Blank 3D model of Tobago accommodates first set of community inputs

Informants express pleasure at being part of exercise

SCARBOROUGH, 04 October 2012.  Bubbling with excitement, informants who came from far and wide to help fill in the blank model of the P3DM of Tobago could barely contain themselves as they realize the importance of their knowledge.

Kail Zingapan, GIS expert being interviewed
by Clyde McNeil of Tobago Channel 5 

The room is buzzing with activity as the informants locate features on the map.  Four groups of trainee facilitators accompany Tobago residents in transferring their mental maps on the 3D model under the watchful eye of facilitators from the Caribbean Natural Resources Institute (CANARI), GIS expert Kail Zingapan from the Philippines and Kenn Mondiai of Partners with Melanesians (PwM). .

The island of Tobago, for which the participatory 3D model is being developed, is an island nation and part of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago.  Tobago is the smaller of the two islands and has a land mass of approximately 300 km².  The P3D model represent the island at a 1:10,000 scale hence one centimetre on the model corresponds to 100 meters on the ground.  The island is home to the largest brain coral in the world and the oldest Forest Reserve in the Western Hemisphere - the Main Ridge Forest Reserve.

Democracy Walls

Teenager Zenniethe Balfour (in blue shirt) transposes data
on the model based on her recollection from memory

Not only are informants transferring their personal knowledge of Tobago, and its surrounding waters up to a depth of -100 meters to the model, but they are also sharing their feelings about the activity on a "Democracy Wall" in a specially marked off area on the wall of the workshop area.

The "Democracy Wall" provides one additional channel for participants to express themselves.  To contribute to the Wall, the informants write their notes on small pieces of paper which they then post onto the Wall with tape.  Open ended headings such as ‘I believe …’ and ‘I feel …’ stimulate contribution.

Teenager Zenniethe Balfour of the Anse Fromage Ecological Environmental Protection Organisation - Golden Lane sticks her contribution to the Wall:  “I did not know Tobago is shaped like a snake”.  She says that listening to the contributions of others as they transfer images from their mental maps is a learning experience.  In fact, she says she is learning many new things about her community although she has been living there for the past eighteen years.

Asked to convey her feelings about contributing to the blank model, Zenniethe smiles broadly and says she feels “important”.  In terms of the value of the entire exercise, she says there is value in knowing the natural resources in one’s community.  “As you become aware you will instinctively protect”, she says.

Selecting data for the model

Goldberg Job of Belle Garden shares his views during the
orientation  session prior to engaging with the 3D model

Prior to inserting pins and outlining yarn on the model, informants had to agree on colour codes and symbols for particular features such as different types of forests, reefs and other features of importance to them that would be located onto the model.  Symbols and colours were associated with legend items to compose the map interpretation key.  Throughout the session, informants sought clarification on what types of information could be placed on the model and how they could symbolise it in line with the existing legend.

A fisherman asks why he is seeing government offices, seaports and airports but no banks on the chart.  CANARI’s facilitator Neila Bobb-Prescott responds by asking him to what extent the position of a bank is impacted by climate change.  He scratches his head, pinches his chin, nods and moves on to another question.

Laura Williams from Anse Fromage adds detail to the model

Before engaging with the model, informants take part in short orientation sessions with facilitators.  These sessions include mutual introductions, sharing information on the 3D modelling process, climate change and what the concept of “participatory” means.  The orientation sessions also sought to learn about the informants understanding of these concepts and their views on what value they felt the development of this model has for them and would have for Tobagonians.

Laura Williams from the Anse Fromage Ecological Environmental Protection Organisation is busy working on the model, identifying areas in her village, Golden Lane.  Golden Lane is a rural village on the north eastern end of Tobago.  The Great Courland is one of a few beaches in the world where the endangered leatherback turtles gather every year to lay their eggs.  She says she is devoted to ensuring that Golden Lane is well represented; she wants it to be known that the Courland Watershed, the Great Courland, is not so great anymore as it is being heavily impacted by climate change.  Noting that deforestation is a big problem in the area, she says man is contributing to  this destruction.

Laura says the P3D model will make people of the community more aware of the impact their actions are having on the environment.  People outside of the area will also be aware of the problems, she says.

With a wealth of information being shared and mapped by the knowledge holders, the workshop facilitators are looking forward to welcoming more and more members of the communities across Tobago who are expected to arrive over the coming week.

Related posts: 

• Participatory 3D Modelling in Tobago - key venues
• Caribbean nationals eager to develop P3DM in their countries: "P3DM a unique, totally new experience" 
• Participatory 3D Modelling exercise kicks off with much gusto in Tobago 
• ICTs for Climate Change Adaptation: Introduction of innovative technologies in the Caribbean 
• Tobagonians will build a participatory 3D model of Tobago to plan for impacts of climate change and extreme climatic events 
• Participatory 3D Modelling (P3DM): five years after receiving the World Summit Award

Tobago P3DM - The missing islet

SCARBOROUGH, 7 October, 2012. A lot of positive developments today. Successive groups of residents kept noting two missing islets (Goat Island and Little Tobago) and pointed out that Little Tobago is a bird reserve.

Adam and other facilitators add the missing islets to the model

Adam, one of the workshop participants who used to work at UWI rose to the challenge of preparing the needed contour map far from his GIS lab and using a locally available ink-jet printer to plot the islets out. Kail provided him with the SRTM data and Sarah, one of the UWI graduate students helped Adam obtain the bathymetry. And … magic …by the end the day, Little Tobago and other missing islets were placed onto the model and smoothed with crepe paper.

Informants were entering data on the model in the afternoon. Facilitators sorted out the documentation for the working legend, printed out legend keys so that the facilitating teams could have a mini legend they could refer to while interacting with community members over the model.

According to Kail “the high point of the day for me was when the residents in hilly areas distinguished between different forest categories. Previously, as workshop participants from Trinidad pointed out, most people thought there was just Forest, which meant the Forest Reserve. It turned out they have at least 3 broad categories: the Main Ridge Forest, a primary forest which is a reserve area and enjoying legal protection for vital watershed services; the High Woods, a secondary forest where hunting areas and trails may be found; and the Bush or Woods, a forest area used for multiple agricultural uses (mixed crops such as plantain, cassava, and others). This tells me that Tobagonians are dependent or reliant on forest resources, and the many categories of forest use indicate that they have a complex relationship with the forest area.”

Related posts: 

• Blank 3D model of Tobago accommodates first set of community inputs
• Participatory 3D Modelling in Tobago - key venues
• Caribbean nationals eager to develop P3DM in their countries: "P3DM a unique, totally new experience" 
• Participatory 3D Modelling exercise kicks off with much gusto in Tobago 
• ICTs for Climate Change Adaptation: Introduction of innovative technologies in the Caribbean 
• Tobagonians will build a participatory 3D model of Tobago to plan for impacts of climate change and extreme climatic events 
• Participatory 3D Modelling (P3DM): five years after receiving the World Summit Award

P3DM blank model of Tobago ready for accommodating community’s knowledge

SCARBOROUGH, 3 October, 2012. Facilitators working on the blank model for the P3DM of Tobago all agreed that... “it has been challenging!”

The P3DM of Tobago undergoes the smoothing process u
sing crêpe paper cut-outs

Looking at an example of a model during the orientation, they thought that building a model would have been an easy task, but reality turned out to be quite different.  Expressions of relief echo around the workshop area as the blank model is finally complete on day three of the project.  Yet, in the same breath, they also give heartfelt thanks for being among the 'chosen few' selected to be part of the workshop.  Facilitators are from regional and national non-governmental organizations, government agencies, inter-governmental technical agencies and members of academia.

Held in Tobago at the Mt. St George Blenheim Sheep Multiplication and Research Project, the workshop is being conducted by experts from the Caribbean Natural Resources Institute (CANARI) and the University of the West Indies (UWI) with financial and technical assistance from the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation ACP-EU (CTA) and the UNDP Small Grants Programme of the Global Environmental Facility (GEF-SGP).

CANARI's project concept note of July 2012 states that the workshop’s aim is to get members of the community involved in "climate -related decision making" through a process involving the manufacture and use of Participatory 3D Models.

Confidence soars as the hands-on experience continues

Addana Pigott-Henry, an agricultural scientist working at CARDI, Tobago, says the experience for her was different from expectations, since she had envisaged a more formal lecture-style approach to the workshop.  After the hands-on experiences of the last couple of days though, she says she now feels empowered to assist in conducting a P3DM exercise with the help of experts.  She has learnt a lot from the interactive method and the lessons are invaluable, she says.  Addana, is of course happy that the workshop is being held in Tobago so that the regional and international participants can get a chance to experience the hospitality of Tobagonians and its rich and varied cuisine.

Meteorologist Anthony Moore of Barbados says that he is also fairly confident that if he was to build a P3DM, he would be able to do so as he is now equipped with adequate knowledge and experience.  Representing the Caribbean Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology (CIMH), Anthony says that at the beginning of the workshop he was lost and thought that building the model was a 'huge undertaking'.  His experience with maps and drawing, cutting and layering contours on a daily basis did little to allay his fears.  "A lot has been cleared up because of the hands-on experience," he admits.

Anthony acknowledges the value of a facilitation lesson shared by CANARI's Neila Bobb-Prescott and lists it as a highpoint of the workshop.  As a stakeholder in water resource management, he says the lesson is valuable and will help him to get information from farmers for an impact assessment study.  "Interaction with them would be easier,” he says.

Not unlike Adanna and Anthony, Adam Jehu of the Institute of Marine Affairs in Trinidad (IMA), also feels he now has the ability to construct a P3DM of an area and acknowledges that this approach to mapping is a "very novel way of capturing spatial data from the members of the community, the people who have the knowledge."  Adam is also grateful for the lesson on how to facilitate a P3DM exercise, since although he did know how to use GIS technology, he did not know how to build on community’s knowledge of the landscape.

Community insights

In the middle of one group orientation, a few residents popped in.  They stood around the model, and immediately without prompting, they started pointing out places in the island, the river, the forest and many other things, and recognized features on the blank model.  And almost as quickly, they pointed out features that were lacking on the model: Little Tobago, the reefs, the rocks, the islets.  They began to improve on this omission by contributing the names of the rocks and the islets that lie successively along a chain around the north-eastern tip of Tobago.

“This doesn't cease to amaze me when I see it happen.  Local people can immediately spot errors or omissions on GIS maps and correct them” noted Kail Zingapan.

Crucial lessons 

Participants create the storyboard using yarn, Playdoh
and other materials

Facilitators learned the components of two more aspects of the P3DM exercise on Wednesday.  The first was about monitoring and evaluation of the process.  CANARI’s Executive Director, Nicole Leotaud brought some clarity to the concepts and introduced the tool of participatory video (PV) which will be used in the evaluation process.  Desiree Sampson, videographer, gave tips on the shooting of videos.  This session featured a mix of hands-on training and feedback from trainees.

The facilitators created images of the results they want to achieve from the P3DM process in Tobago with Playdoh, yarn and pins.  They then created a storyboard for the video which will be developed to evaluate the effectiveness of P3DM in realizing these desired outputs.  The storyboard that was developed is a sequence of drawings which depict the shots planned for the video production.

Cassandra Mitchell of Grenada practices using
one of the PV video cams.

As part of the hands-on training, the participants took the cameras outside the building and took turns in learning how to operate them.

On Thursday 4th October, the facilitators will get ready to capture the workshop action on camera as community informants are expected to arrive in droves to ‘transpose their mental maps’ onto the blank model.

On a lighter note...

Though the trainers and experts themselves have been 'on the go' since the beginning of the workshop, they have found time for lighter moments, such as celebrating the birthday of Wellington Martinez from the Dominican Environmental Consortium.  Wellington had the joyful experience of having "Happy Birthday" sung to him in his native language, Spanish.  ¡Cumpleaños feliz, Wellington!"

Related posts: 

• Participatory 3D Modelling in Tobago - key venues
• Caribbean nationals eager to develop P3DM in their countries: "P3DM a unique, totally new experience" 
• Participatory 3D Modelling exercise kicks off with much gusto in Tobago 
• ICTs for Climate Change Adaptation: Introduction of innovative technologies in the Caribbean 
• Tobagonians will build a participatory 3D model of Tobago to plan for impacts of climate change and extreme climatic events 
• Participatory 3D Modelling (P3DM): five years after receiving the World Summit Award

Tobagonians build participatory 3D model of Tobago to plan for the impacts of extreme climatic events

The Caribbean Natural Resource Institute (CANARI) has partnered with the Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation ACP-UE (CTA) and the University of the West Indies among other groups, to build a 3 dimensional model of Tobago, with the aim of advising persons of being proactive regarding climate change.

Participatory 3D Models Helping PNG Communities in Natural Resource Decision-Making

Patrick Vuet from a Papua New Guinean conservation NGO 'Partners with Melanesians', has involvement in a participatory method of planning in Melanesia - Participatory 3 Dimensional Modelling. All members of the community are involved -men and women, young and old. Through a 3 dimensional model they can easily see their landscapes and use the model to visualise impacts of certain developments such as mining. In PNG the government doesn't believe the local communities have the capacity to make decisions, but having a 3D model changes everything

Participatory 3D Modelling (P3DM) for Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR)

Participatory 3-Dimensional Mapping (P3DM) consists in building geo-referenced stand-alone large-scale relief models made of locally available and materials (e.g. carton, paper, cork) on which knowledge holders can locate and depict a range of topographic features out of memory. According to work done in the Philippines the method is useful for locating assets and vulnerabilities and plan - in a bottom up manner - for Disaster Risk Reduction (DDR). Features are depicted using push-pins (points), yarn (lines), and paint (polygons). For DDR scales range from 1:1000 to 1:2000 to enable mapping and planning at the household level.

Part 1

Part 2

Read about Participatory 3D Modelling (P3DM) for Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR)
Read about other applications of P3DM consult www.iapad.org

Participatory 3D Modelling in Tobago - key venues

The workshop on Participatory 3D Modelling and Participatory Video organised by CANARI and the UWI in Tobago with assistance provided by CTA and UNDP GEF-SGP will come to an end on October 11. the venue is the Blenheim Sheep Multiplication & Research Center (yellow placemarker). The presentation of the outputs by representatives of participating communities will take place on October 12 in the morning at the Trinidad and Tobago Hospitality and Tourism Institute - Tobago campus (green placemarker)


View P3DM and PV Training in Tobago in a larger map

If you are interested in attending the closing ceremony on October 12, please get in touch with Neila Bobb-Prescott, Senior Technical Officer, The Caribbean Natural Resources Institute (CANARI).

Related posts: 

• Caribbean nationals eager to develop P3DM in their countries: "P3DM a unique, totally new experience" 
• Participatory 3D Modelling exercise kicks off with much gusto in Tobago 
• ICTs for Climate Change Adaptation: Introduction of innovative technologies in the Caribbean 
• Tobagonians will build a participatory 3D model of Tobago to plan for impacts of climate change and extreme climatic events 
• Participatory 3D Modelling (P3DM): five years after receiving the World Summit Award 

Caribbean nationals eager to develop P3DM in their countries: "P3DM a unique, totally new experience"

SCARBOROUGH, 1 October, 2012. Trainers and facilitators took up tools on Monday to begin work on a participatory 3D model of Tobago.   Base maps were prepared by a team from the Engineering Faculty of the University of the West Indies (UWI).  The base map must be precisely done, warns Kail Zingapan, a Participatory GIS expert from PAFID an NGO based in the Philippines, otherwise creating the model will incur some serious delays and the model itself will not be an accurate P3DM.

Adanna Pigot-Henry from CARDI, Tobago is hard at work
tracing the map contour onto the cardboard

The process of creating the model involves tracing single contour lines visible on the base map onto cardboard sheets, cutting these precisely along these lines, and thereby creating layers that represent different elevations.  Each cardboard layer is then glued onto the one representing the lower elevation contour.  Kail likens the layering process to that of stacking pancakes.  Each contour layer is “every point of equal elevation”, she explains.  The elevation model of the island and surrounding waters was developed beforehand by Dr. Bheshem Ramlal of the UWI.  Posters listing the layers to be traced were stuck onto the walls of the workshop area to guide the process.

Kenn Mondiai glues a layer onto  the model

After a number of layers are glued on top of each other, crêpe paper and glue are used to smooth the edges of the single layers so the blank model "looks like a terrain", Kail tells participants at the workshop.  She tells them too, that this part of the exercise must be completed by Wednesday evening to allow the paper to dry so that informants’ data can be added to the model, beginning on Thursday.  The informants are community members - for example, elders, fisherfolk, farmers, hunters, environmentalists and other resource users - who are "traditional custodians of spatial knowledge" and who provide information about their neighbourhood and knowledge of its use to be transferred to the map.

During the planning and introduction workshop last Saturday (September 29), participants developed the legend for the map - symbols (points, lines and areas) - to use during the coding process to locate and depict man-made and natural features on the model.  Members of civil society organizations and experts from the Department of Natural Resources and the Environment-Tobago House of Assembly (THA), CANARI and the UWI attended that introductory workshop.

Caribbean participants at the workshop are especially keen to be part of the P3DM  project.  Ingrid Parchment of the Caribbean Coastal Area Management Foundation, which is based in Jamaica, is eager to get community members involved in producing a P3DM of Portland Bight.  She works at Portland Blight which is a protected area.  Ingrid says she is learning a lot from the workshop, as she noted a very helpful video which showed the process of producing a P3DM, step-by-step.

Orisha Joseph (Grenada), Natalie Boodram (Saint Lucia)
and Jacinthe Amyot (Colombia)  working on base map

A papier-mâché of Portland Bight has already been created and Ingrid feels the P3DM would be a step up.  However, she is mindful of the need to have experts involved in the activity.  “Especially a GIS expert”, she emphasizes, with a wink and a smile.

Likewise, Dr. Natalie Boodram who works at the Caribbean Environmental Health Institute (CEHI) - a CARICOM agency with an environmental mandate that is based in Saint Lucia - says that the concept of working with communities to do individual P3DMs is “unique” and a “totally new experience".  She says that the workshop is helping her appreciate the value of community input in creating a 3D model of a given space.

Lessons in facilitation

Farzaana Baksh  explains good facilitator skills on
the "Body map" produced by her group

While precision and attention to detail are crucial to the creation of the P3DM, there are also moments for fun and laughter.   One such moment of light-heartedness was the ‘train the trainers’ session, last Sunday afternoon.   As part of a group exercise, one person laid on a large piece of white paper on the floor and her shape was traced onto the paper.  Her group then ‘mapped’ on different parts of the drawing, the characteristics of a good facilitator.  ‘Body mapping’, as the exercise is called, drew on the lessons the participants learned with the guidance of CANARI’s Senior Technical Officer and workshop coordinator, Neila Bobb-Prescott.

Neila’s sessions helped participants understand the attributes of a good facilitator.  She called the attention to fundamental issues such as “how we dress” and “how we pose” (i.e. body language) and the impact of these issues on how the facilitator is perceived at community level.  She outlined various ways in which good facilitators make every effort to get individuals to express their views.

Lessons in logistics 

Patricia Franco, Administrative Officer at CANARI shares
her insight on logistical planning with workshop participants

Another valuable lesson was taught by CANARI’s Administrative Officer, Patricia Franco.  In introducing Patricia, Neila referred to her as an expert who does detailed coordination and management of information for workshops.  Logistics assist in ensuring the smooth running of an event and therefore every facilitator should have a working knowledge and develop the skill of good logistical planning Neila says.
Pat, as Patricia is fondly called, explained the importance of every component in planning an event.  Using the workshop as an example, she pointed to the many individual activities she had to organize.  These ranged from coordinating participants’ flight plans to housing and feeding participants catering.

Members of the workshop - trainers, students, teachers and experts - are certainly gaining all-round knowledge and skills while working diligently to get the process moving forward.

Thailand: Helping build more resilient communities

BANGKOK, 12 June, 2012 – A new United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) documentary demonstrates how a unique approach to community security and social cohesion led to more resilient communities in Northern Thailand.

The film documents the work of a UNDP project in Mae Hong Son, Thailand’s poorest province, with the country’s lowest score on UNDP's Human Development Index. It is home to diverse population, including a large number of displaced people from Myanmar. Economic opportunities can be scarce and access to natural resources and basic services are often inadequate.

Using participatory rural appraisal (PRA) and a Participatory 3D Modelling (P3DM) UNDP, the provincial government and villagers identified a number of issues together, including inadequate water for agriculture, the lack of skills for preserving natural resources, and the extinction of banana from the village forest areas.

Read more >>

Related: Democratic Governance: Sustaining Thailand’s Democratic Practice through Improvement of Inclusive Electoral Process (UNDP)

Participatory 3D Modelling exercise kicks off with much gusto in Tobago

Trinidad and Tobago nationals and their Caribbean counterparts converge for workshop.

SCARBOROUGH, 30 September, 2012. Sixth form students and their teachers from secondary schools across Tobago, members of civil society from Trinidad and Tobago and the Caribbean, along with representatives from the Tobago House of Assembly (THA), Caribbean Natural Resources Institute (CANARI), and the University of the West Indies (UWI) have been merging their skills to construct a 3 dimensional (3D) model of Tobago. The 3D model being constructed will cover an area of approximately 1,152 km² and consist of a 1:10,000-scale version of the island and its waters up to a depth of -100 metres, says CANARI’s Senior Technical Officer, Neila Bobb-Prescott.

The process of building this model involves a varied mix of actively involved people and so it is termed participatory 3D modelling or P3DM. The P3DM of Tobago is taking place during a workshop held over the period September 28th to October 12th 2012 at the Blenheim Sheep Multiplication and Research Project station in Tobago.

Kail Zingapan leads a session to explain the application of
GIS technology to the model building exercise  

The workshop is facilitated by CANARI and the UWI, with financial and technical assistance from the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation ACP-EU (CTA) and the United Nations Development Programme, Global Environment Facility - Small Grants Programme (UNDP GEF-SGP).  The model building exercise is coached by a team of facilitators which includes specialists from as far as the Philippines and Papua New Guinea.

The 2-week activity is based on a participatory approach which acknowledges the importance of traditional knowledge and builds on it in making decisions about how to cope with climate change, says Dr. Bheshem Ramlal of the UWI.  He adds that the information generated in the mapping exercise can be used for advocacy and informing policy. The participatory approach focuses on learning by doing, exchange of knowledge and collegial data analysis and verification. Data storage and retrieval “must be done by local people or not at all” notes Geographic Information System (GIS) expert Ms. Kail Zingapan from the Philippines.

Student Participation 

Sorting through the kit of materials needed
for the model construction  

On their first day, the students attended an orientation session at which they were briefed on various aspects of  the P3DM process.  For the next couple of days, they will trace contours and cut cardboard to represent the elevation of the land and the depths of the sea.  The contours will be traced using carbon paper on carton board sheets. These will be cut out and glued on the top of each other paying special attention to their correct geo-location.

Jhon-Pierre of the Signal Hill Senior Comprehensive School and Jaidon Lalla of University of the West Indies Open Campus, both teenage students, are eager  to begin construction of the model. They both agree that creating the 3D model of Tobago is an event of historical significance and would help them to appreciate the natural resources of the island. They also see the model being used as a means of helping all stakeholders shape future uses of the resources of Tobago.
The boys were selected by their peers to be interviewed here after the girls in the groups cheerfully chorus “men must rule again”.  The boys' response -“yea, yea” - to this show of encouragement was not very enthusiastic, but they showed that they quite understood the significance of the project in which they were all engaged.

Facilitator training

Neila Bobb-Prescott from CANARI prepares
for her presentation on facilitation 

A crucial element of the workshop consisted in an initial phase of training of professionals from different areas of the Caribbean to become  P3DM  facilitators; these persons will return to their countries each equipped with knowledge and necessary skills for replicating the activity in their respective countries
During one of CANARI’s training sessions, Neila introduced the trainees to key concepts in participatory approaches to natural resource management; she identified the role of stakeholders and the challenges and benefits of their involvement in the process.

Additionally, Bheshem, Kenn Mondiai of Partners with Melanesians (PwM), an NGO based in Papua New Guinea and Kail shared information on the development of the Participatory GIS (PGIS). “PGIS is a method used to compose peoples’ spatial knowledge of their landscape with the use of GIS tools”, said Kail.

Caribbean flavour

Enjoying the Tobago cuisine! 

Katrina Collins and Shawnaly Pascal from St. Vincent and Grenada, respectively, are happy to be in Tobago at the workshop.  They point out the similarities of the physical landscape of the three islands.  Their interests include Tobago’s gourmet cuisine.  Katrina calls for buss-up shot and roti, cocoa tea and coconut bake.  Shawnaly smiles and adds, “Any food I don’t get at home, I want to eat” (sic).  Neila politely smiles and indicates she will try her best to please.  In keeping with the spirit of camaraderie permeating the workshop, the women were advised, by Tobago participant, Adanna Piggott-Henry, of the need to consume fresh cuisine or face dire gastronomical consequences!

Naming the activity in Tobago

The theme, ‘She becomes more beautiful: Capturing the essence of Tobago today for a better tomorrow’, emerged as the winning title to the P3DM activity after a brainstorming session among workshop participants during the introduction and planning workshop.  The first part of the theme, ‘She becomes more beautiful’ is particularly relevant to Tobago as it is the motto for the island’s annual Heritage Festival, and depicts a naked pregnant woman of African descent.  The P3DM exercise will certainly capture where Tobago’s development is taking place and will provide an effective platform on which to plan  community actions and policy development in  the future.

Recognising and Supporting Territories and Areas Conserved by Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities

Recognising and Supporting Territories and Areas Conserved by Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities is a new Publication to be released at CBD’s 11th Conference of Parties (Oct 8-19th) in Hyderabad, India

Published by the CBD Secretariat, based on a study undertaken by the ICCA Consortium, coordinated by the Indian NGO Kalpavriksh

Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities Conserved Territories and Areas (ICCAs) contain significant levels of biodiversity and related cultural diversity. This publication provides details of the range, extent and values of such sites, the threats they face, and the efforts being made by governments and civil society at recognizing and supporting them. Drawing lessons from 19 country case studies (covering all continents), and a range of other documentation, it offers lessons on how best to provide recognition to ICCAs.

The knowledge and practices of indigenous peoples and local communities have contributed greatly to conservation of ecosystem, species, and genetic diversity. It is likely that as much of the world’s area as is under officially designated protected areas (about 13%), if not more, is under ICCAs.

In 2010, at the 10th Conference of Parties to the CBD (Nagoya, Japan), governments committed to a Strategic Plan on Biodiversity 2012-20. This included a set of 20 targets (‘Aichi Targets’), covering aspects such as integrating biodiversity into economic development, enhancing the coverage of protected areas and other forms of effective conservation, alleviating poverty and providing secure livelihoods.

This publication shows how ICCAs can help all countries to meet many of these targets, including Target 11 of expanding global protected area coverage to 17% of terrestrial and 10% of marine areas. ICCAs can also help meet commitments under other global agreements such as the Millennium Development Goals and the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

This publication stresses that, in order to maintain and enhance the values of ICCAs, indigenous peoples and local communities governing them need adequate and appropriate recognition, including:

• Clear rights to territories and natural resources, in both terrestrial and marine areas 
• Recognition of their institutions of collective governance 
• Rights to exclude destructive activities like mining
• Respect of diverse cultures, lifestyles, economic systems 
• Recognition of ICCAs as protected areas or other effective conservation areas 

The publication shows that several countries are moving substantially in these directions. For instance, in Australia, Indigenous Protected Areas make up about 30% of the official protected area estate, while in the Philippines legislation relating to ancestral domain rights is providing backing to indigenous peoples in their efforts to conserve and sustainable manage their territories. However, many countries are still weak in their recognition of indigenous peoples and local communities in general, and of ICCAs in particular. In most, serious threats from extractive industries and large infrastructure projects, imposition of inappropriate land uses, and lack of recognition are the key challenge.

Global cooperation is needed to enable all countries achieve recognition of ICCAs, to enhance their contribution to conservation, livelihood security, and cultural sustenance. The publication provides pointers on how this can be done through legal, administrative, social, financial, advocacy, networking and other forms of recognition and support.

Citation: Kothari, Ashish with Corrigan, Colleen, Jonas, Harry, Neumann, Aurelie, and Shrumm, Holly. (eds). 2012. Recognising and Supporting Territories and Areas Conserved By Indigenous Peoples And Local Communities: Global Overview and National Case Studies. Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity, ICCA Consortium, Kalpavriksh, and Natural Justice, Montreal, Canada. Technical Series no. 64, 160 pp.

For further details, contact Ashish Kothari.

ICTs for Climate Change Adaptation: Introduction of innovative technologies in the Caribbean

Starting at the end of this week Tobago will host a very interesting event. Close to 200 residents of the island will come together in a two-week workshop to build a physical three-dimensional model of Tobago.  The process will contribute to formulating responses and develop action plans addressing the impacts of climate change and extreme climatic events.

The 3D model will cover a total area of 1,188 sq km at a 1:10,000 scale.  Once completed, the model will display a wide range of terrestrial and marine features and landmarks which will help communities articulate their concerns, needs and aspirations in terms of development and disaster risk reduction.  In the process, facilitators will use methods known as Participatory 3D Modelling (P3DM) and Participatory Video (PV) which will help in documenting and adding value to the input of local and traditional knowledge from communities.

The workshop will take place at the Blenheim Sheep Multiplication & Research Center in Tobago (29 September - 11 October, 2011). 

View Participatory 3D Modelling Workshop in Tobago in a larger map

The activities will culminate in the presentation of an impressive relief model (measuring 4.9 m x 2.4 m) and a participatory video by representatives of the local communities and project facilitators at a handing over ceremony which will take place on Friday 12th October 2012 at the auditorium of the Trinidad and Tobago Hospitality and Tourism Institute - Tobago campus (by invitation only).

P3DM of Manus Island, Papua New Guinea. Photo credit: J. Hardcastle

The project will pilot, for the first time in the region, the use of P3DM. P3DM is a participatory mapping method that can be used across the Caribbean islands to facilitate effective participation by local communities and other stakeholders in the identification of general policy priorities, as well as specific policies and actions needed on the ground at the landscape and site level to address land management issues, including the impacts of climate change and extreme climatic events.  This method will allow inclusion of relevant local and traditional knowledge, increase capacity, facilitate coordination and collaboration across sectors, and build buy-in for implementation of plans for resilience to climate change and extreme climatic events.

Twenty-two trainees from the region (including five from Tobago) will be trained to facilitate P3DM and PV processes in this project, and nearly fifty observers from the region will visit during the construction of the model.

The process is facilitated by the Caribbean Natural Resources Institute (CANARI), the University of the West Indies (UWI), the Tobago House of Assembly (THA), Division of Agriculture, Marine Affairs, Marketing and the Environment (DAME) and the Partners with Melanesians (PwM). Funding and expertise is provided by the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation ACP-EU (CTA) and the United Nations Development Programme and the Global Environment Facility (GEF) Small Grants Programme (SGP).

In the forthcoming months CTA will support capacity building in the domain of Web 2.0 and social media. In the forthcoming months, CTA will support capacity building in the domain of Web 2.0 and social media.  In addition, CANARI has secured funding from the Federal Republic of Germany to facilitate the production of a civil society agenda addressing climate change issues in the island as a follow-up activity to this project.

If you are interested in having a look at "work in progress" please contact Mrs. Neila Bobb-Prescott (e-mail: neila@canari.org; phone: 001-868-789-9917 or 001-868-302-3739 to get more information.

Crowdsourcing Geographic Knowledge: Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI) in Theory and Practice

The phenomenon of volunteered geographic information is part of a profound transformation in how geographic data, information, and knowledge are produced and circulated. By situating volunteered geographic information (VGI) in the context of big-data deluge and the data-intensive inquiry, the 20 chapters in this book explore both the theories and applications of crowdsourcing for geographic knowledge production with three sections focusing on 1).  VGI, Public Participation, and Citizen Science; 2). Geographic Knowledge Production and Place Inference; and 3). Emerging Applications and New Challenges.

This book argues that future progress in VGI research depends in large part on building strong linkages with diverse geographic scholarship. Contributors of this volume situate VGI research in geography’s core concerns with space and place, and offer several ways of addressing persistent challenges of quality assurance in VGI.

This book positions VGI as part of a shift toward hybrid epistemologies, and potentially a fourth paradigm of data-intensive inquiry across the sciences. It also considers the implications of VGI and the exaflood for further time-space compression and new forms, degrees of digital inequality, the renewed importance of geography, and the role of crowdsourcing for geographic knowledge production.

Daniel Sui (Editor), Sarah Elwood (Editor), Michael Goodchild (Editor)

Publisher: Springer; 2013 edition (August 9, 2012)

ISBN-10: 9400745869 | ISBN-13: 978-9400745865 | Edition: 2013

Participatory 3D Modelling (P3DM): five years after receiving the World Summit Award

In collaboration with national and regional partner organisations, the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation EU-ACP (CTA) is supporting the dissemination and adoption of P3DM practice in ACP countries. The practice is now well established in Africa and the Pacific. Its introduction to the Caribbean  is planned for October 2012 via a partnership with CANARI and the University of the West Indies.

Since 2007 WSA award winning Participatory 3D Modelling P3DM (P3DM) in Fiji, the P3DM practice has been adopted in many parts of the world including Australia, Bhutan, Cambodia, Chad, Colombia, East Timor, Ecuador, Ethiopia, France, Gabon, Ghana, Guatemala, Guyana, India, Italy, Kenya, Malaysia, Morocco, Nepal, Nicaragua, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, Uganda, Thailand, Vietnam, and many other countries.

In Kenya, Indigenous Peoples employed the practice to document their biophysical and cultural landscapes, enhance inter-generational knowledge exchange.  They also found it to add value and authority to local knowledge, improve communication with mainstream society, improve spatial planning and address territorial disputes.




In Ethiopia P3DM has been taken up by farmers to plan out community-based land reclamation and sustainable management of resources.



The Indigenous Peoples of Africa Coordinating Committee (IPACC), a pan-African network, has been spearheading the adoption of P3DM in the continent to improve awareness at policy-making level on the relevance of location-specific knowledge in climate change adaptation processes. As an example, the use of P3DM by pygmies in Gabon allowed them to gain visibility and establish peer-to-peer exchanges with local government institutions.



In 2012 Pastoralist Mbororo People in Chad practiced P3DM to manage spatial conflicts with farming communities.

In Solomon Islands coastal communities benefitted from P3DM to analyse issues related to climate change and identified ways to adapt to it.


UNESCO, IFAD and other development agencies have created resource materials (publications) making specific reference to the method.

In collaboration with IFAD, CTA has developed a training kit http://pgis-tk.cta.int supporting the spread of good practice in generating, managing, analysing and communicating spatial information. The kit includes a module on P3DM.

Trading Bows and Arrows for Laptops: Carbon & Culture

The Surui Cultural Map shows the Surui tribe of the Amazon's vision of their forest, including their territory and traditional history. To create this map, Surui youth interviewed their elders to document and map their ancestral sites, such as the site of first contact with western civilization in 1969, places where the tribes battled with colonists in the 1970s, as well as places of interest, like sightings of jaguars, capybaras and toucans. To preserve their forest and their livelihood, the Surui are entering the Carbon Credit marketplace with software called Open Data Kit to measure carbon and monitor any illegal logging in their forests using Android smartphones.

Tobagonians will build a participatory 3D model of Tobago to plan for impacts of climate change and extreme climatic events

Over 200 residents of Tobago will come together in early October 2012 to build a three-dimensional model of Tobago. The process will contribute to formulating responses and develop action plans addressing the impacts of climate change and extreme climatic events.

The process will be facilitated by the Caribbean Natural Resources Institute (CANARI), the University of the West Indies (UWI), the Tobago House of Assembly (THA), Division of Agriculture, Marine Affairs, Marketing and the Environment (DAME) and the Partners with Melanesians (PwM).  The project is funded by the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation ACP-EU (CTA) and the United Nations Development Programme and the Global Environment Facility (GEF) Small Grants Programme (SGP).

The project will pilot, for the first time in the region, the use of participatory three-dimensional modelling (P3DM).  P3DM is a tool that can be used across the Caribbean islands to facilitate effective participation by local communities and other stakeholders in the identification of general policy priorities, as well as specific policies and actions needed on the ground  to address the impacts of climate change and extreme climatic events.  P3DM will allow the recognition of the value of traditional knowledge, increase capacity, facilitate coordination and collaboration across sectors, and build buy-in for implementation of plans for resilience to climate change and extreme climatic events.

In this regard, 15 trainees from the Caribbean region (including five from Tobago) will be trained to facilitate the building of the model. Nearly 50 observers from the region will visit during the construction of the model.  Lessons learned and experiences will be documented and shared using a variety of media including participatory video, blogs and policy briefs.

P3DM produced in Boe Boe, Solomon Islands
Image courtesy of Javier Leon, University of Wollongong

The physical output of the workshop will consist in a 1:10,000-scale 3D model of the entire island of Tobago and its surrounding waters up to a depth of -100 meters. The model will cover an area of approximately 1,152 km2.



Once the model will be completed island'a representatives will produce a civil society agenda to tackle among others climate change issues in the island.  This activity consisting in a 3-day workshop will be facilitated by CANARI, through the support of grant funding from the Federal Republic of Germany.

CTA will further provide capacity building in the domains of Web 2.0 and Social Media to enhance Information, Communication and Knowledge Management (ICKM) among local stakeholders. 

On 5 and 6 September 2012, UWI, DAME and CANARI will host mobilisation meetings in east and south-west Tobago to sensitise the residents in Tobago about the project and to confirm participation of civil society groups in the exercise.

For further information, please contact: Neila Bobb-Prescott - Manager, Forest, Livelihoods and Governance Programme, Caribbean Natural Resources Institute.

Note: The initiative is supported by CTA in the context of the project "Promoting participatory ICTs for adding value to traditional knowledge in climate change adaptation, advocacy and policy processes in the Caribbean and the Pacific". For information on this project you may contact Giacomo Rambaldi, Sr. Programme Coordinator, ICT4D, CTA


Video collection of P3DM initiatives: http://vimeo.com/channels/pgis
P3DM worldwide: www.p3dm.org

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