. The purpose of this report is to examine the ways in which indigenous communities are using maps and advanced mapping technologies for local purposes and in their transactions with external agencies, and to assess the extent to which these local uses are consistent with the Biodiversity Convention. The underlying question addressed here is: how well can these technologies work in community-based applications and what are the implications for biodiversity conservation?
This report is based upon a desk study of 63 projects worldwide. The projects were selected according to two criteria: 1) they represent a local application of mapping and 2) they are locally initiated or managed. Cases include those using advanced technology and others using Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) methods to draw ephemeral maps in the sand. The essential source of information, however, has remained the same: local knowledge.
People-land ratios varied widely: between 10,000 hectares per person in the Amazon and entire communities with a few hundred hectares in Southeast Asia. In the former, mapping tends to be used as a methodology for managing such large areas in the latter, mapping tends to be used as an instrument for local communication to discuss environmental issues and resolve land conflicts.
Informal maps meet local needs, while technical maps tend to be used in transactions with external agencies. Global Positioning System (GPS) technology is being used to geocode local data in order to bridge the gap between these two kinds of maps. Once local information is geocoded, it can be exchanged with similarly geocoded data in the global environmental data bases and satellite sensing systems which are evolving to address environmental problems worldwide.
Local mapping applications fall into five categories. These correspond to the efforts of indigenous and land-based communities to regain or exercise control of their lands. Generally one application precipitates another in the following sequence:
Traditional cartography is being increasingly supplemented by contemporary information science. Local mapping, however, remains a significant and effective instrument, and several projects have been able to achieve their goals without reliance on external technology.
The survey identified five levels of technical activity: 1) sketch maps 2) geocoding with GPS 3) applying imagery from external sources 4) generating own imagery and 5) GIS The first three are more locally sustainable, while the last two generally need continued external support and advice. With proper support and training, off-the-shelf mapping technology can be effective in amplifying local capabilities to manage large areas.
Global Positioning System technology, in the form of cheap, handheld units, has been successfully used to produce maps geocoded to an accuracy of 30-50m. Differential GPS increases accuracy to 3-5m, but at some extra cost. GPS technology offers the best return on training and financial investment. It can be grafted to local knowledge gathering, transforms informal maps into cartographic forms familiar to external agencies, and radically reduces the potential costs of land demarcation.
Satellite imagery has proven useful in some areas, but the ground resolution (10-30m), the cost, and the scarcity of good imagery in cloudy areas have tended to limit its utility for local applications. Stock aerial photography has proven useful in smaller areas, and several projects found that photos at a scale of 1:5,000 are helpful resources for PRA projects. Some groups also expressed an interest in acquiring their own local imagery. Advances in GPS/video coupled with light aircraft promise to make this a sustainable local technology in the near future.
Some groups are using GIS but risk loading themselves with more hardware or software than they need. Most of the local applications encountered in the survey require entry-level mapping packages rather than high-end analytical GIS, which appear more suited to the needs of associations rather than single villages. GIS are useful at two levels: (1) as computer-based mapping programs capable of producing maps from locally acquired geocoded data and (2) as advanced, analytical systems more appropriate for community umbrella or support associations.
The range of activities reported here corresponds closely to the priorities for biogeographical mapping under the Biodiversity Convention. To that extent, they could qualify as implementation of the Biodiversity Convention.
Many groups with interests in mapping expressed a need for information: how to decide which technology to select, how to avoid being misled by vendors, how to make the most of technology they already possess, and how to increase local mapping capacities. The potential benefits of these technologies for locally based conservation of biodiversity would be well served through establishing a program which:
In conclusion, the survey revealed a potential for local mapping to reach five objectives:
Some groups have expressed concern that the mapping process enables outsiders to control information previously controlled by communities. The process by which traditional knowledge is gathered and applied remains the critical element that determines success, regardless of the degree of sophistication of the mapping technology.
PART I. ANALYSIS
The objective of this report is to document the ways in which indigenous communities are using maps and advanced mapping technologies - both for local purposes and in their transactions with external agencies. Of special interest is the extent to which these local applications are consistent with the goals of the Biodiversity Convention.
The survey included 63 mapping projects carried out by indigenous communities or their associations. They range from ephemeral maps drawn in sand, to the use of advanced computer-based image analysis systems. The projects meet a variety of purposes and applications but, whatever the level of technical sophistication, locally gathered traditional knowledge is conserved as the basic source of information.
For those interested in the potential for biodiversity conservation through community-based mapping, the projects included in this report provide glimpses of the promise of mapping for amplifying the existing capacities of communities to protect and manage the resources upon which they depend.
Two criteria were established for selection of projects included in this review:
(1) the project must involve some aspect of mapping, ranging from sketch mapping and aerial imaging to advanced GIS, and
(2) the project must be a community-based initiative or, if introduced by outsiders, must be under local management.
Because of the use of these selection criteria, this report excludes information on the use of mapping technology by anthropologists and geographers for research purposes including mapping and classifying of traditional forms of land use (e.g. Behrens and Severs, 1991). Although useful as indicators of technical potential, such accounts do not reveal how this technology works when mediated through local perceptions of landscape and imperatives on how land should be managed.
1.3 Characteristics of Projects Surveyed
The projects examined vary widely with respect to population and land coverage. In some cases, small and scattered indigenous communities are using mapping to collectively manage quite large territories. In situations with higher population densities and different land-use pressures, mapping is being used as a communications medium for villagers to resolve local land conflicts and to deliberate over planning scenarios.
In the Amazon, for example, 470 Mengraknoti Kayapó (proj. 5) have recently demarcated their 4.4 million ha territory, representing almost 10,000 ha per person, and 145 Paraná (proj. 6) are planning the reoccupation of 400,000 ha of their traditional lands, i.e. 2,750 ha per person. In such cases, the value of mapping rests on its potential to amplify the traditional capability of land-based people to care for their lands. Above all, it enables the communities to find out and monitor what other interest groups, often with conflicting agendas, are doing on the lands of the community, and to take action.
This contrasts with the role that mapping has come to play in PRA exercises. The most simple forms, ephemeral sketch maps and aerial photographs, have become elements in a repertoire of techniques for raising awareness and mobilizing local human resources, that is a medium for communication between villagers and others. This use of mapping reveals differences between classes, gender and age groups. It also becomes part of a process of resolving and accommodating these differences through cooperation.
Communities can orchestrate geomatic technologies to 1) meet their needs to demarcate lands and communicate to external groups and 2) harmonize local interests and motivate them toward cooperation in environmental care.
Informal maps are often intended for local use, while technical maps are usually required for transactions with external agencies. In both cases, however, maps are based upon traditional ecological and cultural knowledge and practice.
The power of maps (which represent packets of environmental data) has been used to good effect by indigenous peoples, as they realize the negotiating potential which is inherent in the deployment of more supportive data when dealing with external agencies. Specific expressions have been coined for this strategy, such as "counter-mapping", i.e. using maps to defend traditional territory, or reclaiming historical places by renaming them in the vernacular language. As Butler (1994) has noted, "formal or written use plans are often developed in response to a perceived external threat."
Another form of external linkage can be achieved by geocoding locally gathered environmental data by means of GPS technology. Once geocoded, such data can then be exchanged or compared with geocoded data stored in environmental databases. This would enable local groups to draw upon global data sets for their own purposes and, at the same time, to contribute local data to the global environmental community. The potential for reciprocal data trade, however, has yet to be realized in a systematic manner.
The projects examined in this review can be classified into six categories of objectives or purposes for mapping. To some extent, the first five categories (Sections 2.1-2.5) described below represent a natural progression. A given land-use situation, and the type of mapping employed in that situation, tends to lead toward the next in the series. This pattern is particularly evident within the Americas, though it is somewhat less notable elsewhere. Throughout this progression, the traditional knowledge that is essential to the first stage is gradually expanded and consolidated through exposure to different applications.
2.1 Gaining Recognition of Land Rights
Indigenous peoples have repeatedly emphasized that they cannot assume responsibilities for their traditional lands until their rights and ownership are recognized and legally defensible. In many cases, the vehicle for negotiating this recognition has been a Land Use and Occupancy Study, a methodology which seems to have been pioneered by the Inuit in Canada in the early 1970s (proj. 20,21) and subsequently employed with many variations throughout the Americas.
Since then, there have been several advances. Dependence upon external expertise has gradually diminished. Wildlife and environmental management regimes, which previously tended to emerge after a settlement had been reached, now are often included in the negotiating package. In British Columbia, where land claim negotiations with First Nations are only now beginning, land use and occupancy data are being integrated in GIS. GPS is being used to geocode accounts by elders of traditional practices and culturally significant sites. While land occupancy studies have utilized the entire range of mapping technologies, there is still a need for large-scale high resolution photography for detecting traditional sites.
2.2 Demarcation of Traditional Territories
Land-claim settlements may confirm boundaries on paper without providing for their demarcation on the ground. This can be a costly proposition and provides a tempting excuse for government agencies to procrastinate. However, GPS promises to be cheaper and faster than conventional surveying methods, and operational skills can readily be acquired. GPS applications will expand once techniques for working under forest canopy have been improved.
Some authorities seem prepared to accept boundaries marked by GPS, but others have insisted on problematic elements, such as installation of boundary markers of specified dimensions. For example, the largest item in the US $600,000 budget for the Mengraknoti demarcation (proj. 5) was the use of helicopters to transport the cement used to make boundary markers.
The Ye'kuana demarcation in Venezuela (proj. 11) represents a very different approach. First, the demarcation will be completed on the ground by teams from the communities. Then, they will make a technical map with the assistance of the Assembly of First Nations (Canada) for presentation to the National Congress.
There is a clear need for a detailed evaluation of demarcation methods and much to be gained by sharing information on planning and execution. For example, it is difficult to compare costs of various methodologies without information on the length of, visibility of and terrain types traversed by boundary lines. Rivers make for fast work, while forested mountains slow the process down. Systematic information on this would permit realistic comparisons between various methods, as well as more reliable estimates of the costs and logistics of individual demarcation projects.
2.3 Protection of Demarcated Lands
Demarcation does not assure protection unless it is supported by some form of subsequent boundary monitoring. The projects reviewed in this report do not include any systematic examples of boundary monitoring. Satellite imagery has been considered for the Amazon, but constraints include expense, low resolution and problems with cloud cover. A group in Saacute;o Paulo is proposing to use an ultralight aircraft for video patrolling (proj. 7). Video cameras coupled to GPS promise an alternative to satellite imagery. This is an area which calls for field exploration.
2.4 Gathering and Guarding Traditional Knowledge
The combination of GPS and of cassette and video recorders has made it possible for local researchers to visit special sites in the company of elders and to generate a geocoded database of traditional knowledge. Some groups, for example the Shuswap Nation Tribal Council (proj. 24), are storing this data in a GIS and protect it with controlled-access software.
2.5 Management of Traditional Lands and Resources
In addition to the straightforward management of forest, fish and wildlife populations, management of traditional lands and resources includes projects to restore degraded lands and to assess and monitor the environmental impacts of industrial development projects.
Tribal resource groups such as the Yakima and Navajo are using GIS as an integrated database for reservations and neighboring lands. The Zuni Nation (proj. 28) uses GIS for the Zuni Conservation Project which aims to restore their lands and traditional agricultural practices. High resolution geocoded aerial photography has an application in monitoring in fine detail progress in forest recuperation in selected sites.
By combining the resources of 23 Cree communities, Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak has developed a GIS database which covers a third of the province of Manitoba (proj. 23). Seasonal patterns of traditional practice and wildlife movements can be readily retrieved. This system has proven effective in responding to proposals for industrial resource development.
2.6 Community Awareness, Mobilization, and Conflict Resolution
Most of the cases described in this report derive from attempts by indigenous peoples to regain control of their traditional territories. However, there is another area of activity, known as Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) or Rapid Rural Appraisal (RRA), which also uses maps.
PRA is comprised of a set of methodologies which are used by external groups to stimulate communities to reflect upon their situation, to openly discuss interactions between their environment and local institutions, and to collectively assume responsibility for allocating and managing local lands. In this context, maps are used to animate discussions, to show the disposition of lands between families and clans, and to illustrate the interaction between environmental variables and local land-use decisions.
These maps reveal as much about the peoples' minds and attitudes as about their lands. In Bangladesh, Gupta (1989) has pursued what he calls "reality mapping" by providing pens and paper to villagers and asking them to map the features they felt were important to their survival. The maps varied between women and men, between rich and poor: for example, the poor drew only their neighbors, while the rich drew the whole community.
Ecological mapping based upon farmers' comments illustrates biological interactions as well as the influence of caste and gender upon agricultural decisions. Gupta also found that it illuminated the connections between risk, poverty and environment. Conventional maps are supposed to be and assumed to be objective. These maps, however, are intended to be subjective, expressing the things a person or group feels are essential to them -- they are "message maps."
RRA (a set of methods used for rapid appraisal by external agents) has also revealed how maps and three-dimensional models can be instrumental in addressing local land-use conflicts. In this context, maps can help to level the playing field by exposing an issue for public comment and measurement.
3.0 MAPPING METHODOLOGIES
3.1 The Scope and Local Potential of Geomatics
Geomatics is a new branch of digital information technology for acquiring, analyzing, and manipulating earth images. In recent years, traditional mapping methodologies have been modified by advances in information technologies for the recording, storage, manipulation and analysis of geographical imagery. Three technologies -- remote sensing, global positioning systems, and computer-based image manipulation and analysis -- are steadily becoming cheaper and more user-friendly and, in these respects, are thereby becoming more accessible to remote communities. Geomatic technologies are now being used locally for applications that were once assumed to be the reserve of research institutions and centralized agencies. One encouraging conclusion suggested by this survey is that the use of advanced technologies does not displace simpler local mapping methods, nor do they seem to distort the essential source of information: the geographical knowledge of local people.
For example, at the local level simple video and digital cameras can mimic the spectral windows used by imaging satellites. GPS positioning now enables local, highly detailed images to be directly compared to satellite images, which cover larger areas but in far less detail. This suggests a dual utility for local mapping and geomatic applications: not only can they serve local needs in biodiversity conservation, but they can also be used to extend, amplify and verify the information gathered by global monitoring systems. There is the potential for mutually beneficial exchange of global and local environmental data.
At the local level, geomatic technology has the potential to amplify the capability of groups with limited resources to map and monitor large areas of land. If the pattern set by negotiations between indigenous peoples and governments continues, as many as 210 million ha in the Amazon will revert to indigenous control, one third of the total area. Altogether, as much as 13% of the Americas could revert to some form of indigenous control, almost double the area committed to protected areas. However, indigenous communities face formidable resource constraints in attempting to protect parks and reserves. The emerging local applications of geomatic technologies convey useful messages to the global conservation community -- how to do much with little.
3.2 Basic Mapping: PRA, Sketch Maps, and Cartography
The survey revealed three levels of basic mapping methodologies: 1) Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) 2) sketch mapping of local land use and occupancy and 3) topographic maps for external purposes.
Maps produced for PRA are intended as communication tools for use while the appraisal is in progress. They tend to be ephemeral, ranging from outlines in the sand to the use of colored materials to make maps on the ground. Their simplicity and flexibility make them ideal vehicles for discourse within and between local groups (proj. 2,7).
Methods for sketch-mapping the areas of traditional practices and knowledge commence with conversations between technicians and practitioners, including the elders, and the women and men active in medicine, gardening, hunting, fishing and gathering. Several projects in Central America (proj. 13,14,15,16) have evolved a methodology whereby local residents are trained as surveyors, responsible for gathering and mapping this information. In Canada, the Dene Cultural Institute has produced a guide for such field workers from its experience in the Dene environmental and medicine projects.
The method refined in Central America takes this information a step further by cartographically combining sketch maps with existing topographic maps in order to produce technical maps acceptable for transactions with external agencies. This has led to recognition of the maps as evidence that the land is being used. In turn, this enhances claims to ownership by local communities.
In Southeast Asia, the Endangered Peoples Project (proj. 36) has been conducting workshops to train communities and their associations in basic compass and chain methods to draw accurate local maps onto existing topographic maps. The area of such maps tends to be limited to villages and those surrounding lands which are subject to continual use.
3.3 Geocoding with the Global Positioning System (GPS)
Geocoding, or georeferencing, is the identification of any bit of information by its geographic coordinates. A GPS unit can geocode any bit of data whether the user is stationary or mobile. These GPS-generated data points can then be entered into a computerized mapping software or a GIS to produce maps.
The Global Positioning System is based on a network of 24 satellites originally designed to facilitate navigation by US Naval submarines. By receiving signals from three different satellites, the GPS receiver computes its triangulated position and displays it in the form of standard longitude and latitude coordinates. Reception of signals from four satellites permits a three-dimensional fix. GPS units can also be used to navigate between a set of waypoints entered by coordinates. GPS receivers are ostensibly accurate to about 30m. The military operators of the system, however, often scramble the signal and thereby limit civilian units to an accuracy of 100m. Civilian users can circumvent the problem of access to the higher-accuracy signals by choosing to employ a differential GPS
Differential GPS, a technique to improve the accuracy of GPS, requires two units: a base unit left at a site with verified coordinates, plus a mobile unit which is taken into the field. While the mobile unit is in use, the base unit monitors noise and signal variations in the GPS network. Special software is later used to correct the mobile unit's positional record. As a result, accuracies of 2m-3m can be achieved at a moderate additional cost, while precision of several centimeters can be achieved at far greater expense.
Reliable GPS units can be obtained for as little as $400, while systems for differential GPS can cost $10,000-$20,000. Alternatives for achieving differential GPS accuracies are being devised, and costs will likely decrease in the near future.
GPS can be coupled with photo and video cameras so that the coordinates are automatically recorded and retrievable on the imagery. This is a luxury for most ground work, but useful in the air. One new instrument combines a GPS with a notebook computer. In an on-screen, digitized aerial image, the user is shown as a moving point of light.
It should be noted that field operational problems and limitations to this approach persist. Forest canopies interfere with reception, thus a method is needed for raising the GPS antenna above the canopy. Also, battery life is brief at only 4-6 hours, or approximately one hour per AA cell.
Digital scanners on board orbiting satellites produce imagery which varies according to spatial coverage and resolution. The US Landsat system produces images in four spectral bands which cover 160km x 160km at a ground resolution of 80m. The French SPOT images produce scenes covering 36km x 36km. SPOT ground resolutions are 20m for multispectral (color) and 10m for panchromatic images. A Russian system uses conventional (optical) cameras on the satellite in lieu of digital sensors. The resulting images cannot be retrieved in real time, but are of higher resolution, apparently to 2-5m this imagery is now sporadically available. The Canadian Radarsat was scheduled to be launched in 1994 and promises imagery with resolutions in the 20-30m range. Although radar imagery is low in resolution and spectral information, it can penetrate cloud cover, an advantage over current satellite systems for example, in the Colombian Pacific forest, it has been virtually impossible until now to obtain satellite images free of cloud cover.
Satellite imagery has proven useful in areas where maps are non-existent or inaccurate. In Brazil, this imagery has been accepted in law as evidence of illegal logging and settlement activity in indigenous lands. Images cost from $2,500-$5,500 each, although year-old imagery may be cheaper. For the Yuqui demarcation (proj. 2), SPOT images were obtained at an educational discount for $1,000 each.
Aerial imaging usually refers to images taken from airplanes, although kites, balloons and dirigibles have all been used for the same purpose. For local mapping, four imagers have potential: photo, video, digital and radar (which is similar to satellite radar). Conventional aerial photography, which uses 230mm x 230mm stereoscopic mapping cameras, is very accurate although quite expensive. It is generally thought to be justifiable only when large areas are to be covered for topographic mapping.
Stock panchromatic aerial survey photography, 230mm x 230mm, has proven useful in local PRA exercises. This imagery usually has a scale between 1:20,000 and 1:60,000. This scale is adequate for mapping and terrain interpretation, but is considered to be too small for useful local discussions. Several studies have independently concluded that a scale of 1:5,000 is optimum as a stimulus for local discussions. At that scale villagers are able to easily recognize significant landscape features.
Over the last ten years or so, researchers have experimented with small camera formats, such as 70mm and 35mm, in some cases using four cameras, each filtered to gather data in a specific spectral band. This approach has potential for such applications as crop and forest disease detection, land-use sampling, urban and settlement studies, and wildlife census. The advantages of small format photography are low system cost, simple operation and processing, and a wide range of film and lens types. The one disadvantage is the limited ground area covered in each image in comparison with standard mapping cameras. Small format imagery is suitable for obtaining selective data to upgrade existing maps, but not for topographic mapping itself.
Aerial video is attracting interest for a similar range of local and specific applications. This method's advantage over photo surveying is that videotape is cheaper than film and carries no processing costs. The disadvantage is lower resolution. Video can obtain either a moving image, or, with special instruments, a video-still image can be frame-grabbed for individual attention. Some users have then digitized such stills for computer-based analysis. Some reports suggest that digital video is being used for aerial imaging. Usually, this is not strictly the case. Video images may be captured digitally, but then stored and displayed in analog form. In such cases, frame-grabbed images are then re-digitized, thereby losing resolution in the process. Moving video has been used for locating point sources of pollution and for coastal studies in fact, it can be used for many small-format photo applications which tolerate low resolution.
Direct digital aerial imagery can be obtained using one of the new digital frame cameras. These are still cameras, which resemble standard photo cameras, but use an array of digital receptors instead of film. At present, data storage capacities limit the utility of digital cameras in light aircraft. For example, one off-the-shelf system requires 1.3 megabytes of storage per image. However, once this problem is solved, this technology should be competitive with the video/frame-grabber combination.
When coupled with GPS, photo/video combinations in light aircraft have great promise for a wide range of mapping and monitoring missions. For monitoring environmental change, in combination with differential GPS navigation, flight lines or selected photo sample plots can be replicated to an accuracy of less than 5m. Where traditional lands are recognized on paper, but not demarcated on the ground, their margins can easily be monitored with GPS/video to produce image transects.
3.6 Computer-Based Image Analysis
The study found wide interest in GIS, but only a few groups have so far used this technology to its fullest extent. There are accounts of technological overkill vendors at a recent GIS conference in Vancouver estimated that 80% of the systems obtained by First Nations groups are not being properly utilized. Various reasons were cited for this -- lack of follow-up service, lack of initial training, and hidden and incremental costs. Many of the First Nations groups who are successfully applying the more sophisticated GIS have had to accept the cost of hiring full-time operators. Evidently, there are often mismatches between GIS capabilities and local capacities.
There is also evidence of a mismatch between GIS techniques and local applications. Some users do not need to compare and analyze a series of layered data sets, but require only accurate maps, or the capacity to enter incremental or sequential data onto existing maps. Computer-based mapping systems are available for such applications which do not incur the expense or require the operational skills that high-end GIS packages do.
4.0 MATCHING TECHNOLOGY, APPLICATIONS AND LOCAL CAPACITIES
The matrix in Figure 1 below illustrates some general linkages between the type of technology and the situation in which mapping is needed.
| APPLICATION | DATA NEEDED | MAPPING TECHNOLOGY |
| Land Use & Occupancy | Maps based upon local knowledge and practice | Sketching mapping, basic mapping, GPS for more accuracy |
| Demarcation | Positional | GPS, traditional survey method, base maps/images if available |
| Gathering & protecting Traditional Knowledge |
Traditional environmental knowledge | Sketch mapping, basic mapping, GPS for more accuracy, GIS for map-making |
| Boundary Monitoring | Sequential visual data | GPS + aerial video satellite imagery, radarstat imagery |
| Resource Mapping | Local data upon base map | Aerial video/photo + GPS, GIS for map-making |
| Ecologial Recuperation | High resolution imagery | Aerial photography |
| Impact Monitoring | Aerial imagery | Aerial video/photo + GPS |
| Resource Management | Comprehensive cultural & ecological information | Aerial video/photo + GPS, satellite, GIS for analysis |
| Local Communication | Local views & landscape data | Ephemeral maps, sketch maps, aerial photos |
| Figure 1. Matching Applications with Mapping Technology |
4.1 Levels of Technical Activity
In Section 2, a progression from initial occupancy studies to integrated long-term management was suggested. To a degree, this corresponds to the technical progression summarized in the five following categories of technical activity (Sections 4.2 - 4.6). These categories describe five phases with increasing levels of skill, technology and cost. The first three, which are relatively low-cost, appear to be within the current capacities of some individual communities, and require minimal training. The last two are more suitable either for associations of communities, or for groups faced with the task of managing large areas. They require greater investment in training and technology, and long-term access to technical support and service.
4.2 Gathering Local Knowledge for Sketch Maps or Cartographically Produced Maps
Local information-gathering is the essential first step for all levels, and in some cases is sufficient for immediate goals. The Ye'kuana communities (proj. 11) are demarcating their territories on this basis alone, and the ephemeral maps used in Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) have proven adequate for such local discussions. These maps may be transferred onto existing topographical maps. Several projects have refined methodologies for gathering and recording such information in a community context. The sequence of projects in Central America (proj. 13-16) can serve as a model in this regard. The external inputs required include introductory training and minimal materials. This combination of sketch maps and cartographically produced maps has the highest potential for local sustainability.
4.3 Geocoding with Global Positioning Systems (GPS)
In transactions with external agencies, local information has proved to be more effective when presented in a familiar cartographic form. After the initial stage of gathering local information on sketch maps is completed, GPS, topographic maps, and traditional land-survey technology (separately or combined) have been used to make this transformation. GPS is showing considerable promise for demarcation when accuracies of 25-50m are acceptable. Also, GPS can be introduced at the local level fairly easily. Where accuracies of 2-3m are needed, differential GPS requires increased levels of skill and cost, but these are still low in terms of ultimate results. External inputs required include training and an investment of $1000-$20,000. Geocoding with GPS has high potential for local sustainability. External contacts are needed for GPS maintenance and repair.
4.4 Using External Image Sources
In this case imagery (aerial photos, satellite imagery) is used directly as a map. Aerial photography, particularly at a scale of 1:5,000, has proven useful in stimulating local discussion of land issues. Satellite images have been used for detecting habitat change but low resolution permits only very general distinctions. However, this resolution will reveal certain kinds of incursions across boundaries and some countries will accept satellite imagery in court. Although suitable for community-based applications, the cost of single images can be prohibitive for single communities. External inputs required include training, basic analysis and mapping equipment, and images costing $1,000 each or more. There is a high potential for local sustainability although it is dependent on external inputs. External contacts are needed for continual access to imagery.
4.5 Generation of Remote Imagery
Creating remote imagery can be done in two ways. Aircraft may be commissioned to obtain video or photo imagery, or local capacities to do so can be developed. The study identified only one case in which a group has generated its own capacity to acquire aerial data. Makivik Corp. (proj. 21) has operated a 70mm camera system in an Inuit-owned aircraft, though others are now considering the same approach. In Brazil, the Kayapó (proj. 5) obtained an aircraft for reconnaissance and were recently considering modifying it for aerial imaging. A group at Saacute;o Paulo University may acquire an ultralight aircraft for patrolling the boundaries of indigenous lands (proj. 7). In Canada, First Nations Aviation is modifying aircraft to provide services to indigenous resource groups. External inputs required include training and an investment of $5,000-$150,000. Local generation of imagery is likely to be regionally rather than locally sustainable -- with one unit serving scattered communities unless very large areas are involved. External contacts are needed for technical back-up and upgrades.
4.6 Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
Available GIS systems range from relatively cheap and simple methods for image manipulation and map production to powerful analytical technologies. This study suggests that advanced GIS has settled into two niches. One niche is its use by associations rather than individual communities, e.g., Makivik Corp. in Quebec (proj. 21), MKO in Manitoba (proj. 23), and COICA in the Amazon (proj. 12), with the objective of supporting long-term environmental management on a regional basis. The other niche is one in which First Nations in the US has applied GIS in integrating layers of social, economic and environmental variables for long-term environmental management on reservations, as well as for transactions with numerous external agencies. At the simpler end of the GIS spectrum, emerging low-cost systems have potential for recording and mapping evidence of traditional land use, for occupancy mapping and for demarcation. Some of these applications are compatible with basic computer systems and software. External inputs required include training and an equipment investment of $5,000-$50,000. GIS is more likely to be regionally rather than locally sustainable, with a central unit serving scattered communities. External contacts are needed for technical support and upgrades.
5.0 CONCLUSIONS: COMMUNITIES, MAPPING, AND THE BIODIVERSITY CONVENTION
5.1 Anticipating Agenda Differences: Whose Maps? And for What Purposes?
Before presenting my recommendations, a few comments are provided on the political variables affecting biodiversity conservation when communities and indigenous peoples are involved.
The territories over which indigenous peoples are regaining various levels of control are often, in the Americas at least, extensive and of critical importance for biodiversity conservation. This brief inquiry has located a number of cases in which communities and their associations have declared their intention to recover, restore, and protect their lands and perpetuate their traditions of sustainable resource use. With slender resources, they are making impressive gains in these directions. Mapping and geomatics have contributed to this effort, and there is potential for expanding this role.
Agenda 21 and the Biodiversity Convention contain numerous statements recognizing the intrinsic value of traditional indigenous knowledge and practice, and assign special roles for land-based communities in biodiversity conservation. However, while urging that signatory governments consult with and involve indigenous peoples, both documents skirt the sensitive but unavoidable issue that has emerged from this survey: that the recognition of land rights is an essential precondition for indigenous peoples to assume such roles which are contingent upon secure tenure and access to resources. While understandable, given the political horse-trading that led up to the Biodiversity Convention, this omission has led some conservation organizations to assume readiness on the part of indigenous peoples to collaborate on biodiversity conservation. Where land rights have not been recognized, this assumption is dangerous and may precipitate unexpected tensions.
The recognition of indigenous territorial rights marks a threshold. After crossing beyond the threshold, communities and their associations can focus their energies upon protecting their lands and devising ways to perpetuate their traditions of sustainable resource use. At this point, indigenous peoples' objectives may come to resemble those of the Biodiversity Convention. In addition, there are other latent potentials for agenda conflict. Those indigenous groups which have endorsed the Convention have done so only with clear reservations about its position on the ownership and use, or abuse, of traditional knowledge for commercial or political gain.
Several of the surveyed projects reported tensions with external support groups over the ownership of maps created by the project. Others requested us not to jeopardize their mapping projects by reporting their existence. If even the compilation of this survey itself is to be compromised by such political sensitivities, then any recommendations on programs to support mapping must be tempered by similar cautions. The object of this survey is not to dissect this issue, but to bring it to attention as something that should be taken into account and dealt with clearly and openly, before commencing any program to generate local capacities in mapping and geomatics.
5.2 Implementation of the Biodiversity Convention
Scientific advisory groups are now discussing structures and methodologies for implementing the Biodiversity Convention. Their conclusions provide a guide for evaluating the results of this survey. The recent Open-Ended Intergovernmental Meeting of Scientific Experts on Biological Diversity (UNEP 1994) was charged with the "identification of innovative, efficient and state-of-the-art technologies (on) the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity." Six technologies were identified as "biogeographical mapping technologies":
With the exception of gene-variation mapping, these technologies are utilized in various ways in the projects described in this survey. To that extent they could qualify as virtual implementation of the Biodiversity Convention. They also serve as valuable indicators of the kinds of biodiversity mapping and monitoring that can be accomplished when these technologies are applied in a community context.
The following section outlines a four-stage program which capitalizes upon the advances and innovations made by indigenous groups in community-based mapping. The program aims to further support such initiatives and to simultaneously establish a framework for implementing the numerous recommendations of the Biodiversity Convention and Agenda 21 for involving indigenous peoples and land-based communities.
5.3 Recommendations for a Program in Community-Based Mapping for Implementing the Biodiversity Convention and Agenda 21
This study has identified a wide spectrum of motivation and interest in community-based mapping. But current activity levels, for example in self-demarcation, are well below their potential. This is an information-intensive rather than capital-intensive activity, and the focus should be upon technical guidance and assistance.
The objective of the program would be to provide technical support for indigenous and land-based communities, associations and support NGOs to maximize the potential for localizing geomatic technologies for community-based biodiversity conservation. The program would be based on the principles that:
Program implementation would begin with database development, expanding the directory appended to this report and dividing the groups contained in it into four key categories:
The second stage of implementation would include preparation of four resource documents:
A Global Positioning System field guide on choosing access equipment and seeking advice, covering single unit and differential GPS
The third stage would consist of a workshop, bringing together experienced practitioners and support groups to review drafts of the manuals and to decide upon a structure for the program.
The final stage of implementation would consist of pilot and demonstration projects and local capacity-building the specific content would be determined by the results of preparatory research and the workshop.
PART II. SURVEY: PROJECT DESCRIPTIONS
Projects have been presented under the region in which they were implemented. Under each entry, first find the country, then the first half of the title refers to the project name, and finally, following a slash (/), find the technology or application type. For example under Asia, number 37 is "Indonesia: Kayan Mentarang Reserve / GPS". The project title is "Kayan Mentarang Reserve" and the technology used is GPS
The information about donors and implementor organizations may be incomplete due to the difficulty of getting complete information. Over time, situations may have changed. Please contact the institution or individual listed under Contact for more complete and up-to-date information.
SOUTH AMERICA
Argentina: Wichi Land Occupancy / Basic Mapping
PROJECT STATUS: Completed.
LOCAL ORG: Asociación Francisco Perez.
NATIONAL ORG: --
EXTERNAL ORG: Survival International.
DONOR AGENCY: --
CONTACT: John Palmer, Survival International, 6 Walton Manor Court, Oxford, England, OX1 6EL, UK. Tel: 44-865-52650.
REFERENCES: --
OBJECTIVE: Land occupancy mapping to obtain communal land title.
BACKGROUND: About 5,000 Wichi live in 35 villages in 240,000 ha of land which has deteriorated due to pasture development by about 1,000 colonists. In 1987, the provincial government invited Wichi and the colonists to "regularize" land occupancy under a provision that 20 years residence would qualify applicants to obtain title.
METHOD: A legal entity, Asociación Francisco Perez, was created to apply for communal title to an undivided area. A team of local people and Survival International staff visited the Wichi communities and produced hand-drawn maps of their traditional lands, which also included over 1,000 Wichi place names. This was plotted on a military topographic map and cartographers produced a composite map at a scale of 1:75,000 and submitted to the government in 1991. Colonists have also applied for title to individual plots, a combined total of 500,000 ha, much of which overlaps with the Wichi claimed area.
RESULT: The Wichi map and application for title was then lost by the provincial government, which then changed. The incoming government set up a commission to evaluate the application within 90 days. This is now more than two years overdue.
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2. Bolivia: Yuqui Self-Demarcation / Aerial Imagery, GIS
PROJECT STATUS: Completed.
LOCAL ORG: Yuqui Consejo.
NATIONAL ORG: --
EXTERNAL ORG: University of Central Florida, Department of Anthropology, University of Florida Geoplan Center (Keith A. Jarvis).
DONOR AGENCY: --
CONTACT: Allyn MacLean Stearman, University of Central Florida, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, 4000 Central Florida Boulevard, P.O. Box 25000, Orlando, FL 32816-1360, USA. Tel: 407-823-2227 Fax: 407-823-5156.
REFERENCES: Jarvis 1993, Jarvis and Stearman 1995.
OBJECTIVE: To demarcate Yuqui territory and produce a geocoded map as a basis for further activities.
BACKGROUND: Yuqui land covers 115,000 ha in the Amazon basin, a lowland complex of meandering rivers, swamps, lakes and rainforest. The Bolivian Government had recognized Yuqui ownership of their territory on paper, but this had yet to be demarcated on the land. The process described here is the first of three phases of the Yuqui Ethnodevelopment Project. The next phases envisioned are: 1) monitoring and protecting the demarcated land, and 2) compiling a resource inventory.
METHODOLOGY: To introduce the project to the Yuqui, the confirmed boundaries were marked on a composite map formed from nine 1:50,000 hydrographic/topographic field maps derived by government agencies from 17 year-old aerial photographs. An aerial reconnaissance used a basic GPS unit to obtain rough fixes for key boundary points. Surface demarcation work combined river and land-based boundaries. The river party located basepoints and cleared a space around the largest trees. The trunks of these basepoint trees were painted with oil-based white paint and marked with survey tape and the name of the Yuqui Territory, azimuth, date and coordinates. Land-based boundaries proceeded from basepoints, using a survey compass to open up lines of sight for visual contact.
RESULT: The Yuqui project mobilized the entire spectrum of geomatic technology: satellite remote sensing, cartography, aerial photography, GPS and GIS. These laid a technical foundation for confirming tenure, future monitoring and protection and resource inventory and sustainable utilization. Its future utility will be dependent upon maintaining this technical support for the Yuqui Consejo. This project is worth monitoring to witness how the connection evolves. In the course of the project, the field crew collected data that was used to correct obsolete maps, particularly changes in watercourses.
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3. Brazil: Acre Community Agroforestry / GIS
PROJECT STATUS: Current.
LOCAL ORG: Pesquisa e Extensno em Sistemas Agroflorestais do Acre (PESACRE).
NATIONAL ORG: --
EXTERNAL ORG: University of Florida, Gainesville.
DONOR AGENCY: USAID.
CONTACT: Marianne Schmink, Center for Latin American Studies, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA. Tel: 904-392-0375 Fax: 904-392-7682.
PESACRE, C.P. 277, 69.000 Rio Branco, Acre, Brazil. Tel/Fax: 55-68-2263017.
REFERENCES: Schmink 1994.
OBJECTIVE: To develop community-scale GIS and test its utility in land use planning.
BACKGROUND: For eight years, the University of Florida has engaged in cooperative programs of agroforestry research training and extension in the state of Acre, and since 1990 with PESACRE, a local NGO which has established a strong competence in these areas. The collaborating groups now propose a further stage -- an agroforestry field program focusing on three groups which represent a cross-section of small producers: rubber tappers, indigenous communities and agricultural colonists.
METHOD: GIS has been assigned a role as one element in a complex program. The stated objective is to be able to use this technology for land use planning at the community level. In 1994, two PESACRE researchers will receive GIS training at the University of Florida. Locally, PESACRE has begun to collect baseline data for this. The University has also received a request for GPS equipment.
RESULT: The geomatic elements of this long-term program are still in the exploratory stage. It will be interesting to see to what extent GIS skills and technology will be put to continual use at the level of individual communities, as opposed to the PESACRE coordinating level.
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4. Brazil: Jau National Park / Basic Mapping
PROJECT STATUS: Planned.
LOCAL ORG: --
NATIONAL ORG: IBAMA (Environmental Agency).
EXTERNAL ORG: World Wildlife Fund (WWF).
DONOR AGENCY: --
CONTACT: Carlos Miller, Director FVA, Manaus, Brazil. Tel: 55-92-642-1336 Fax: 55-92-236-3257.
John Butler, Fundo Mundial para a Natureza (WWF-Brazil), SHIS EQ 6/8-Conjuncto E 2o andar, 71620-430 Brasilia, DF, Brazil. Tel: 061-248-2899 Fax: 061-248-7176.
REFERENCES: Butler 1994.
OBJECTIVE: To map critical resources and patterns of use.
BACKGROUND: A map of the resources used by the 1,000 residents of Jau National Park is proposed as part of a community-use plan for the park, which covers 2,272,000 ha of the watershed of the Rio Negro. Mapping and planning is modelled upon two other kinds of informal or formal inter-community agreements that have emerged in the Brazilian Amazon. One is the fishing agreements, which have evolved among fishing communities using common waters to protect their interests against commercial fisheries. The other is the Extractive Reserve Use Plan, required by the environmental agency IBAMA before recognizing use titles by the members of the Association of Residents for an Extractive Reserve. One such plan has been prepared for the Alto Jurua Extractive Reserve, but has yet to be approved by IBAMA. Categories in the Alto Jurua plan include the definition of common areas.
METHOD: IBAMA is now requesting associations or residents to compile Extractive Reserve Development Plans, which require maps of resource distribution and patterns of use. The Jau Park project will build upon this inter-community experience and aim for this kind of resource map as an integral element of the overall management plan for the park. They will map the distribution of the resources critical for survival, local tenure systems, location of species felt to be in decline, and the coverage of informal agreements that may already exist.
RESULT: To commence in late 1994.
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5. Brazil: Menkragnoti Kayapó Demarcation / GPS
PROJECT STATUS: Completed.
LOCAL ORG: --
NATIONAL ORG: Fundaçáo Mata Virgem (FMV).
EXTERNAL ORG: Rainforest Foundation International (RFI).
DONOR AGENCIES: Unspecified, from RFI and from sources in Norway, the U.S., the U.K., Italy, and Japan.
CONTACT: Larry Cox, RFI, 270 Lafayette Street, New York, NY 10012, USA. Tel: 212-431-9098 Fax: 212-431-9197.
REFERENCES: RFI 1992, Geonex 1992.
OBJECTIVE: To demarcate Mekragnoti territory.
BACKGROUND: RFI (1992) details the conventions for demarcation in Brazil, which is usually performed by private firms, often owned by military or ex-military persons. The most reliable contractor is the army itself, but it is also the most costly. The Yanomami demarcation cost US $3 million (ibid). 470 Menkragnoti Kayapó live in three villages within an area of 4.4 million ha. RFI raised US $600,000 toward the project, which was executed in cooperation with the Menkragnoti people and FMV, an affiliate which RFI helped to establish in Brasilia.
METHOD: Technical details on demarcation are drawn from a proposal to FMV by Geonex (1992). This is in a discursive and abbreviated form and does not provide a complete picture of the method. The technique appears to have combined traditional geodesic methods with the use of GPS receivers. Twenty-six clearings, 80m x 80m, were opened up in the forest to enable GPS readings to be made and helicopters to land. The clearings will be planted with species of trees and shrubs that should be visible on satellite imagery. Watercourses delineate 950 km of the 1,050 km border. The remaining 100 km, called "dry lines", were demarcated using theodolite survey equipment, and were cut along a 4m-wide swathe. Concrete markers were installed every 2 km. It is not clear from the proposal whether the 26 clearings were placed along all boundaries or only along dry lines. The watercourses would provide openings large enough to receive GPS signals.
RESULT: The demarcation was successfully completed. The Menkragnoti are now moving on to a Post Demarcation Integration Program and are working with RFI, FMV and a group of experts to find ways to protect their demarcated land and to examine sustainable alternatives to industrial resource exploitation.
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6. Brazil: Paraná Land Titling / Satellite Imagery
PROJECT STATUS: Proposed.
LOCAL ORG: --
NATIONAL ORG: Fundaçáo Mata Virgem (FMV), Nucleus for Indigenous Rights (NDI), Centro ecumencio de documentaçáo e informaçáo (CEDI).
EXTERNAL ORG: Environmental Defense Fund (EDF).
DONOR AGENCY: --
CONTACT: Steve Schwartzman, EDF, 1875 Connecticut Avenue, NW, Suite 1016, Washington, DC 20009, USA. Tel: 202-387-3500 Fax: 202-234-6049.
REFERENCES: EDF 1994.
OBJECTIVE: To reoccupy traditional territories from which they were evicted 20 years ago.
BACKGROUND: The Cuiaba-Santarem Highway penetrated Paraná lands in 1968, leading in 1973 to the first formal contact with the state of Brazil. By 1975, 80-90% of the Paraná had died from diseases associated with the incursion of the highway. In 1975, the 69 survivors were moved 400 km away to Xingu National Park. The Paraná have survived in this unfamiliar habitat and their numbers have increased to 145. Yet they have not abandoned the prospect of returning to their land. The area is contiguous with the now demarcated Menkragnoti Kayapó land, itself vulnerable to predatory resource exploitation, where several local communities have made contracts with logging and mining interests. The land the Paraná intend to reoccupy is itself threatened by an illegal parcelling project of a group of local ranchers.
METHOD: The Paraná have formulated a strategy for occupying, demarcating, and defending their lands from incursions, and for creating a regime for the sustainable use of their resources which could serve as a model for alternative practices within the region. With support from Brazilian and external NGOs, six Paraná leaders visited their lands in 1991. They found that a large part has been degraded by logging, mining and ranching, but also that a large tract of 400,000 ha remains intact.
RESULT: The support groups have enabled the Paran to bring two suits against the government: one for indemnification, the other for legal recognition of their title. Overflights of their lands, combined with interpretation of satellite imagery, are thought to have abbreviated the time needed for preparation of these lawsuits by at least a year.
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7. Brazil: Xikrin Kayapó Forest Management and Land-Use Planning / GPS
PROJECT STATUS: Current.
LOCAL ORG: --
NATIONAL ORG: Centro Ecumencio de documentaçáo e informaçáo (CEDI) .
EXTERNAL ORG: Rainforest Foundation International.
DONOR AGENCY: Fundo Nacional do Meio Ambiente (Brazil), Companhia Vale do Rio Doce (Brazil).
CONTACT: Virgilio Viana, Departamento de Ciência Florestais - ESALQ, Universidade de Sáo Paulo, Piracicaba, SP 13400, Brazil, Tel: 55-194-334124 Fax: 55-194-336081.
REFERENCES: --
OBJECTIVE: To undertake mapping, inventory and selective resource utilization.
BACKGROUND: Xikrin are one of 13 Kayapó groups in the Brazilian Amazon. About 300 people occupy a demarcated reserve of 600,000 ha. Before this project commenced the Xikrin were assisted by a Brazilian NGO, Nucleus for Indigenous Rights, in a landmark conflict with loggers, which led to expulsion of the loggers. In seeking alternatives to industrial resource exploitation, the Xikrin called for support from the local mining company involved in the Grand Carajas project which, as a condition for proceeding with the project, is obliged to provide support to indigenous peoples in protecting their lands.
METHOD: An interdisciplinary team, based at the University of Sáo Paulo, and with professional competence in forestry, biology and anthropology has collaborated with the Xikrin community on the first phase of the project, which included a number of joint surveys: satellite mapping, forest and land surveys with GPS, anthropological studies and economic analyses. As a result the reserve has been divided into a 550,000 ha area, to be reserved for traditional forms of use, and a 50,000 ha area, considered to have good potential for selective timber extraction and gathering of palm hearts and brazil nuts. A conservative estimate for the annual net income from timber is $150,000. However, the Xikrin elected to commence with brazil nut collection, with which they are familiar, and then to gradually phase in timber production.
RESULT: The next step is an education program in forest management and silviculture. The Xikrin are also considering leasing a concession to reforest the part of the reserve which has been degraded by logging. They also plan to conduct more intensive inventories of other parts of the reserve, and develop methods for monitoring and protection, possibly including the use of an ultralight aircraft.
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8. Paraguay: Ache Mbaracuyo Reserve / GPS
PROJECT STATUS: About to start.
LOCAL ORG: Two Ache communities.
NATIONAL ORG: Fundaçáo Moises Bertoni.
EXTERNAL ORG: The Nature Conservancy.
DONOR AGENCY: The Nature Conservancy, Native Peoples and Tropical Conservation Fund, University of New Mexico.
CONTACT: Kim Hill, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131 USA. Tel: 505-277-6182 Fax: 505-277-0874.
REFERENCES: --
OBJECTIVE: To inventory resources, to assess effects of Ache resource use, and to develop ways to indefinitely monitor and protect the area.
BACKGROUND: For almost ten years the Ache have been trying to regain their lands, abandoned by a bankrupt logging company, to form an Ache Wildlands Area. The Nature Conservancy joined the process, bought 60,000 ha and donated it to a Paraguayan NGO, the Fundaçáo Moises Bertoni, with the understanding that they will manage the land as the Mbaracayo Reserve. There are two Ache communities, one within the Reserve and a larger one about 15 km away. Altogether 420 Ache retain rights to continue use of the resources in the reserve. Apart from a few tourist parties and non-Ache poachers, they are the most active group in the Reserve. Ten part-time Ache guards have been assigned the task of protecting 100,000 ha.
METHOD: With assistance for the University of New Mexico, the Ache plan to spend the next five years making an inventory of the resources in the area and recording evidence of the impacts of their resource use. The proposed method is to use GPS to make records along 15,000 km of random transects across an area of 100,000 ha coupled with focused surveys in the two most heavily used areas. For planning purposes, Landsat Thematic Mapping imagery has been used, at a scale of 1:100,000. This is too small a scale to record features that are significant to the Ache. Likewise the typical GPS resolution of 100m is too large to fix such monitoring sites as individual trees thus, a differential method will be used to provide sufficient resolution (Trimble rover & base station).
RESULT: This project was to start in 1994. However, experimental GPS use so far has indicated two problems: 1) difficulty in obtaining satellite readings under the forest canopy, and 2) problems maintaining power during long field trips without access to battery supplies or main voltage for re-charging.
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9. Peru: Communal Land Titling and Reserves / Basic Mapping
PROJECT STATUS: Current.
LOCAL ORG: --
NATIONAL ORG: Inter-Ethnic Association for the Development of the Peruvian Rainforest (AIDESEP).
EXTERNAL ORG: International Working Group for Indigenous Peoples (IWGIA), Copenhagen.
DONOR AGENCY: DANIDA (Denmark).
CONTACT: AIDESEP, San Eugenio 981, Santa Catalina, Lima 13, Peru.
REFERENCES: --
OBJECTIVE: To map community lands as a basis for obtaining title and to establish additional communal reserves.
BACKGROUND: Peru does not recognize indigenous title as such, but does recognize communal ownership of lands which are contiguous with villages and subjected to fairly regular use. As a result, support organizations have devised an adaptive strategy of mapping such lands in collaboration with local communities and submitting these for formal recognition.
METHOD: The strategy is to build up what are in effect ethnic territories through utilizing the laws under which land may be assigned to communities. Commencing in 1989, AIDESEP has assisted in the titling of 115 communities. Once lands are mapped by the communities, agency engineers formalize these by using conventional theodolite-based surveys. Over 2,000,000 ha have been titled as a result of this effort by AIDESEP. However, the government is displaying some reluctance to continue because of the size of the areas that are being mapped. However large, they still do not cover all the land that has been traditionally used by indigenous communities, only the tracts that are used with comparative intensity, such as the lands alongside river courses. To cope with those distant areas used less intensively for intermittent hunting and gathering, a second strategy has been devised: to press for the establishment of communal reserves which indigenous peoples would use only for traditional purposes and would protect from commercial exploitation. They would manage these reserves in trust for the state, a reversal of the more usual relationship between indigenous peoples and nation states. One such proposed communal reserve, for the Ashaninka, totals 1,000,000 ha.
RESULT: This relatively simple process for land titling has worked well for land-based communities and some are contemplating a second form of protected area -- the communal reserve.
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10. Peru: Land Titling / Basic Mapping
PROJECT STATUS: Current.
LOCAL ORG: --
NATIONAL ORG: Centre for the Development of Indigenous Amazonians (CEDIA).
EXTERNAL ORG: Environmental Defense Fund.
DONOR AGENCY: --
CONTACT: Lelis Rivera, CEDIA, Psje. Bonifacio 166, Urb. Los Rosales de Santa Rosa, La Perla, Callao, Lima, Peru. Tel/Fax: 51-14650708.
REFERENCES: --
OBJECTIVE: To map community lands as a basis for obtaining title and to establish additional communal reserves.
BACKGROUND: Peru does not recognize indigenous title as such, but does recognize communal ownership of lands which are contiguous with villages and subjected to fairly regular use. As a result, support organizations have devised an adaptive strategy of mapping such lands in collaboration with local communities and submitting these for formal recognition.
METHOD: CEDIA has engaged in similar titling projects, for both indigenous and colonist communities in the lower Urubamba valley. Between 1992 and 1993, they assisted in obtaining colonist title to 20,000 ha which effectively buffered another 80,000 ha of less accessible land. They have also commenced work on enlarging the land base of eight indigenous communities, which will secure another 90,000 ha. This completes the titling jigsaw puzzle for the valley and will effectively exclude intrusions by outsiders. CEDIA is now working to establish the 220,000 ha Vilcabamba Communal Reserve in the lower Urubamba valley.
RESULT: This relatively simple process for land titling has worked well for land-based communities, both indigenous and colonist, and their support organizations. It has also led some groups to contemplate a form of protected area, the communal reserve, designed to forestall industrial resource exploitation.
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11. Venezuela: Ye'kuana Demarcation Project / Basic Mapping
PROJECT STATUS: Current.
LOCAL ORG: --
NATIONAL ORG: Otro Futuro.
EXTERNAL ORG: Assembly of First Nations, LEO Project, Canada.
DONOR AGENCY: Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA).
CONTACT: Nelly Arvelo-Jimênez, (Otro Futuro) Instituto Venezuelana de Investigaciones Científicas, Carretera Panamêrica Km. 11, Apartado 21827, Caracas 1020-1, Venezuela. Tel: 52-2-501-1297 Fax: 58-2-501-1085.
REFERENCES: Arvelo-Jimênez and Conn 1995.
OBJECTIVE: To demarcate traditional Ye'kuana territory and produce a technical map of the results.
BACKGROUND: The Ye'kuana territory lies to the west of Yanomami land. Aware of the impacts of mining on their neighbors, and of plans to superimpose new political divisions upon their lands, the Ye'kuana have taken steps to assert traditional ownership. There is no legal framework in Venezuela for this, and 15 communities decided upon a unilateral demarcation. The Assembly of First Nations (Canada) obtained funds from the CIDA-supported Environment and Development Support Program to cover costs of a meeting and a project proposal.
METHOD: The meeting broke into four informal groups. Each drafted a sketch map of the collective territory of the 15 communities. Later, the assembly voted on the most representative map. By comparing the sketch map with a 1:500,000 map, they determined a boundary of 4-500 km and an area of about 1,000,000 ha. The meeting then debated and voted upon methods for marking the boundary, deciding upon a series of 24 clearcut circles, 30m in diameter and joined by a footpath - itself joined to the 15 villages by a web of footpaths. The perimeter was divided into 6 sectors. Each will be the responsibility of a team of 32 men and women from two to three nearby villages. Total effort was estimated at 12,000 person-days of work. The meeting then asked that the LEO project contribute by making a technical map of the boundary, one which used cartographic conventions and symbols acceptable to national agencies. This map would then be sent to the President and the Congress of Venezuela. The methodology for the map will be determined once the demarcation process is well underway.
RESULT: The planning meeting had an unprecedented unifying effect upon the communities. Opening speakers stressed this and urged that this unity be protected into the future. Already the demarcation is regarded as only the first step, preceding the compilation of cultural and economic maps, which will be used as a basis for long-term sustainable use of resources. The proposal for demarcation has since been approved.
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12. COICA: Regional Land Management / PRA, GIS
PROJECT STATUS: Current.
LOCAL ORG: --
NATIONAL ORG: --
EXTERNAL ORG: Coordinating Organization of the Indigenous Peoples of the Amazon Basin (COICA).
DONOR AGENCY: OXFAM America, Pew Charitable Trusts, MacArthur Foundation, Leo Model Foundation, John Merck Fund, OXFAM-UK, Action Aid, Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI).
CONTACT: Richard Chase Smith, COICA, Casilla 18-0521, Miraflores, Lima 18, Peru. Tel: 51-14-453373 Fax: 51-14-463731.
ESRI, 380 New York Street, Redlands, CA 92373-8100, USA. Tel: 714-793-2853 Fax: 714-793-5953.
REFERENCES: Smith 1993 & 1995.
OBJECTIVE: "The COICA-OXFAM America Research Project is an ambitious attempt to examine and evaluate the impact of the market economy on indigenous peoples over the last three decades in five Amazonian countries. The project includes an important component for mapping distribution of population, property, land-use capability, actual land use and deforestation for each of five case studies, using both on-the-ground participatory mapping techniques as well as data from satellite images and aerial photographs. The project is interested in introducing and developing the use of GIS as a tool for long-range planning for Indian territories (Smith 1993)."
BACKGROUND: COICA includes membership from national-level indigenous organizations of nine countries: the 1984 founding members from Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru, as well as members who joined in 1992 from French Guiana, Guyana, Suriname, and Venezuela. Over the last 25 years, these organizations have been actively engaged in the struggle to obtain legal recognition of indigenous lands. Smith (1993) reports on the Indian lands within the Amazon Basin that have been recognized since 1961: 83,000,000 ha in Brazil 25,000,000 ha in Colombia 8,300,000 ha in Ecuador. Altogether Smith estimates that current negotiations could lead to over 200,000,000 ha (30%) of the Amazon basin being recognized as Indian territory by the year 2000.
Recently, COICA and OXFAM America completed an evaluation of 15 programs aimed at regaining Indian territories. "Among other conclusions, the study showed that one of the most important strategies for the defense of secured territories is the careful development of the territory in ways which satisfy the growing and changing economic needs of the population while at the same time conserving and renewing the resources for continuous long-term use" (Smith 1993). The evaluation looks to this future on the basis of an examination of the changes over the 25 years from 1967-1992.
METHOD: Teams of Indian and external experts have completed case studies in five countries. Local participatory mapping methodologies have been used which closely resemble those which are familiar in PRA and are described in MYRADA (1991). They include the use of local materials to make maps upon the ground, transect walks, local histories and seasonal calendars. These expressions of local knowledge and activities act as focal points for discussing interests and priorities within the community. They also provide a comparative basis for interpreting aerial and satellite images. From this combination of local and external data sources, the teams have produced eight maps for each case study: five regional maps at 1:100,000 and three community maps at 1:50,000. These are:
1. Property structure/population (regional & community)
2. Actual land use/cover (regional & community)
3. Types of use areas/waters (regional & community)
4. Land-use capacity (regional)
5. Deforestation 1970-1992 (regional)
The Project used participatory mapping techniques to compare local perceptions of vegetation changes over 25 years with those detectable in aerial photographs and satellite images.
RESULT: The final report for the 1967-1992 study will be finished late in 1994. Its interim conclusions are summarized by Smith (1993) as follows: "With few exceptions, and despite the incorporation of most indigenous peoples into the market economy during recent decades, traditional subsistence activities continue to be the primary source of their sustenance... The menu of subsistence strategies is tremendously varied and, by taking advantage of the immense diversity of forest and aquatic resources available, turns this complexity of species and habitats into a subsistence blessing."
COICA is exploring the potential contribution that GIS can make to the management of Indian territories. Until now, neither COICA itself nor its member organizations possessed the resources to obtain and operate a GIS. COICA now has the necessary hardware and software and is in a position to develop an operational model. The project has linked with national cartographic agencies. The eventual goal is to establish an in-house GIS unit for each national indigenous organization. ESRI (Environmental Systems Research Institute) has agreed to donate PC ARC/INFO software to each organization.
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CENTRAL AMERICA
Belize: Maya Land Use / Basic Mapping
PROJECT STATUS: Current.
LOCAL ORG: Toledo Maya Cultural Council (TMCC).
NATIONAL ORG: Maya Institute of Belize, Kekchi Council of Belize, Alcalde Association, San Antonio Land Reservation Committee.
EXTERNAL ORG: Indian Law Resource Center (ILRC), Center for the Support of Native Lands.
DONOR AGENCY: (possible) World Wildlife Fund, Indigenous Peoples Fund of the Inter-American Development Bank.
CONTACT: ILRC, 601 E Street, SE, Washington, DC 20003, USA. Tel: 202-547-2800 Fax: 202-547-2803.
Mac Chapin, Center for the Support of Native Lands, 3240 Wilson Boulevard, Room 220, Arlington VA 22201, USA. Tel: 703-841-9771 Fax: 703-841-9774.
REFERENCES: TMCC 1994.
OBJECTIVE: To produce a land-use map of the Maya villages and land in Toledo District. To collect information on land use, population, natural features,and plant and animal species in the Maya land area in Toledo District.
BACKGROUND: "The project is designed to gather comprehensive, useful and accurate information on Maya land-use patterns in the Toledo District. This information will be the basis for a strategy to secure a legally protected homeland for the Maya people in the Toledo District. It will also be used to develop a conservation management plan for the area" (TMCC 1994).
METHOD: This project is the latest to employ a methodology which is evolving through the experience of several similar projects in Central America (proj. 14,15,16) as the momentum to map and secure land has gathered in recent years. An effective operational structure and process is emerging. Coordinators assume responsibility for overall organization, logistics and relations with external groups. Coordinators and communities collaborate on selecting surveyors to gather basic data from local sources. A professional cartographer, to be approved by the TMCC, will coordinate technical aspects and oversee production of technical maps. TMCC summarizes the project design:
Community workshops
Data collection by use of questionnaires
Preparation of hand-drawn maps
Production of a technical land use map
Discussions about the specifics of the homeland proposal
Development of a plan to secure the homeland
RESULT: This project is about to start.
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14. Honduras: La Mosquitia Land Use and Occupancy / Basic Mapping
PROJECT STATUS: Completed.
LOCAL ORG: --
NATIONAL ORG: Mosquitia Pawisa (MOPAWI), Moskitia Asla Takanka (MASTA), Federacion IndRgena Tawahka de Honduras (FITH), Organizacion Fraternal Negra Hondureña (OFRANEH).
EXTERNAL ORG: Cultural Survival, Southeastern Louisiana University.
DONOR AGENCY: --
CONTACT: MOPAWI, Apartado 2175, Tegucigalpa D.C., Honduras. Tel: 504-37-27-10 Fax: 504-37-28-64.
Mac Chapin, Center for the Support of Native Lands, 3240 Wilson Boulevard, Room 220, Arlington VA 22201, USA. Tel: 703-841-9771 Fax: 703-841-9774.
REFERENCES: Herlihy 1993, Chapin 1993.
OBJECTIVE: To enable indigenous communities in La Mosquitia to document and map their patterns of resource use and to present the results to other indigenous peoples and interested agencies at a congress on the indigenous lands of La Mosquitia.
BACKGROUND: The concept emerged from discussions between Mac Chapin, then of the Arlington office of Cultural Survival, and now with the Center for the Support of Native Lands, and members of the Honduran NGO MOPAWI. The project proposal was drafted by Peter Herlihy of Southeastern Louisiana University and Andrew Leake, both of whom later acted as project coordinator/cartographers.
METHOD: The data for the maps was collected by the Miskito, Tawahka, Pesch, Garífuna and Ladino people of the region. The area to be mapped was divided in 22 sectors. After initiation at a MOPAWI seminar, surveyors administered questionnaires to communities in their assigned zones. News about the survey and congress was also broadcast on the local radio. During a second seminar, the data gathered by the surveyors was then plotted on 1:50,000 maps by the two cartographers. This took an average of 5 hours for each of the 22 sectors. Over 5,000 points were transferred in this way. Without knowing the coordinates, it was difficult to plot points located furthest from communities coordinates. Once all the points were plotted, lines were drawn around areas of regular or daily use. These outlines did not include distant areas used for such activities as timber extraction or gold-panning.
The community lands delineated on the 1:50,000 topographic sheets were then copied onto tracing paper, which displayed the use categories, landmarks and rivers. The surveyors then returned to the communities to verify these sketch maps and to address questions arising from the map transformation exercise. The presentation of these transformed maps served to elicit more details from local informants. At a third seminar, surveyors worked with the coordinators to correct the resulting maps. These were redrafted to clean copies by the technical staff of the National Geographic Institute. They were then condensed into a 1:250,000 scale composite map of the region for presentation at the national congress. The final project map, at 1:500,000, included 170 of the larger settlements, but inevitably excluded much of the detailed land-use data recorded on the 1:50,000 maps.
RESULT: The project was presented, mostly by the surveyors, at a national congress in Tegucigalpa attended by officials from line agencies. The two foreign coordinators were apprehensive about the project being interpreted as an effort to gain political or legal recognition of communal tenure to the lands shown as subject to traditional use. They felt that these issues were successfully circumscribed and that the "best indicator of the success of the First Congress on Indigenous Lands in La Mosquitia was the influence the event had in promoting the development of a protected areas system to ensure the future conservation of the natural and cultural heritage of the region" (Herlihy 1993).
A more tangible result has been the further evolution and refinement of this process of community map-making during subsequent projects in Panama and Belize, as well as in proposals for similar work in Nicaragua. After the Congress, the two project cartographers were engaged by the Honduran government to help design and map a mosaic of protected areas and indigenous territories in La Mosquitia to be called La Solidaridad.
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15. Nicaragua: Miskito Coast Protected Area / Cartography, Sketch Maps
PROJECT STATUS: Current, part of project in proposal stage.
LOCAL ORGS: MIKUPIA, The MCPA Technical Planning Team.
NATIONAL ORGS: IRENA (Environmental Agency).
EXTERNAL ORGS: Center for the Support of Native Lands, Indian Law Resource Center, University of California at Berkeley Ocean Conservation Group, Caribbean Conservation Association, World Wildlife Fund - US (WWF).
DONOR AGENCIES: --
CONTACT: MIKUPIA, c/o IRENA, Apartado 5123, Managua, Nicaragua, Tel: 505-2-40474 Fax: 505-2-63-1274.
REFERENCES: CSNL 1994, ILRC 1992, Nietschmann 1995.
OBJECTIVE: The four objectives include: 1) to produce a land and sea-use map 2) to collect data on use and habitats for a management plan 3) to develop information on land/sea-use and traditional resource management practices for discussions between local communities, officials, conservation groups, etc. and 4) to produce a set of recommendations on land/sea-use, natural resource management and conservation in northeast Nicaragua.
BACKGROUND: The coastal Miskito people live close to the largest expanse of shallow water in the Caribbean, the Miskito Shelf. There is a strong geographical correspondence between the Miskito Shelf, the land/sea area used by the 250,000 Miskito people, and the range of the green sea turtle. The Nicaraguan Government has recently recognized a Miskito Coast Protected Area, a 1,295,000 ha coastal complex of forest, mangroves, lagoons, estuaries, seagrass meadows and coral reefs. The area is subject to heavy pressure from resource pirates and the activities of transnational firms. The overall goal of the project is to enable the 32 Miskito communities to actively participate in the generation and administration of conservation strategies and regimes for the wildlands and marine environment of northeast Nicaragua.
METHOD: MIKUPIA, the Miskito conservation organization which represents the 32 communities within the protected area, will administer the project and will engage two or three coordinators. These coordinators will supervise community-level surveyors, organize workshops and logistics, and manage outside technical assistance. A zone containing four or five villages, including the surveyor's own village, will be assigned to each surveyor. IRENA will provide cartographers and equipment to produce final composite maps. The project falls into three different phases. The community-mapping element will build upon the experience gained in similar projects in Honduras and Panama. Nicanor Gonzalez, a Kuna from Panama and Regional Coordinator for the Center for the Support of Native Lands, has contributed to this evolving methodology.
PHASE ONE (three months):
PHASE TWO (five months):
PHASE THREE:
RESULT: The mapping element is still at the proposal stage.
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16. Panama: Indigenous Mapping of the Darién / Cartography, Sketch Maps
PROJECT STATUS: Completed.
LOCAL ORG: --
NATIONAL ORG: Congresses of the Embera, Wounaan and Kuna, Centro de Estudios y Acción Social Panameño (CEASPA), Instituto Nacional Geografico "Tommy Guardia".
EXTERNAL ORG: Center for the Support of Native Lands.
DONOR AGENCY: Sixteen international and Panamanian conservation and development organizations provided financial, technical and logistical support.
CONTACT: Mac Chapin, Center for the Support of Native Lands, 3240 Wilson Boulevard, Room 220, Arlington VA 22201, USA. Tel: 703-841-9771 Fax: 703-841-9774.
REFERENCES: Chapin 1993 & 1994, Contreras 1994, Denniston 1994, González et al 1995.
OBJECTIVE: The three objectives include: 1) to produce a land-use map for indigenous areas of eastern Panama 2) to hold a national-level congress at which indigenous peoples of eastern Panama will present the map and discuss the issues of their region with the general public, government officials and representatives of conservation groups and 3) to produce a set of conclusions and recommendations regarding land use, natural resource management and conservation in eastern Panama, and publish them as proceedings.
BACKGROUND: The forests and lands of the Darien are occupied by over 14,000 Embera, Wounaan and Kuna, living in 82 communities. In 1983, part of the Darien region was recognized as a "comarca" (an indigenous homeland with semi-autonomous political organization under the jurisdiction of the Panamanian federal government), but its borders remain demarcated on paper only. The region also includes the 579,000 ha Darien National Park. The Darién is exposed to threats from two sources. First is incremental deforestation by illegal loggers and colonists. Second is a plan by the governments of Panama and Colombia to link the Pan-American Highway through the "Darien Gap".
METHOD: The project lasted for six months in 1993. The method evolved from that initiated in La Mosquitia, Honduras (proj. 14). For this project, however, the coordinators were indigenous people: two Emberá and one Kuna. They coordinated the activities of 23 surveyors, each responsible for a zone encompassing the lands of 5-6 communities occupied by the indigenous peoples of the Darién. The work fell into three phases:
PHASE ONE:
PHASE TWO:
PHASE THREE:
RESULT: "One of the most important achievements of the process was refinement of the mapping methodology, which manages to combine maximum participation of the local people with the generation of a product of truly scientific value" (Chapin 1994). The final map is the property of the Emberá, Wounaan and Kuna peoples. Collectively, they presented the maps at a forum, "Indigenous Culture and Resources, Indigenous Lands of the Darién 1993: Subsistence Zones," attended by over 500 people, and presented their views on the proper use of the Darién.
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CARIBBEAN
Dominican Republic: Social Forestry Initiatives / PRA
PROJECT STATUS: Current.
LOCAL ORG: Federacion Campesina de Zambrana-Chacuey.
NATIONAL ORG: Instituto Superior de Agricultura.
EXTERNAL ORG: ENDA-Caribe, Marsh Institute (Gender and Environment Project), Clark University (ECOGEN Project).
DONOR AGENCY: USAID and Ford Foundation.
CONTACT: Dianne Rocheleau, Clark University, 950 Main Street, Worcester, MA, USA 01610-1477. Tel: 508-793-7526 Fax: 508-793-8842.
REFERENCES: Rocheleau 1994.
OBJECTIVE: "To encourage the recognition and maintenance of diversity in the farm-forest mosaics of the region and to fit new commercial tree crops into the existing systems without displacing the rich assemblages of plant species or specific groups of people whose livelihoods are most dependent upon particular species and land-use types in the current rural landscape" (Rocheleau 1994).
BACKGROUND: The area has been subjected to deforestation as well as efforts to develop agro-forestry and commercial tree crops.
METHOD: The researchers worked with villagers to identify the "distinct interests, species, products and places in the landscape by groups of land users, defined on the basis of gender, class and family composition and size and location of holdings" (Rocheleau 1994). Drawings, maps, interviews and questionnaires were combined to produce maps of 50 holdings to "inform the planning process for on-going forestry and agro-forestry projects, so that species choice, technology innovations and commercial production of timber by smallholders will enhance rather than reduce the existing economic and ecological diversity of the landscape" (ibid). At the household level, felt-board exercises used forms representing tree types, animals, crops, as well as landscape and infrastructural elements to display and discuss the logic and consequences of land-use decisions among groups of 5-15 people. It was felt that this technique could be expanded to the community level.
RESULT: --