How mapping changed behaviour

A study of the Samoan experience of participatory three-dimensional modelling (P3DM), a practice which has been widely promoted by CTA, has shown that it has led to better natural resource management, helped local communities become more resilient to climate change and brought about significant changes in the relationship between governments and local communities.

P3DM is a mapping progress which enables local communities to ‘populate’ geo-referenced relief models with their own knowledge about physical features, such as rivers and villages, and the way in which their territory is used, for example for hunting, fishing and growing crops. The maps help to enhance a sense of belonging and local knowledge and many communities have used them to assert their rights, identify resources and opportunities, and devise new strategies for managing the land.

Giacomo Rambaldi, who has led CTA’s work on P3DM, was contacted in 2016 by Barbara Dovarch, a PhD candidate from the University of Sassari, Italy. She was keen to look at the effectiveness of P3DM and Rambaldi suggested she carry out her fieldwork in Samoa. Here, a 5-year project funded by the Global Environment Facility and carried out by the Samoan Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, had used P3DM to sensitise local communities to climate change. Rather than being initiated by the local communities and their partners, as normally happens, P3DM was introduced by a government department as a way to reach communities and gain their trust.

Dovarch found that prior to the introduction of P3DM, community representatives tended to adopt a very passive attitude during consultations with the authorities. “Government officials usually adopted a lecturing style in meetings with community members, using PowerPoint presentations and information leaflets, often without success,” noted Dovarch in her report. However, the P3DM process provided local communities with the opportunity to express their own understanding about their land and take a more active role in resource management. The building of the models also enabled young and old people to talk to one another and exchange knowledge about nature, culture and history.

According to community members who spoke to Dovarch, the process encouraged the government to change the way it behaved towards local people. Now it is much more willing to ‘listen’ rather than ‘teach’. Government officials moved away from ‘consultations’ towards active participation, which helped to build trust on both sides. As far as the government officials were concerned, the P3DM process – in Dovarch’s words – “completely changed the attitude and approach of communities towards their own environment and land management.”

The government of Samoa was initially exposed to P3DM techniques through CTA’s ICT4Ag activities. Since then, it has not only contributed to the development of 19 P3DM models over a 4-year period, but also committed itself to playing an important role in popularising the technique in other parts of the Pacific region, beginning with Tonga. Dovarch described her findings in a CTA working paper in the ICTs for agriculture series, Participatory 3D modelling in Samoa: Triggering behavioural changes in climate change resilience.

An innovation from the Philippines: Light-Based Participatory 3D Mapping for Disaster Risk Reduction

In 2004, four consecutive typhoons brought disruption to coastal provinces in the Philippines, including Aurora. Havoc suffered by the province caused massive displacement of indigenous groups residing in the mountainside, such as the Dumagats. In the face of such vulnerability, the need for participatory disaster risk management and improvement of spatial awareness through community-centred innovations is direr now than ever before.

The Prod.Jx, a collective of professionals and artists coming from multiple disciplines – social sciences, environmental sciences, design and the arts; and the Dumagats of Dinggalan, Aurora developed the LIGTASPAD – a Light-Based Participatory 3D (P3D) Mapping Project.



While P3D Mapping is an existing methodology practised by geographers, Prod.Jx employed a rather unique take to further innovate their product – integrating the community’s language for learning, leveraging on its team members’ technical capacities and life experiences, as well as consistently improving their design for local adaptability.

This is from the experience of TUKLAS Innovation Labs which is implemented by Plan International, Action Against Hunger, CARE Philippines, and the Citizens’ Disaster Response Center. TUKLAS is part of the Disasters and Emergencies Preparedness Programme Innovation Labs managed collaboratively by Start Network and CDAC Network, and funded by UK Aid.

The TUKLAS Central and Southern Luzon Lab is led by CARE Philippines.

Source: https://tinyurl.com/y4mw2m5z  

Suriname / Guyana Participatory Coastal Resource Management Project embraces P3DM practice

The four-year EU-funded “Promoting Integrated and Participatory Ocean Governance in Guyana and Suriname: the Eastern Gate to the Caribbean” project commenced in early 2017 and was officially launched in July 2017.

This project covers the coastal and marine areas of Suriname and Guyana.

The project is implemented through a partnership between WWF Guianas, Green Heritage Fund Suriname (GHFS), Guyana’s Protected Areas Commission (PAC) and the Nature Conservation Division (NCD) of the Suriname Forest Service (‘s Lands Bosbeheer).

The project aims to significantly enhance the governance and protection of marine and coastal resources of Guyana and Suriname through collaborative processes with all ocean stakeholders, improved knowledge of the coastal and marine environment, enhanced capacity of key stakeholders and informed marine spatial management. It will contribute to substantial progress towards achieving Aichi targets 4, 6, 10, 11 and 14 under the Convention of Biological Diversity (CBD).

 This project will use a participatory approach to develop comprehensive and visually appealing spatial data that will fill critical information gaps, and facilitate informed decision-making regarding marine management and protection. This participatory approach to marine decision-making will increase the knowledge of the marine environment and related human uses of the marine environment amongst all participating stakeholders by allowing information to be available to everyone.

An Equivalence-Gap Analysis for indigenous peoples (IP) and gender will ensure equity and participation of these marginalized groups, and that their needs are explicitly addressed in the decision-making process of this project. The participatory approach in its entirety builds stakeholder capacity and highlights the important role stakeholders can and should play in marine governance.

Increased marine protection and strengthened governance through participatory spatial planning, targeted capacity building, and compelling data, will demonstrate that MSP can produce “win-win” outcomes that conserve biodiversity and enhance food security, protect livelihoods and support socio-economic development compatible with ocean health.


A major component of the project is the implementation of a coastal and marine Participatory Three Dimensional Modelling (P3DM). P3DM is a community-based and stakeholder based process, which integrates local spatial knowledge with topographic data to produce a physical 3-D model assembled by mapping participants.

 The value of a marine P3D Modelling process is grounded in the engagement of stakeholders from the beginning of the planning process, which may result in more effective, transparent and durable interventions and can foster a collective decision-making process that may engender ownership of spatial planning processes. A marine P3D Model may constitute a powerful communication and negotiation tool for an actor-led marine spatial planning. This approach will enable information that is only available with certain stakeholders to become available with everyone, greatly increasing the knowledge of all participating stakeholders, but also with the government and general public.

To learn more about P3DM consult www.iapad.org

Préparer un avenir meilleur

Les personnes qui ont un faible niveau d’éducation et d’alphabétisation ont du mal à se faire entendre. C’est particulièrement vrai pour les communautés autochtones. Leurs connaissances ancestrales et leurs droits sont souvent ignorés par les gouvernements, les sociétés d’exploitation de minerais et d’autres qui souhaitent exploiter leurs terres. Toutefois, cette situation n’est pas inéluctable. En collaborant avec des partenaires locaux, le CTA a contribué à faire d’eux des pionniers dans un processus – baptisé Modélisation participative en 3D – qui aide les communautés locales à documenter les régions dans lesquelles elles vivent, mais également à influencer la façon dont les décisions sont prises concernant l’utilisation et l’occupation des sols.

 «Traditionnellement, les cartes étaient réalisées par les gouvernements, qui contrôlaient également les données», explique Giacomo Rambaldi du CTA. «Mais un énorme changement a eu lieu récemment, à mesure que les groupes de la société civile ont acquis la capacité de réaliser leurs propres cartes et vidéos.» Ils ont bénéficié de l’accès à Google Earth et YouTube ainsi qu’à la modélisation participative en 3D, qui leur ont permis de créer des cartes exactes et géo-référencées.

Le premier exercice de modélisation soutenu par le CTA dans le Pacifique a eu lieu aux Fidji, en 2005. Cet événement de 11 jours à Lavuka s’est concentré sur l’île d’Ovalau, où les communautés locales souffraient d’une surexploitation de leurs zones de pêche, en particulier par des flottes étrangères. Au cours des trois premiers jours, trente étudiants de l’enseignement supérieur et six enseignants ont créé un modèle en 3D de l’île avec l’aide de quinze animateurs et stagiaires. Quatre-vingt-dix hommes et femmes de 26 villages ont ensuite «peuplé » le modèle de montagnes, de routes, de rivières, de zones de pêches, de terres agricoles, de sites culturels et d’autres caractéristiques. Lorsqu’ils ont eu terminé, le modèle comptait 79 caractéristiques et 83 lieux revêtant une importance culturelle.

Le modèle a ensuite servi de base pour un plan de gestion à l’échelle de l’île et trois plans de gestion de districts. Le processus a identifié seize zones «taboues » dans lesquelles une protection complète de la faune marine est à présent assurée. Les autochtones ont également commencé à dégager des parcours cérémonieux qui avaient été envahis par la végétation. En trois années de recherche, le Musée des Fidji n’avait réussi à identifier que vingt lieux revêtant une importance culturelle – soit un quart du nombre de lieux identifiés par les villageois pendant le processus de modélisation.

À bien des égards, le processus est aussi important que le résultat obtenu. «Il aide les gens à visualiser et à localiser leurs connaissances spatiales, ce qui est très motivant », explique Giacomo Rambaldi. « Et, bien sûr, il leur permet de défendre leur cause de façon plus persuasive. » Dans le passé, les communautés autochtones pouvaient produire des croquis cartographiques en faisant valoir des revendications pour leurs terres, mais les décideurs n’en tenaient guère compte. Les modèles en 3D fournissant des détails complexes sur les caractéristiques du paysage sont beaucoup plus difficiles à ignorer.

À travers le Pacifique

Kenn Mondiai, qui dirige l’ONG «Partners with Melanesians », basée en Papouasie-Nouvelle-Guinée, fait partie des qui bénéficiaires d’une formation aux Fidji. Depuis lors, il a joué un rôle important dans la promotion de la modélisation participative en 3D à travers le Pacifique. Avec le soutien de la Banque mondiale, il a aidé les communautés locales du Plateau de Managalas en Papouasie-Nouvelle-Guinée, qui abrite 150 clans, à créer un modèle en 3D de leurs terres ancestrales. Ce modèle a servi comme élément de preuve pour promouvoir la Zone patrimoniale de Managalas (Managalas Conservation Area), dont la reconnaissance officielle est prévue au moment de la mise sous presse.


Mapping Land, Sea and Culture: an Award-winning Participatory 3D Modelling Process in Fiji from CTA on Vimeo.

En 2011, l’organisation de protection de l’environnement The Nature Conservancy a engagé Kenn Mondiai afin de diriger des formations dans les îles Salomon. Les exercices de modélisation dans le village côtier de Boe Boe se sont concentrés sur le changement climatique et ses répercussions possibles. Le modèle présentait l’étendue du dernier tsunami en 2007 et le niveau des récentes marées hautes qui avaient inondé certaines parties du village. La communauté a ensuite utilisé le modèle pour discuter de l’impact potentiel de la hausse du niveau des mers et d’autres événements liés au climat.

« Le modèle a montré à la jeune génération que nous devions réfléchir au changement climatique », a fait remarquer Winifred Piatamama après l’exercice. «Il est important de prendre conscience que, dans quelques années, le niveau de la mer ne sera pas le même qu’aujourd’hui. » Après avoir débattu, les villageois ont décidé qu’au lieu de construire le long de la côte, comme ils l’avaient fait jusqu’à présent, ils se tourneraient vers les terres plus élevées, à l’écart de la mer. En résumé, le modèle les a aidés à concevoir des plans qui les aideront à s’adapter au changement climatique.

Selon Winifred Piatamama, le processus de modélisation a été particulièrement important pour les femmes de la communauté. « Au début, c’était un peu difficile pour les femmes, parce qu’elles n’expriment pas leurs préoccupations, elles sont généralement silencieuses », a-t-elle déclaré. Toutefois, le processus de modélisation les a encouragées à faire part de leurs points de vue plus ouvertement. « Lorsque tous contribuent au modèle, ils partagent fierté et propriété », explique Gabriel Kulwaum, de l’organisation TNC (The Nature Conservancy) dans un petit film sur l’exercice de Boe Boe. « Ce n’est pas TNC ou le gouvernement qui en a la propriété. » C’est la communauté.

Formation aux Caraïbes

Le CTA était très désireux d’encourager une modélisation participative en 3D dans les Caraïbes, mais était obligé d’importer l’expertise d’ailleurs. En octobre 2012, le premier exercice de modélisation a eu lieu à Tobago, sous l’égide de l’Institut des ressources naturelles des Caraïbes (Caribbean Natural Resources Institute, Canari) et animé par Kenn Mondiai. Cela a donné lieu à des ateliers de suivi de modélisation sur l’île de l’Union et à la Grenade.

Sous La Surface ~ Cartographie de l'île d'Union ~ un exercice MP3D en 2013 from CTA on Vimeo.

Local voices in climate change adaptation - Union Island, Caribbean - Trailer from CTA on Vimeo.

Pour Gillian Stanislaus, du ministère des Ressources naturelles et de l’environnement de Trinidad-et-Tobago, le modèle en 3D de Tobago aidera les autorités à gérer plus efficacement les futurs développements. « Grâce au processus de modélisation, nous avons une connaissance bien plus approfondie de la façon dont les terres sont utilisées et de leur importance pour les habitants », affirme-t-elle.

Terrence Phillips a participé à l’un des ateliers de modélisation – qui portait sur l’adaptation au changement climatique – en tant que représentant du Mécanisme régional des pêches des Caraïbes. Il a été impressionné. « Je pense qu’il s’agit d’un outil très utile », confie-t-il. « Les communautés étaient en mesure de décrire ce qui était arrivé à leurs ressources maritimes dans le passé et l’état des ressources à l’heure actuelle. » La modélisation les a encouragées à prendre en considération l’impact éventuel de la hausse du niveau des mers et du changement climatique et à concevoir des stratégies d’adaptation. L’exercice de modélisation a contribué à l’instauration d’un dialogue constructif entre le gouvernement et la communauté locale, garantissant leur collaboration efficace à l’avenir.

La première en Afrique

L’organisation du premier exercice participatif de cartographie en 3D en Afrique a pris 10 mois. Cet exercice, qui s’est tenu dans le village de Nessuit, dans le comté de Nakuru au Kenya, était géré par Systèmes de cartographie et d’information en recherche environnementale en Afrique (Environmental Research Mapping and Information Systems in Africa, ERMIS-Africa), avec le soutien financier et technique du CTA. Pendant 11 jours, en août 2006, quelque 120 hommes et femmes appartenant à 21 clans Ogiek ont construit un modèle en 3D du complexe oriental de la forêt de Mau.


The Voice of the Ogiek from CTA on Vimeo.

La forêt de Mau a souffert pendant des décennies de l’exploitation commerciale et de l’envahissement par des cultures. Ces activités ont détruit une grande partie du paysage ainsi que bon nombre de sites culturels ogiek et, pendant quelques années, les Ogiek ont tenté de faire valoir en justice leurs droits sur ces terres. « Les procédures juridiques traînaient en longueur, sans aucune solution véritable », déplore Julius Muchemi, directeur d’ERMIS-Africa. « Ce dont les Ogiek avaient besoin, c’était de preuves concrètes venant soutenir leurs revendications ; et l’exercice de modélisation les a aidés à fournir ces preuves. »

Les preuves ont été suffisamment persuasives pour convaincre le gouvernement du droit des Ogiek sur les terres et de la nécessité de protéger la région de nouvelles dégradations. Lorsqu’un processus de préservation a été lancé en 2007, tous ceux qui occupaient la forêt en dehors des Ogiek ont été expulsés. Depuis lors, ERMIS-Africa et ses partenaires ont produit l’Atlas des territoires ancestraux des peuples Ogiek (Ogiek Peoples Ancestral Territories Atlas). Cet atlas présente la description la plus détaillée à ce jour de la culture Ogiek et de leurs liens avec la terre.

Parmi les organisations qui ont soutenu l’exercice de cartographie, citons le Comité de coordination des peuples autochtones d’Afrique (Indigenous Peoples of Africa Coordinating Committee, Ipac). Selon son directeur, Nigel Crawhall, il s’agit d’un événement majeur dans la vie de l’IPacC. L’exercice de cartographie et le soutien apporté par le CTA à l’organisation ont mené à une série de développements importants pour le peuple autochtone, et notamment à l’engagement de l’IPacC à la Convention-cadre des Nations unies sur les changements climatiques et le lancement d’un programme de formation multinational sur l’atténuation et l’adaptation au changement climatique.

Dans une synthèse écrite concernant l’impact du CTA, le Dr Crawhall a expliqué : « D’un point de vue professionnel, les relations avec le CTA ont apporté d’importants changements, de nouveaux outils et opportunités [...] L’exposition et le partenariat avec le CTA ont transformé le travail, les pratiques et les connaissances du seul réseau régional des peuples autochtones d’Afrique, exercé une incidence sur la vie des personnes dans plus d’une douzaine de pays et créé de nouvelles opportunités de carrière et de sensibilisation pour les leaders autochtones et m’ont ouvert de nouveaux horizons sur le plan professionnel. »

Depuis l’exercice de cartographie de la forêt de Mau, le CTA a soutenu des initiatives similaires en Éthiopie, au Gabon, au Tchad et en Ouganda. Soutenus par un manuel électronique publié en anglais, en français, en espagnol, en portugais et en amharique, ainsi que par une communauté en ligne dynamique, des exercices de modélisation ont également eu lieu dans d’autres parties du Kenya, au Ghana, au Maroc et en République démocratique du Congo et de nombreux autres pays, comme indiqué sur la carte ci-dessous.

Modelling a brighter future

People with low levels of education and poor literacy skills have difficulty making themselves heard. This is particularly true for indigenous communities. Their ancestral knowledge and rights are often ignored by governments, mineral companies and others who wish to exploit their lands. However, it needn’t be like this. Working with local partners, CTA has helped to pioneer a process, known as Participatory 3-D Modelling, which is helping local communities not only to document the areas where they live, but influence the way decisions are made about land-use and tenure.

“Traditionally, maps were made by governments, and the data was controlled by governments,” says CTA’s Giacomo Rambaldi. “But there has been a huge change recently as civil society groups have acquired the ability to make their own maps and videos.” They have benefited from access to Google Earth and YouTube and participatory 3-D modelling as a way of creating accurate, geo-referenced maps.

The first CTA-supported modelling exercise in the Pacific was held in Fiji in 2005. The 11-day event in Lavuka focused on Ovalau Island, where local communities were suffering from the over-exploitation of their fishery grounds, especially by foreign fleets. During the first three days, 30 high-school students and six teachers constructed a 3-D model of the island with the assistance of 15 facilitators and trainees. Ninety men and women from 26 villages then ‘populated’ the model with mountains, roads, rivers, fishing grounds, croplands, cultural sites and other features. By the time they had finished, the model had 79 features and 83 places of cultural significance.

The model was subsequently used as a basis for an island-wide management plan and three districts management plans. The process identified 16 ‘taboo’ areas in which there is now total protection of marine life. Local people have also begun to clear ceremonial pathways which had become overgrown. During the course of three years of research, the Museum of Fiji only managed to identified 20 places of cultural significance – a quarter of the number identified by villagers during the modelling process.

In many ways, the process is as important as the finished article. “It helps people to visualise and localise their spatial knowledge, and this is very empowering,” says Giacomo. “And, of course, it enables them to make their case more persuasively.” In the past, indigenous communities might produce sketch maps laying claims to their land, but decisions-makers seldom took much notice. The 3-D models providing intricate details of landscape features and resource use are much harder to ignore.

Across the Pacific

Kenn Mondiai, who runs Partners with Melanesians, an NGO based in Papua New Guinea, was among those to benefit from training in Fiji. Since then he has played an important role in promoting participatory 3-D modelling across the Pacific. With support from the World Bank, he helped local communities on PNG’s Managalas Plateau, home to around 150 clans, to create a 3-D model of their ancestral lands. This was used as part of the evidence to promote Managalas Conservation Area, whose official recognition is anticipated around the time of going to press.


Mapping Land, Sea and Culture: an Award-winning Participatory 3D Modelling Process in Fiji from CTA on Vimeo.

In 2011, The Nature Conservancy hired Kenn to conduct trainings in the Solomon Islands. The modelling exercise at the coastal village of Boe Boe focused on climate change and its possible impact. The model showed the extent of the last tsunami in 2007 and recent king-tide levels that had inundated parts of the village. The community then used the model to discuss the potential impact of rises in sea-level and other climate-related events.

“The model showed the younger generation that we need to think about climate change,” reflected Winifred Piatamama after the exercise. “It’s important to realise that in a few years time the sea level won’t be the same as it is now.” Following discussions, the villagers decided that instead of building along the coastline, as they have done in the past, they would look towards the higher land further from the sea. In short, the model helped them to devise plans which will help them adapt to climate change.


Modelling the Future in Boe Boe Community, Solomon Islands from CTA on Vimeo.

According to Winifred, the modelling process was particularly important for the women in the community. “At the beginning it was a bit challenging for women, because they don’t raise their concerns, they are generally quiet,” she said. However, the modelling process encouraged them to share their views more openly. “When everyone contributes to the model, they share pride and ownership,” reflected Gabriel Kulwaum of The Nature Conservancy (TNC) in a short film about the Boe Boe exercise. “TNC or the government don’t own it.” The community does.

Training in the Caribbean

CTA was keen to encourage participatory 3-D modelling in the Caribbean, but was obliged to import expertise from elsewhere. In October 2012, the first Caribbean modelling exercise was held in Tobago, hosted by the Caribbean Natural Resources Institute (CANARI) and facilitated by Kenn Mondiai. This led to follow-up modelling workshops on Union Island and Granada.


Local voices in climate change adaptation - Union Island, Caribbean - Trailer from CTA on Vimeo.

According to Gillian Stanislaus of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment in Trinidad and Tobago, the Tobago 3-D model will help the authorities manage future developments more efficiently. “Because of the modelling process, we have a much greater depth of knowledge about the way in which the land is used and its significance for local people,” she says.

Terrence Phillips attended one of the modelling workshops – its focus was on adapting to climate change – as a representative of the Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism. He was impressed. “I think this is a very useful tool,” he says. “The communities were able to describe what had happened to their marine resources in the past and the state of the resources now.” The modelling encouraged them to consider the possible impact of sea-level rises and climate change, and devise strategies to help them adapt. The modelling exercise helped to create a constructive dialogue between the government and the local community, ensuring that they work together effectively in future.

Africa's first

Africa’s first participatory 3-D mapping exercise took some 10 months to organise. Held in the village of Nessuit in Kenya’s Nakuru County, it was managed by Environmental Research Mapping and Information Systems in Africa (ERMIS-Africa), with financial and technical support from CTA. Over the course of 11 days in August 2006, some 120 men and women belonging to 21 Ogiek clans constructed a 3-D model of the Eastern Mau Forest Complex.


The Voice of the Ogiek from CTA on Vimeo.

The Mau Forest had suffered from decades of commercial logging and encroachment. These activities had destroyed much of the landscape, as well as many Ogiek cultural sites, and for some years the Ogiek had been attempting to assert their rights to the land in court. “The court cases had been dragging on, with no real resolution,” explains Julius Muchemi, director of ERMIS-Africa. “What the Ogiek needed was concrete evidence to support their claims, and the modelling exercise helped to provide that.”

The evidence was persuasive enough to convince the government of the Ogiek’s right to the land, and the need to protect the area from further degradation. When a conservation process was launched in 2007, all those occupying the forest apart from the Ogiek were evicted. Since then, ERMIS-Africa and its partners have produced the Ogiek Peoples Ancestral Territories Atlas. This provides the most comprehensive description to date about the Ogiek’s culture and their links to the land.

Among the organisations which supported the mapping exercise was the Indigenous Peoples of Africa Coordinating Committee (IPACC). According to its director, Nigel Crawhall, this was a key event in the life of IPACC. The mapping exercise, and CTA’s support for the organisation, led to a series of important developments for indigenous people, including IPACC’s engagement with the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and the launching of a multi-country training programme on climate change mitigation and adaptation.

“From a professional perspective,” said Dr Crawhall, in a written summary about the impact of CTA, “the relationship with CTA has brought important changes, new tools and opportunities... Exposure and partnering with CTA has transformed the work, practice and knowledge of Africa’s only regional indigenous peoples network, it has touched the lives of people in more than a dozen countries, it has created new career and advocacy opportunities for indigenous leaders, and it has opened new horizons for me professionally.”

Since the Mau Forest mapping exercise, CTA has supported similar initiatives in Ethiopia, Gabon, Chad and Uganda. Supported by an e-handbook published in English, French, Spanish, Portuguese and Amharic, and a vibrant online community, modelling exercises have also taken place in other parts of Kenya, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana and Morocco and many other countries as shown on the map below.