Showing posts with label IPACC. Show all posts
Showing posts with label IPACC. Show all posts

Sunday, May 01, 2016

Inspiring speech by Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim at the Signing of the Paris Climate Change Agreement




PARIS, 22 April 2016 - UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon invited all world leaders to a signing ceremony on 22 April at UN Headquarters for the historic climate agreement that was reached in Paris in December last year. At the request of the Executive Office of the Secretary-General, UN-NGLS led a process for civil society to apply to attend or speak during the opening session of the signing ceremony, involving facilitation of a civil society Selection Committee, who reviewed more than 200 applications received. Ultimately, Ms. Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim from the Association des Femmes Peules Autochtones du Tchad (AFPAT) in Chad was selected as the civil society speaker for the opening ceremony of the event.

Hindou is a member of the Executive committee of the Indigenous Peoples of Africa Coordinating Committee (IPACC), for which she is a representative of the Congo Basin Region, with a background in indigenous peoples' rights and environment protection with the three Rio Conventions (Biodiversity, Climate Change and Desertification) with multiple responsibilities.

She has organized a series of international workshops on scientific and traditional knowledge systems in partnership with UNESCO, IPACC, CTA, CI and the government of Chad.

Below is the last of a series of three film productions concerning Hindou's the activities centred on merging traditional and scientific knowledge systems and related participatory three-dimensional mapping (P3DM) activities in Chad.

Three-way dialogue on climate change from CTA on Vimeo.

Among the many bus stations of N’djamena the capital city of Chad, travellers coming from the countryside know where to unpack their concerns. The path of Aladji Ibrahim leads to AFPAT, an organisation which represents the rights of Indigenous Peoples, in this case the Bororo herders. Here is where the story starts, a deeply touching one. A story centred around climate change adaptation, where the manufacturing and use of a 3 dimensional model helps bridging the gap between traditions and modernism, local producers and government officials, village elders and scientists, local communities and public powerhouses. Last but not least this film documents how participatory three-dimensional mapping (P3DM) can facilitate the management and mitigation of conflicts over shared natural resources. It shows also that P3DM can support the promotion of human rights and represent a formidable medium for facilitating dialogue among development partners.

French version of the film.

Other film productions part of the series:

Dangers in the bush, map of good faith: https://vimeo.com/53836701
Climate Governance: A matter of survival for nomadic pastoralists: https://vimeo.com/37458698

Further reading:

__________ 2012. Influencing regional policy processes in Climate Change Adaptation through the interaction of African pastoralist traditional knowledge and meteorological science; A Contribution to the Nairobi Work Programme on Impacts, Vulnerability and Adaptation. IPACC. 22 pg, September 2012

Saturday, January 09, 2016

Knowledge and cultural transmission in Kenyan participatory 3D mapping

This film interview of Dr. Nigel Crawhall, Director of Secretariat at the Indigenous Peoples of Africa Co-ordinating Committee (IPACC), is his explanation of the intergenerational ecological knowledge transmission in participatory 3-dimensional modelling (P3DM). Crawhall discusses his observations on intergenerational interaction when the Ogiek community of Nessuit, Kenya, built a geo-referenced 3D model of their mountain forest landscape in 2006.



The mapping exercise was attended by representatives from 21 Ogiek clans, and an area of 52,800 hectares (ha) was mapped at a scale of 1:10,000. Participants included close to 120 representatives from the different clans, both men and women. Elders populated the model with their memories dating back to 1925 and reconstructed the landscape as it was at that time. The model displays 64 data layers including different types of areas, points, and lines. In 2008, the Ogiek people expanded the coverage of the model to include further 40,000 ha.

This kind of physical 3D model creation can serve the community for the following:

  • Generating spatial geo-referenced data based on a community perspective on land use, vegetation cover, resource distribution, tenure, etc;
  • Storing and displaying such data at a community level;
  • Supporting intra- and inter-generational knowledge exchange;
  • Adding value and authority to local knowledge;
  • Involving communities in developing resource use and management knowledge;
  • Conducting preliminary collaborative research on distribution of species;
  • Monitoring jointly with the concerned stakeholders' changes in land use, vegetation cover, human settlement, infrastructure development, and other features;
  • Serving as a benchmark; and
  • Supporting the learning of local geography and resource use.

The purpose of the model was to record traditional territory and land use patterns, as well as memory and history from a land use and environmental perspective. As reported here, through map building and coding, the clan experienced participatory community enthusiasm and cooperation between elders, young adults, and youth on intergenerational knowledge, language, and heritage transfer, tapping knowledge otherwise lost over time. The 3D style of the map encouraged explanation of the clan’s historical land use patterns and included creating a key or legend to increase understanding of the interrelationships of land, vegetation, altitude, and layers more of information, leading to more complex environmental knowledge that other methods, for example walking on the land, might not provide.

In addition, young people gave attention to the process and listened while elders debated historical use patterns from their memories. A linguistic dimension, which evolved due to the use of English, Kiswahili, and Ogiek, drew out more explicit meaning of vocabulary in Ogiek. Intergenerational knowledge transfer affirmed the elders' lived experience, and the process transferred to the younger members of the community the realisation of the complexity of their environment and the depth of knowledge available to them through their elders.

Source: The Communication Initiative

More information on the case is found here.

Wednesday, October 22, 2014

Forthcoming P3DM-related activities at the 6th World Park Congress, Sydney 12-19 November 2014

Click to download the flyer
This is to update you about a series of events which will focus on Participatory GIS practice during the forthcoming IUCN World Park Congress. The events we are organising have a common denominator: Participatory 3D modelling (P3DM).

Below is a short description of the 3 events / activities:

Rolling activity (13-17 November),  at the WIN & Pacific Community Dialogue Pavilion (Pavilion #2)

Title: Participatory 3D modelling of the traditional country of the Mandingalbay Yidinji People, Queensland, Australia

Organisers: Wet Tropics Management Authority with support provided by IUCN, CTA and UNDP Equator Initiative with financial support provided by UNDP GEF-SGP

Starting on 13 November and for the duration of the conference, representatives from the aboriginal Mandingalbay Yidinji People will work on a 3D Model reproducing their ancestral territory within the Wet Tropics World Heritage site. The model will be at a 1:10,000 scale and include terrestrial and coastal components. It will be a replica of a larger model completed by a wider representation of the community in Queensland with support provided by the Wet Tropics Management Authority, IUCN and UNDP GEF-SGP. The population of the 3D model with data will occur during the conference within the WIN Communities Dialogue Pavilion. Support in the process will be offered by Partners with Melanesians. The completed model will be presented by Mandingalbay Yidinji People during the Side event “: The risks and values of geo-referencing traditional and local knowledge” which will take in the same pavilion on Monday 17 (see below).


Pavilion event; 17 November 8:30 – 12:00, WIN & Pacific Community Dialogue Pavilion (Pavilion #2)

Title: Voices and Choices: The risks and values of geo-referencing traditional and local knowledge

Organisers: CTA and IUCN

Note: Coffee, tea and cakes will be served to participants by mid-morning
This event focuses on Participatory 3 Dimensional Modelling (P3DM) a method within the Participatory GIS family which enables communities to geo-reference and spatially document their complex systems of traditional land/seascape knowledge. The method benefits from its integration with GIS, multimedia production, Web2.0 and social media and serves multiple purposes, including landscape planning, rights advocacy, inter-generational knowledge transmission, influencing policy-making and enhancing communities’ socio-environmental resilience.

At the onset of Participatory GIS (PGIS) practice, concerns were expressed that the nature of and access to GIS would simultaneously marginalize or empower different groups in society. The practice evolved along different lines and among diverse interest groups. Currently it embraces a blend of applications ranging from Internet-based spatial multimedia to field-based participatory methods with a modest GIS component. In this fast-evolving context, there is a seemingly unstoppable excitement about georeferencing human physical, biological and socio-cultural worlds and making the information publicly available. This embodies both potentials and risks, aspects which need to be taken into consideration by knowledge holders, technology intermediaries/facilitators and researchers.

A physical 1:10,000 scale 3D model completed by the Mandingalbay Yidinji People representing a portion of their ancestral territory within the Wet Tropics World Heritage site in Queensland, Australia will be showcased at the event. Representatives from the community will share their experience in going through the various phases of the process, how they dealt with sensitive data, and their plans on how best to make use of acquired skills, knowledge and completed products (the model and derived maps) in their future endeavours.

Coordinator: Giacomo Rambaldi (rambaldi[at]cta.int)

Session within Stream 7; Tuesday 18 November 2014, 8:30 AM - 10:00 AM

Title: Knowledge management and technologies: Participatory 3D modelling in Protected Areas, landscapes and seascapes

Organisers: IPACC and CTA, in cooperation with Association des Femmes Peules Autochtones du Tchad, Minorités Pygmées du Gabon, and Yiaku People’s Association of Kenya, Melca Ethiopia and other indigenous peoples and local communities.

Background and summary: IPACC, African Biodiversity Network and other organisations have used Participatory 3 Dimensional Modelling (P3DM) to represent complex systems of indigenous landscape knowledge to themselves and decision-makers. P3DM, a geo-referenced and yet participatory system of knowledge representation serves multiple usages, including landscape planning, rights advocacy, inter-generational knowledge transmission and improving conservation.

The Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA) promotes skills transfer in P3DM for indigenous peoples and local communities in Africa, Caribbean and the Pacific regions.
Oral knowledge of biological systems emerges through the methodology, associated with resource governance, rights and indigenous values. The tool provides a multi-use medium for negotiating land use, understanding customary use systems, education for sustainability, and empowering indigenous peoples as holders of expert knowledge in conservation and planning.
P3DM case studies describe a broad range of ecosystems and contexts. P3DM provides a valuable tool for intercultural understanding of diverse knowledge and land use systems relevant for Protected Areas.

Coordinators: Nigel Crawhall (nigel.tilcepa[at]gmail.com) and Giacomo Rambaldi (rambaldi[at]cta.int)




Thursday, August 16, 2012

Les éleveurs recherchent l’eau et la paix au Tchad : compte-rendu d’un exercice participatif de cartographie au Sahel

BAÏBOKOUM, TCHAD : Du 31 juillet au 11 août 2012, l’Association des Femmes Peules Autochtones du Tchad (AFPAT), en collaboration avec le Secrétariat du Comité de Coordination des Peuples Autochtones d'Afrique (IPACC, Indigenous Peoples of Africa Coordinating Committee), a dirigé une formation sur la modélisation tridimensionnelle participative dans la région de Baïbokoum, dans le Logone oriental, dans le sud du Tchad.


Dialogue à trois sur le changement climatique from CTA on Vimeo.

Le projet de cartographie tchadien mettait l’accent sur la formation d’éleveurs activistes de différentes parties du Tchad, ainsi que de pays voisins et d’Afrique de l’Est, pour les initier aux bases de la cartographie et leur apprendre comment mener un exercice de cartographie participative en 3D (CP3D) avec des peuples autochtones M’bororo nomades et semi-nomades dans la région de Baïbokoum.

La population rurale de Baïbokoum est confrontée à des défis liés à la concurrence pour les ressources similaires à ceux d’autres parties d’Afrique. Ils comprennent les changements dans l’utilisation de la terre, notamment l’empiètement par des exploitants sédentaires, la perte de la biodiversité résultant de la modification de l’utilisation de la terre, l’impact des industries extractives et les impacts du changement climatique. Tous ces facteurs contribuent à l’accroissement de la vulnérabilité des populations, à la dégradation des sols et de la biodiversité, à l’insécurité alimentaire et à des risques de conflit.

Le projet Baïbokoum s’inscrit dans le prolongement de l’atelier qui s’est déroulé en novembre 2011 à N’Djamena, au Tchad, où des éleveurs de l’AFPAT et du réseau IPACC ont rencontré l’Organisation météorologique mondiale, l’UNESCO, le CTA et les services météorologiques du Tchad, pour débattre de l’adaptation au climat et des risques encourus aujourd’hui par les communautés nomades en Afrique. L’atelier de N’Djamena a mené à la Déclaration de N’Djamena sur le savoir traditionnel et l’adaptation au climat présentée à la 17e Conférence des Parties à la Convention-Cadre des Nations Unies sur les Changements Climatiques.

Les membres de la communauté nomade et semi-nomade des villages du district ont ensuite passé trois jours à coder la carte avec le savoir traditionnel autochtone, montrant l’utilisation des terres, l’itinéraire traditionnel de la migration du bétail, les caractéristiques de l’écosystème et les informations relatives à la biodiversité. Les stagiaires sont venus à Baïbokoum en provenance de cinq régions différentes du Tchad, ainsi que du Niger, du Cameroun, du Kenya, de la Tanzanie et de l’Ouganda. Le soutien technique et la formation ont été fournis par M. Barthelemy Boika du Réseau des Ressources Naturelles de la République Démocratique du Congo. Le Secrétariat de l’IPACC (Afrique du Sud) a également contribué à la formation et donné des conseils.


Les stagiaires ont réalisé des travaux pratiques avec des cartes provisoires, une formation aux compétences GPS, le choix d’une légende dans une langue locale (dans ce cas, le fufulde), et se sont initiés aux bases de la cartographie, de la mise à l’échelle et du géoréférencement. Ils ont passé quatre jours à élaborer une maquette 3D géoréférencée à échelle de Baïbokoum et de ses environs (24km x 20 km ; échelle 1:10 000).

La maquette en 3D qui en a résulté possédait quelques caractéristiques notables, dont l’accent mis par les éleveurs sur les différents types d’eau de surface – saisonnière, permanente, marécageuse et vive. Les éleveurs ont également pu identifier six espèces d’arbre protégées par la loi coutumière M’bororo. Ces six espèces d’arbre ont toutes des propriétés médicinales et une utilité dans l’écosystème et ne peuvent donc être ni coupées, ni endommagées. Elles servent également de repères lors des déplacements depuis des générations.

Les éleveurs se souciaient principalement de l’expansion des exploitants sédentaires qui ont bloqué les routes traditionnelles de transhumance le long desquelles le bétail pouvait accéder à l’eau potable. Les éleveurs accusaient les exploitants de brûler leurs champs, nuisant ainsi à la biodiversité, y compris des espèces d’arbres protégées depuis des temps immémoriaux. Les éleveurs ont remarqué que l’on creusait maintenant des puits de pétrole dans le territoire voisin, ainsi qu’un pipeline, mettant la pression sur eux des deux côtés. De brusque changements de temps et de climat, avec à la fois des sécheresses et des inondations, les ont rendus plus vulnérables et a renforcé le risque de conflit armé dans la région.

Plus de soixante membres de la communauté M’bororo ont participé à la cartographie, ainsi que les stagiaires, des villageois et des enfants scolarisés. Les dirigeants de la communauté se sentaient confiants et pensaient que la carte pouvait contribuer à résoudre les conflits naissants dans la communauté. L’événement a été clôturé officiellement le 10 août par Son Excellence le Gouverneur du Logone oriental, le Président de 5% Revenue from Oil Exploration, le Préfet et le Sous-préfet de Baïbokoum et des représentants de la Gendarmerie nationale et des Ministères de l’Élevage et de l’Agriculture et du Département en charge du changement climatique.

Le Gouverneur a immédiatement proposé de jouer le rôle de médiateur dans un processus de négociation entre les communautés sédentaires et nomades pour rouvrir les couloirs de transhumance afin que les éleveurs puissent de nouveau accéder à l’eau. Les participants ont indiqué que ces communautés pouvaient entretenir des relations de symbiose et de soutien. La résolution des conflits et l’adoption d’une approche préventive pour éliminer la concurrence vis-à-vis des ressources constituent un aspect fondamental de l’adaptation au climat et du développement des zones rurales.

La Coordinatrice de l’AFPAT, Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim, a salué le gouvernement et la communauté pour leur volonté d’explorer de nouvelles voies de coopération. Elle a souligné l’importance que les hommes et les femmes M’bororo accorde depuis des siècles à la conservation de la nature et a entamé des discussions avec le Président de 5% oil revenues pour examiner comment les éleveurs M’bororo pourraient être davantage impliqués dans la protection des espaces forestiers menacés dans les montagnes environnant Baïbokoum.

Le processus de cartographie, l’étude des questions conflictuelles et l’établissement de la paix ont été documentés par Jade Productions qui a réalisé un film qui sera diffusé pour la première fois à la 18e Conférence des Parties à la Convention-Cadre des Nations Unies sur les Changements Climatiques prévue à Doha, au Qatar. Les médias nationaux ont réalisé des reportages radiodiffusés tout au long de l'atelier puis une émission de télévision, à l'issue de l'événement protocolaire de clôture.

L’atelier a été organisé pendant le mois saint du Ramadan, ce qui a conféré une dimension supplémentaire car les enseignements et les valeurs religieuses peuvent également encourager les personnes à coopérer, même dans des circonstances où elles ne partagent pas la même langue. Pendant les deux semaines qu’a duré l’atelier, les éleveurs autochtones du Kenya, du Cameroun et du Niger se sont joints à leurs homologues tchadiens pour les prières et le jeûne.

L’événement a bénéficié de la générosité du Centre technique de coopération agricole et rurale ACP-UE (CTA), avec un appui financier supplémentaire de Bread for the World, Norwegian Church Aid et Misereor. Des documents, photographies et vidéos peuvent être consultés sur www.ipacc.org.za/fr


Crédits pour le texte et les photos : Nigel Crawhall, IPACC

Pastoralists seek water and peace in Chad: Account of a participatory mapping exercise in the Sahel


BAÏBOKOUM, CHAD: 31 July to 11 August 2012, the Association des Femmes Peules Autochtones du Tchad (AFPAT), in cooperation with the Secretariat of the Indigenous Peoples of Africa Coordinating Committee (IPACC), conducted a training course on Participatory 3 Dimensional Modelling in the area of Baïbokoum, Logone Oriental, in southern Chad.

The Chadian mapping project focused on training pastoralist activists from different parts of Chad, as well as from neighbouring countries and East Africa in the basics of cartography and how to conduct a Participatory 3D Modeling (P3DM) exercise with nomads and semi-nomadic M’bororo indigenous people in the Baïbokoum area.


Three-way dialogue on climate change from CTA on Vimeo.

Baïbokoum’s rural population is faced with competing resource challenges similar to other parts of Africa. These include changes in land use, notably encroachment by sedentary farmers, loss of biodiversity as a result of land use change, the impact of extractive industries and climate change impacts. All of these factors contribute to increasing human vulnerability, soil and biodiversity degradation, food insecurity and risks of conflict.

The Baïbokoum project followed on the November 2011 workshop in N’Djamena, Chad where pastoralists from AFPAT and the IPACC network met with the World Meteorological Organisation, UNESCO, CTA and the meteorological services of Chad to discuss climate adaptation and the risks experienced by nomadic communities in Africa today. The N’Djamena workshop led to the N’Djamena Declaration on traditional knowledge and climate adaptation which was presented at the 17th Conference of Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.

Nomadic, semi-nomadic community members from the villages in the district then spent 3 days coding the map with the indigenous traditional knowledge; showing land use, traditional routes of cattle migration, ecosystem features, and biodiversity information. 

Trainees came to Baïbokoum from five different regions of Chad, as well as from Niger, Cameroon, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. Technical support and training was provided by Mr Barthelemy Boika from the Réseau des Ressources Naturelles in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Additional training and guidance was provided by the Secretariat of IPACC, from South Africa.

Trainees did practical work with ephemeral mapping, GPS skills training, elicitation of a vernacular language legend (in this case in Fufulde), and orientation on the basics of cartography, scaling and georeferencing.

They spent four days constructing a scaled, geo-referenced 3D model of Baïbokoum and environs (24km x 20 km; 1:10 000 scale).

The resulting Participatory 3D Model (P3DM) had some notably features, including the emphasis placed by pastoralists on different types of surface water – seasonal, permanent, swampy and flowing.

Herders also were able to identify six tree species which are protected under M’bororo customary law. The six species of trees, all of them with medicinal and ecosystems functions, may not be cut or damaged, and serve as navigation reference points over generations.

Herders’ main concerns revolved around the expansion of sedentary farmers who have blocked traditional transhumance routes that allow cattle access to potable water. Herders accuse the farmers of burning their fields, thus killing off biodiversity and including long protected tree species. Herders noted that there were now oil wells being dug in the adjacent territory and a pipeline that are creating pressure on them from both sides. Sudden shifts of weather and climate, including both droughts and floods have made them more vulnerable and increased the risk of armed conflict in the region.

Over sixty M’bororo community members participated in the mapping, as well as the trainees, villagers and school goers. Leaders in the community felt confident that the map could help alleviate simmering conflicts in the community.

His Excellency, the Governor of Logone Orientale
The event was formally closed on 10 August by His Excellency, the Governor of Logone Orientale, the President of the 5% Revenue from Oil Exploration, the Prefect and Deputy-Prefect of Baïbokoum, and representatives of the national Gendarmerie and Ministries of Livestock, Agriculture and the Department responsible for climate change.

The Governor immediately offered to mediate a process between sedentary and nomadic communities to restore transhumance corridors for herders to be able to access water again. Participants noted that sedentary and nomadic communities could have symbiotic and supportive relationships. Resolving conflicts and having a preventative approach to resolving resource competition is a fundamental aspect of climate adaptation and development of rural areas.

AFPAT Coordinator, Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim praised the government and community for their willingness to explore new avenues of cooperation. She noted the traditional importance placed by M’bororo men and women on nature conservation and has opened discussions with the President of the 5% oil revenues to look at how M’bororo herders can be more involved in protecting the threatened forest spaces in the mountains outside Baïbokoum.

The mapping process and examination of issues of conflict and peace building was documented by Jade Productions as a film to be released for the 18th Conference of Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change in Doha, Qatar. National media reported throughout the workshop on radio and then broadcast a television report after the closing protocol event.

The workshop took place during the holy month of Ramadan, which added an extra dimension of how religious teachings and values can also encourage people to work cooperatively, even in circumstances where they do not share a language between them. Indigenous herders from Kenya, Cameroon and Niger all joined their Chadian partners during the prayers and fasting during the two week workshop.

The event was generously supported by the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation ACP-EU (CTA), with additional financial support from Bread for the World, Norwegian Church Aid and Misereor. Documents, photographs and videos can be seen on www.ipacc.org.za

Credits for text and images: Nigel Crawhall, IPACC

Sunday, March 04, 2012

Feedback from a Participatory 3D Modelling exercise representing the Abongo-Mitsogho cultural landscape of the Ikobey Commune and Waka National Park

As part of a region-wide effort aimed at involving local communities in the sustainable management of natural resources in the Congo Basin and at adding value and authority to local and indigenous knowledge and values and at ensuring equitable benefit sharing resulting from co-managed protected areas, the Agence Nationale des Parcs Nationaux (ANPN), Brainforest, CTA, IPACC, MINAPYGA, Rainforest Foundation UK, and the Wildlife Conservation Society-Gabon (WCS) supported a series of initiatives in the area including the participatory 3D modelling exercise described in this report.


While responding to needs expressed by local communities and by the park administration, the exercise offered the opportunity for training delegates from national and regional organisations based in Cameroon, Republic of the Congo, Central African Republic (CAR), Chad and the Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, South Africa and the United Kingdom.

Download the full report of the activity: English | Français

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Results of High Level Round Table on Pastoralism, Traditional Knowledge, Meteorology and Implementation of Policies of Climate Adaptation

N’DJAMENA, 9 November 2011 - Following the two-day conference on adaptation, a high level panel of two Chadian Ministers and representatives of national and international expert technical agencies contributed to a round table dialogue on adaptation and pastoralism.

The high level panel listened to a report back from African pastoralists on their recommendations and observations, and then took the floor to share their perspectives on key questions related to indigenous pastoralists, traditional knowledge, meteorology and platforms of adaptation policy and implementation. The session was chaired by Mme Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim, member of the IPACC Executive Committee and Director of AFPAT. Mme Oumarou Ibrahim welcomed contributions from the respective Ministers and members of the high level round table in response to the indigenous peoples’ restitution of the two day workshop.

His Excellency, the national Minister of Urban and Rural Hydrology, General Mahamat Ali Abdallah Nassour:

The Honourable Minister noted the current challenges
  • Pastoralist populations are increasing, with a steady southward migration of communities in Chad. And yet grazing lands are progressively shrinking, degrading or being used for other types of land use. How do we find a balance for sustainability in a changing and unstable context? 
  • Pastoralists have a substantial body of traditional knowledge that needs to be taken into consideration in the process of developing adaptation policies. How do we ensure a closer collaboration between pastoralists and scientists?
  • There are increasing conflicts among farmers and pastoralists. How do we ensure a peaceful cohabitation?

The opportunities for government to respond to the challenges include:
  • Adaptation requires recognition of the facts of climate change and vulnerability, and should draw on both science and traditional knowledge to find appropriate responses;
  • Scientific interaction with pastoralists is important for Chad. We are facing policy challenges in a wide range of domains, including the environment, land use, water management, and changes to the overall climate. This nexus creates increased risks of conflict, which we must avoid through effective policy making and full participation of the concerned communities, notably pastoralists;
  • Africa needs to develop adequate policies and deployment of financial resources to overcome the constraints (i.e. conflicts over scarce resources) and ensure a robust and inclusive planning and evaluation process;
  • Atmospheric sciences allow forecasting of weather and seasonal pattern. Efforts need to be made in timely sharing these information with those concerned;
  • Financing is an important element in building the national adaptation platforms. International solidarity, whether in expertise or financing remains very valuable for Least Developed Countries. Part of the challenge for Chad is to accurately cost the adaptation process, identify what national resources are currently available, and what type of gap needs to be addressed.

His Excellency, the national Minister of Agriculture and Irrigation, the Honourable Dr Djime Adoum
  • Traditional knowledge must be included in science because it is itself a form of science;
  • Strongly acknowledges the value of traditional knowledge (e.g. local breeds and traditional varieties of crops are emerging as more resistant and less demanding in terms of husbandry);
  • Most food production systems, farming, pastoralism and fishing in the country are still run at subsistence levels – this reality needs to shape policy making;
  • The introduction of improved, new or hybrid varieties require additional inputs, such as more water or fertilisers, which has cost implications for communities;
  • Traditional varieties and breeds may yield less, but usually they will reliably yield some useful output even under high stress conditions. Under similar high stress conditions modern varieties / breeds may fail leaving no material benefits. The balance of new varieties and traditional varieties needs careful consideration to ensure food security;
  • By having an inclusive approach to national adaptation policy making we create a blue print for adaptive and successful implementation – we can address real challenges that the communities and scientists have jointly identified;
  • Innovative ICTs will be used to capture and document local knowledge in the framework of the project;
  • There is a difference between a drought and a famine. Famine is not always the result of droughts; it is the product of insufficient planning and preparation. 
  • National budgetary procedures need to take into consideration the inter-sectoral impact of climate change, and ensure early planning for adaptation. It is not wise to wait until a crisis unfolds before looking for resources to address it;
  • A new framework for establishing a comprehensive Management Information System (MIS) will be discussed at the Ministry before the end of the year and deployed within 2012. The system will cover different knowledge systems including traditional knowledge.
Further contributions were provided by:
  • Dr Jose Camacho, Scientific Officer, Agricultural Meteorology Division, Climate Prediction and Adaptation Branch (CLPA), Climate and Water Department (CLW)World Meteorological Organisation;
  • Dr Baba El-Hadj Mallah, Director General, Centre National d’Appui à la Recherche et Conseil (CNAR), Ministere de l’Enseignement Superieur;
  • Dr Peggy Oti-Boateng, Senior Research Fellow of the Technology, Specialist for Basic and Engineering Sciences, UNESCO (Nairobi, Kenya);
  • Mr Giacomo Rambaldi, Senior Programme Coordinator, Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation ACP-EU (CTA );
  • Mr Frederick Kihara, Global Environment Facility – Small Grants Projects, Kenya

These contributions are provided in the full report of the N’Djamena conference which can be downloaded from www.ipacc.org.za.

The conference was closed by His Excellency, General Mahamat Ali Abdallah Nassour, Minister of Urban and Rural Hydrology. The Minister noted the valuable work which had been done by the delegates and looked forward to the presentation of the results at the 17th Conference of Parties of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, due to take place in Durban, South Africa from 28 November until 10 December, 2011.

Read more:




N’Djamena Declaration on Adaptation to Climate Change, indigenous Pastoralism, Traditional Knowledge and Meteorology in Africa

Hôtel Novotel de N’Djamena, N’Djamena, Republic of Chad, 7-9 November 2011

Climate change poses one of the greatest challenges to humanity. Global warming and associated climatic changes are impacting on pastoralist peoples with increasing frequency and severity. African indigenous peoples’ delegates at the N’Djamena conference on adaptation noted first-hand experiences of droughts, flooding, dislocation of seasonal cycles, changes in the composition of grazing lands, and changes in accessibility and quality of water.

Indigenous herders from five African countries (Chad, Niger, Kenya, Namibia and South Africa) attended a two-day conference in N’Djamena Chad to share with each other and with meteorologists about how traditional knowledge and climate science can be combined to respond to current threats and risks. The conference also considered the need for effective participation of indigenous peoples, including herders, in national adaptation platforms and other national processes to ensure peace, sustainable livelihoods and biological conservation in the face of worsening climate instability.

Indigenous peoples’ delegates worked with the National Meteorological Services of Chad, the National Centre for Support to Research (CNAR), as well as international agencies, including the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), UNESCO, the Global Environmental Fund (GEF) – Small Grants Projects, and the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation EU-ACP (CTA). The results of the workshop were shared with the Honourable Minister of Urban and Rural Hydrology, and the Honourable Minister of Agriculture and Irrigation of the Republic of Chad. This declaration constitutes to the key results of the conference and the day of restitution.

Key findings included:
  • Traditional knowledge and climate science are both critically important for adaptation policy and supporting resilience building of rural communities necessary to cope with climate change;
  • Traditional knowledge and climate science need to be shared to create synergies that can inform adaptation policy, monitoring and assessment. It is through a combination of both knowledge systems that we are likely to achieve better synchronisation between forecasting, anticipatory responses, appropriate governance responses and feed-back. Both knowledge systems need to be converted into media that is understandable and usable in national adaptation platforms and for public use;
  • Climate change amplifies social and economic vulnerability, with the risk of serious conflict and poverty. An essential element of climate adaptation is ensuring good governance, human rights and social equity to maintain local, national and regional harmony during times of stress;
  • The United Nations’ Cancún Adaptation Framework, the National Adaptation Programmes of Action (NAPAs) and National Adaptation Plans (NAPs) may be best effected through well designed and funded national adaptation platforms;
  • National adaptation platforms need to include a diverse range of rural and urban communities, with particular attention to participatory approaches to facilitate the contributions of pastoralists, hunter-gathers, farmers and fisherfolk. 
  • National adaptation platforms need to facilitate a two-way flow of ideas, information and strategies for resilience building and equitable sharing of costs and benefits. The inputs to and outputs from the platforms need to be meaningful and relevant. 
Conference summary

Pastoralism evolved in Africa specifically as an adaptive response to climate and environmental conditions which limited the expansion of agriculture. Pastoralism has co-evolved as diverse cultural and economic systems within ecological niches around Africa. The result has been millennia of managing sheep, camels and cattle in different ecosystems and landscapes throughout long cycles of climatic changes. Pastoralism has always been premised on the need to maintain biodiversity as the underpinning of human and livestock well-being.

Climate change in combination with other drivers of declining biodiversity has reduced the effectiveness of pastoral societies to maintain both social harmony and biological resilience. At the same time, the reduction in agricultural capacity will likely lead to increased reliance on pastoralism and agro-pastoralism for African food security.

The N’Djamena conference and Declaration were elaborated as part of IPACC and AFPAT’s support for the Cancún Adaptation Framework, which was adopted by the 16th Conference of Parties to the United Nations Convention on Climate Change, held in Cancun, Mexico in December 2010. IPACC is a contributor to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change’s Nairobi Work Programme on impacts, vulnerability and adaptation to climate change (UNFCCC NWP).

IPACC and AFPAT were influenced by the World Meteorological Organisation’s World Climate Conference – 3, held in Geneva, Switzerland in 2009. IPACC and AFPAT have initiated cooperation with both WMO and the African Centre for Meteorological Application for Development (ACMAD). The CTAis a partner of IPACC, assisting with building technical, information and policy capacity. CTA and the Open Society in Southern Africa (OSISA) were the principal funders behind the N’Djamena conference. Additional conceptual and policy support has been provided by the Local and Indigenous Knowledge Systems unit of the United Nations’ Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO).

The results of climate change include greater vulnerability of ecosystems as well as threatening human social and economic systems. Climate change is impacting negatively on health, livelihoods, peace and security. While the only answer is an urgent, robust and binding global agreement on the reduction of Green House Gas emissions, the reality is that Africa must take urgent steps to adapt to climate instability, reduce vulnerability and build resilience of both natural and human systems.

Despite the very serious risks from climate change, the N’Djamena conference delegates noted that climate change is only one element of the many challenges facing African indigenous pastoralists. Changes in land use and occupancy, different forms of pollution (e.g. radioactive pollution of aquifers), drylands deforestation, the negative impacts of extractive industries and a general decline in biodiversity across Africa are all contributing to growing poverty and vulnerability of indigenous peoples.

The following key issues and recommendations emerged from the consultations.

Knowledge Management

It was agreed by delegates that knowledge management is centrally important to successful adaptation.  Traditional Knowledge (TK) / Indigenous Knowledge Systems are valuable resources for monitoring, analysing and responding to climate change. TK has the benefit of including information on biology and ecosystems, while simultaneously locating this in a landscape approach to sustainability. TK exists in cultural systems which contribute to governance, equity, rights and stewardship responsibilities. TK thus combines knowledge with wisdom, values and social obligations. TK is itself an integration of science, skills and a normative framework for sustainable living.

Delegates noted that atmospheric (meteorological and climatic) science has much to offer rural communities including pastoralists. All participants emphasised that atmospheric science is a vitally important knowledge source that needs to be widely available to all scales of decision-makers. Climatological modelling and early warning systems can help pastoralists make informed decisions about carrying capacity, transhumance, nature conservation, water management and risk reduction.

The challenge for both systems of knowledge - traditional and scientific - is how they can be made usable for decision-makers, and how they can be used in synergy with each other to ensure a robust, shared approach to adaptation. Attention and expertise is required to facilitate the intercultural mediation of science and TK, generating understandable and usable research that helps decision-makers at local, national and regional scales.

Delegates called on African States to recognise the value of combining Traditional Knowledge along with atmospheric sciences to achieve synergies in policy making. Both systems of knowledge need to be interpreted to make them useful in adaptation planning and implementation. Delegates recommended facilitating a sustained dialogue between holders of the different knowledge systems, on-going cooperation, and effective integration of both knowledge systems in national, regional and international platforms.

Delegates noted that there is evidence that local varieties of livestock and plants appear more drought-, flood- and disease resistant than hybrid or alien species. Local varieties may have lower yield or commercial value, but their sustainability means that they provide greater security in the medium and long term. They may also be more appropriate to maintaining biodiversity and ecosystem integrity. Delegates recommended that more research funding and technical support should be provided to help protect indigenous species of plants and livestock.

Traditional knowledge does not exist independently of indigenous institutions. Valorising TK also means recognising how indigenous peoples hold, manage and innovate their knowledge systems. Traditional leaders, religious leaders, shaman, herders, oasis dwellers, metal and leather workers, traditional healers, men and women throughout the society are all important in sustaining and transmitting TK. This implies that it is not enough to have a nominal pastoralist presence in policy-making; there must be a productive interaction between State institutions, research institutions and indigenous peoples’ institutions to achieve coherence and sustainability.

New technologies, particularly information communication technology (ICTs) offer us new means by which to involve holders of traditional knowledge and the conversion of local oral knowledge into information and data which are useful for decision making at different scales. More attention needs to be given to these methods of bridging between orality and information than can feed policy processes. Cybertracker is one example of an African ICT which can assist with linking TK and valuable data required for adaptation planning and monitoring.

Delegates noted the valuable work done by the World Meteorological Organisation and African States to make meteorological services available to rural communities. Delegates encouraged State Parties and agencies to continue developing the use of appropriate technologies, such as participatory mapping, radio, and mobile devices and applications, to provide a two-way flow of climate and weather information that connects national meteorological services with rural communities.

Governance and Rights
Climate change amplifies existing social, economic and environmental problems. Part of adaptation policy making requires addressing issues of rights, equity, fiscal integrity and good governance. Continued widespread problems of corruption, discrimination and marginalisation aggravate the risk of conflicts and vulnerability. Climate change places greater pressure on all Africans, those in State agencies and civil society, to ensure compliance with principles of human rights, good governance and inclusion in decision making.

Delegates noted that discrimination against pastoralists finds its roots in colonialism and European legal biases imported into Africa. This is most evident in the problems of land tenure and resource rights of mobile peoples in Africa today. Traditionally, hunters, herders, farmers and fishing peoples had complementary land and natural resource use and tenure systems. There was coherence between rights to resources and the responsibility of communities for stewardship and conservation. This coherence of rights and responsibilities has been damaged and has not been adequately addressed in the post-colonial context. The current marginalisation of indigenous pastoralists can only be resolved by reforms to land rights, land tenure and access to natural resources legislation and practices.

Land tenure and resources rights need to be reviewed in relation to ecosystem capacity and achieving harmonious and equitable coexistence of communities who have different land use requirements. This too is part of building resilience and adapting to climate change.

IPACC members noted the value of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples as a new-generation international standard for promoting indigenous peoples’ rights and institutional engagement between State agencies and indigenous peoples.

Delegates noted that nature conservation is essential for subsistence economies. At the same time, exclusion from some Protected Areas has broken up indigenous territories and resulted in increased vulnerability to extreme weather and unstable climate conditions. Delegates invite State Parties to take a fresh look at the role of Protected Areas in providing remedial territories during droughts and flooding to allow pastoralists to lighten their impact on ecosystems. Protected Areas are important for conservation but should be seen within a wider scope of landscape connectivity and conservation, which includes mobile pastoralism.

The governance issue also speaks to proper assessment of equitable costs and benefits. As noted in the UNEP Green Economy Initiative, the value of rural economies and ecosystems needs to be taken into consideration before other economic decisions are made. Gross Domestic Product cannot be the sole determinant for approving new extractive industries and infrastructure projects. Environmental degradation leads to long-term vulnerability and places greater costs on State treasuries by increasing poverty, urban migration, declining food security and health and the collapse of local economies.

Where mines and tourism exist in pastoralist territories, the revenues from these ventures need to be handled transparently with benefits being shared equitably. Extractive industries need to be actively contributing to ecosystem conservation and resilience, and the costs of climate adaptation.

The value of pastoralism needs to be clearly and correctly assessed, and included in national decision making on resource and land allocations. Pastoralism is a primary livelihood for over 20 million Africans. Climate change is likely to increase this reliance on livestock, and hence pastoralism needs to be considered a core economic system in national planning.

National Platforms
Delegates noted that climate change adaptation requires coordination at global, regional and national levels. It was further noted that the key level of implementation is the creation of national platforms for adaptation policy, planning and monitoring. There are currently three adaptation instruments adopted by Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change: the National Adaptation Programmes of Action (NAPAs) for least developed countries, the National Adaptation Plans (NAPs) and the Cancún Adaptation Framework (CAF). These instruments and frameworks all need to be realised through effective, well financed, and responsive national adaptation platforms.

Indigenous peoples assert their willingness to be directly involved in national adaptation platforms. The goal is to ensure that farmers, fishing communities, hunter-gatherers and pastoralists act in a harmonious and complementary manner by working together on national and local policy making, in concert with State agencies and technical bodies.

National platforms need to be inter-sectoral in character. Climate adaptation involves decisions about agriculture, lands, water, human development, housing, health, security, education, as well as including technical issues of atmospheric and biological sciences.

National Adaptation Platforms need to concentrate on two-way communication. Pastoralists need early warning of climate crises before they happen. This warning needs to be integrated into other sectoral responses, including assistance with veterinary services, the ability to slaughter surplus animals and sell the products before a full-scale crisis has emerged and animals are unable to be used commercially.

Delegates note that biodiversity and ecosystem resilience is the basis of indigenous economies and cultures. Conservation of biodiversity and ecosystem services is fundamental to food security, health and sustainable living.

National Adaptation Platforms, and the related policy frameworks (e.g. the National Adaptation Programmes of Action / National Adaptation Plans) need to be equipped with participatory methods and tools to allow for effective participation by indigenous peoples and other rural communities. A centralised process which does not have its roots in real communities and real economic and environmental contexts risks missing the mark in responding to current and future needs. Africa needs to pilot innovations in participatory methodologies, new communication tools and citizen science, which in turn can be scaled up to national and regional levels of impact and effectiveness. The conference noted the valuable application of participatory mapping, citizen science, mobile phone technology, and Web 2.0 innovations in the domains of information management and communication.

National Adaptation Platforms will only be viable if they are properly funded and include commitments from the national budget. Adaptation is a lens that is relevant to budgeting and planning in all sectors. All Ministries should be contributing to the costs of adaptation planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation. If Africa takes seriously its own investment in the National Adaptation Platforms, this will draw the attention and interest of international and regional donors and financial institutions that are looking to invest in robust country-driven initiatives.

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Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Prés de nos ancêtres. Cartographie participative au Gabon



En 2002, Son Excellence, El Hadj Omar Bongo Ondimba, président de la République du Gabon, a crée avec un décret treize parcs nationaux. Les parcs ont été conçus pour représenter différents biomes et les enclaves importantes de la biodiversité dans ce pays du Bassin du Congo.

Cette vidéo, réalisée en 2010, raconte l'expérience des villageois Babongo et Mitsogho qui ont construit une maquette en trois dimensions de leur territoire qui comprend le parc national de Waka dans le massif du Chaillu, la Province de Ngounié. Waka est censé avoir la plus forte densité des primats de la Terre entière, dans une foret Équatoriale montagneuse menace par des concessions forestières. Ce territoire, principalement dans la commune d'Ikobey, abrite également la communauté Babongo, un peuple «Pygmées» de chasseurs-cueilleurs autochtones et leurs voisins, les Mitsogho, un peuple chasseurs-agricoles.

La cartographie participative en 3 dimensions donnait une occasion pour les peuples autochtones et locales a s'engager avec le gouvernement au sujet de leurs droits, la bonne gouvernance et la prise de décision par rapport a l'aire protégée, en utilisant leurs propres langues et la connaissance intime du milieu culturel et naturel. Avec l'appui des ONG nationales et internationales et les organisations des peuples autochtones a travers le bassin du Congo, les villageois Babongo et les Mitsogho ont pu utiliser la carte comme une plate-forme pour parler aux autorités locales et provinciales au sujet de leurs préoccupations et de présenter une vision de la participation et la gouvernance démocratique. La vidéo est un témoignage au défi de la conservation de la biodiversité et le maintien de la diversité culturelle locale, protégées gouvernance zones et les moyens de subsistance. Le projet a été soutenu par MINAPYGA, Brainforest Gabon, Rainforest Royaume-Uni, le CTA et IPACC avec la coopération de la Wildlife Conservation Society (Gabon) et l'Agence nationale des Parcs Nationaux de la République du Gabon.

Friday, April 22, 2011

Close to our Ancestors: Gabon forest peoples map their land


Close to our Ancestors: Gabon forest peoples map their land.

In 2002, El Hajj Omar Bongo Ondimba, then President of the Republic of Gabon, signed into existence thirteen National Parks. The Parks were designed to represent different biomes and important biodiversity enclaves in this Congo Basin country.

This video, made in 2010, documents the experience of Babongo and Mitsogho villagers building a three dimensional model of their home territory which includes the Waka National Park in the Chaillu Massif, Ngounié Province. Waka NP is purported to have the highest primate density of any place on Earth, in an isolated mountainous equatorial rainforest threatened by foreign logging concessions. This territory, mostly in Ikobey District, is also home to Babongo "Pygmies", an indigenous hunter-gatherer people and their neighbours, the hunting-farming Mitsogho people.

The Participatory 3 Dimensional Mapping (P3DM) exercise provides an opportunity for indigenous and local people to engage with government about their rights, good governance and decision making in relation to the Protected Area, using their own languages and intimate knowledge of cultural and natural landscape. With the support of national and international NGOs and indigenous peoples' organisations from across the Congo Basin, the Babongo and Mitsogho villagers were able to use the map as a platform to speak to local and Provincial government about their concerns and to present a vision of participation and democratic governance. The video speaks to the challenge of conserving biodiversity and sustaining local cultural diversity, Protected Areas governance and livelihoods. The project was supported by MINAPYGA, Brainforest Gabon, Rainforest UK, CTA and IPACC with the cooperation of Wildlife Conservation Society (Gabon) and the Agence National des Parcs Nationaux of the Republic of Gabon.

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Monday, February 08, 2010

Knowledge and cultural transmission in Kenyan participatory mapping



In this 5 minute interview Dr. Nigel Crawhall, Director of Secretariat at IPACC, elaborates on intergenerational ecological knowledge transmission in Participatory 3-dimensional modelling (P3DM). Crawhall discusses his observations on intergenerational interaction when the Ogiek community of Nessuit, Kenya built a geo-referenced model of their mountain forest landscape in 2006.

Friday, November 06, 2009

Indigenous Peoples in Africa prepare for Copenhagen - REDD and human rights

With funding support from CTA, fifteen indigenous African leaders from East and Central Africa met in Bujumbura, Burundi to finalise a joint strategy and statement on climate change. Leaders from forest based communities in Gabon, Cameroon, DR Congo, Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda and Kenya participated in a joint UNIPROBA-IPACC policy meeting from 26-27 October 2009 to set out their concerns, priorities, action plan and statement ahead of the 15th Conference of Parties of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, due to take place in Copenhagen Denmark.

Delegates emphasised that indigenous peoples are important stakeholders in climate stabilisation in Africa. Indigenous leaders must educate their communities as to the causes and engage with national governments about equitable and sustainable responses. Delegates reported back on mitigation / REDD (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation) workshops that were held this year in Cape Town, Kampala, Nanyuki (Kenya) and Libreville, Gabon. The primary issues were to promote a fair and community-focused approach to REDD plus financing for forest conservation in Africa.

Government forestry officials from Uganda and Kenya gave presentations on how their governments are contracting with local communities to conserve tropical forests, and introduce new forms of carbon financing.

Jeniffer Koinante, Deputy Chairperson of IPACC gave a presentation on how the forest-based indigenous peoples of Kenya are using Participatory 3-Dimensional Models (P3DM) to help them review traditional adaptation customs, knowledge and practices, which could be harnessed to strengthen resilience of ecosystems and communities in the face of climate change.