Interview with Leonard Odambo, President of the Indigenous Peoples Association, MINAPYGA, Ikobé, Gabon.

Leonard Odambo, President of MINAPYGA talks about how participatory mapping is supporting community rights in Gabon (in French). Second in size only to the Amazon, the Congo Basin rainforest is a vital regulator of regional climate, a carbon store of global significance and a massive reserve of biodiversity, hosting over 10,000 species of plants, 1,000 species of birds and 400 species of mammals. It is also home to up to 40 million forest dependent people including an estimated 500,000 indigenous "Pygmies", characterized by a largely hunter-gatherer, semi-nomadic existence.

For more information please visit www.mappingforrights.org
Read also: Redessiner sa forêt en 3D

Launch of the Participatory Mapping Project in the CAR

Emmanuel Bizot, Minister of Water, Forests, Hunting and Fishing for the Central African Republic speaks at the launch of the participatory mapping project that seeks to literally and figuratively put CAR indigenous peoples on the map.

The Minister speaks about the benefit of collaborative actions between governmental and non-governmental organisations and the need to include indigenous people in the policy-making process. He acknowledges the need to recognise and respect the rights of indigenous people over utilisation and management of the natural resources of the forests in which they live.

For more information please visit www.mappingforrights.org

A Participatory Video made by Chivoko Village, Solomon Islands

Conservation Story Blong Chivoko" was made by the men and women of the remote coastal village of Chivoko, accessible only by sea on the north-west tip of Choiseul Island, one of the Solomon Islands. Chivoko's tribal land is one of the last remaining intact and unlogged forests in the Solomon islands. Their reefs are important spawning sites for the grouper fish which come to lay their eggs every year for 2 months around May. Their story is an insight into the problems they are facing with increased pressure from logging companies, increasing population, declining forest and marine resources, and ensuing climate change. They provide solutions which may help other Solomon Island and other communities around the world, to also safeguard the abundance of resources for future generations to come ...

More information on a Participatory 3D Model done in Chivoko village in 2009 is available here.

E-Book launch: Participatory GIS and Land Planning

Dr Françoise Orban-Ferauge, or Françoise to many of her friends in the Philippines, will be launching her e-book "PGIS and Land Planning: Life Experiences for People Empowerment and Community Transformation" on 23 August 2011 at the University of Saint La Salle in Bacolod City.

The book highlights the effectiveness of "participation" as the key ingredient of good Participatory Geographic Information Systems (PGIS) practice. It positively invites the reader to reflect about it through the sharing of a range of experiences and case studies. Learning from numerous applications mainly led by the author in the Philippines, this e-book aims to clarify the notions of Participatory Geography, People's Empowerment, Quadripartite Partnership, and Power Sharing, in an action-oriented research that highlights the use of GIS. The role and responsibility of the scientists are analyzed, facing the ethical challenges and the limits of the approach.

PGIS practice is about empowering ordinary people in adding value and authority to their spatial knowledge through the use of geographic information technologies and maps as a media to effectively communicate by increasingly using Web 2.0 applications and related multimedia.

Dr Orban-Ferauge was awarded the 2008 Signum Lasallanum Award for her passion and energy for co-development that bridges technology with social advancement and generates hope and synergy among many international communities and partners. She recently retired as the Head of the Department of Geography, University of Namur in Belgium but continues to actively engage with Philippine-based research organizations. At ESSC, she continues to support and actively engage with the Institute's work in upland communities and resource management.

The e-book was written in collaboration with V. Aguilar, E. Alarcon, A. Carmona, N. Daix, B. Denil, A. Ignacio, J. Martinez, M. McCall, G. Miscione, E. Olivarez, M. Pandan, G. Rambaldi, R. Teruel, and J. Verplanke.

Download a pdf version of the book.

Mediating voices and communicating realities: Using information crowdsourcing tools, open data initiatives and digital media to support and protect the vulnerable and marginalised

This report published by IDS, investigates how the next generation of information and communication technologies (ICTs) — such as open mapping and open source crowdsourcing platforms — can empower vulnerable communities and build local capacity.

It is based on an investigation of how initiatives such as Map Kibera, an online community information source based in Kenya, contribute to creating shared information resources. The empirical data also provide insights into the hurdles and opportunities facing marginalised communities using these innovative communication tools. The report also presents results from interviews of leaders of ICT initiatives deployed to support post-reconstruction efforts in Haiti.

It outlines the challenges of using ICT for development, including the need to balance short-term individual benefits with longer-term agendas and the responsibility of those in charge to build trusting relationships to diffuse tensions emerging from free information sharing.

The study highlights the role of open-source social entrepreneurs as a new development actor, and the opportunities for collaboration between development and technology practitioners. The report suggests a follow-up research agenda to build upon this initial investigation.

Click here to download the document.

The Manus MOSAIC - Participatory 3D modeling for climate change adaptation across Manus Province, Papua New Guinea

At the Manus Province Climate Change Seminar ‘Manus Way Forward’, October 2010, over 70 participants presented and shared experiences, expertise and ideas on how to adapt to climate change impacts. As part of the recommendations, representatives from the Provincial Government suggested using Participatory 3D modeling (P3DM) as a tool to help convene stakeholders and discuss province-wide responses to climate change impacts that would support and build on local efforts and scale-up impacts and opportunities.

In particular, the tool was proposed as a way to initiate discussion on a protected area network for Manus, the Manus ‘MOSAIC’. The exercise would be an initial step in outlining the spatial coverage of key ecosystem services, such as watersheds, reefs and mangroves, and representing and discussing opportunities for strengthened management of these areas under a future of climate change, and in the context of social and economic development for the province. The opportunity to involve local stakeholders from all LLG jurisdictions in this process will help develop a roadmap for the development of a Manus ‘MOSAIC’ protected area network.

Participatory 3D modelling

Participatory 3D modelling (P3DM) is a fully collaborative exercise that combines community mapping with open discussions on land-use and land-use planning scenarios.  It combines geographic precision with local, individual spatial knowledge and ‘mind-maps’ of locality and familiar settings.  During a P3DM exercise, all participants contribute to make a physical, hands-on wood-and paper model, to scale, of their community, island or area. This is typically made on a large table in the centre of a meeting hall, school or other public place. Once the model is made, then people become ‘resource persons’ and informants, and everyone will contribute to placing features and places onto the model. Key informants, such as elders and experienced fishermen or foresters, will offer their view of past events, of boundaries, of key localities and times for certain activities, and these can be discussed, and learned, by all participants.

Below is the video produced during the Solomon Islands event in February 2011.



In this way, the model is more than just a map, it is a representation of spatial knowledge of the participants, and a source of discussion and interpretation around key issues.

Proposed area of Manus to be represented by the P3DM exercise (Map by Nate Peterson, TNC)

Although one key objective of this exercise is to plan for protection and restoration of key natural features, and to plan for possible climatic changes, other issues that are important to the province and the participating communities can be discussed in the same context. Furthermore, the model and the information can be used again, and again, for collaborative discussions and planning on key development issues. Digital GIS can be extracted from the model, and vice-versa, to aid and inform future discussions.  In this way, scientific information can be easily communicated and integrated with local knowledge and understanding.

Activity overview

The P3DM exercise will take place over a two-week period, from Monday 29th August to Friday 9th September. The first week will be dedicated to constructing the blank relief model, working closely with the local high-schools schools in Lorengau to allow students the opportunity to have a hands-on lesson in geography. It will also allow those participants interested in training / learning how to carry out a P3DM the opportunity to get involved.

The second week will concentrate on making the blank model come alive. Participants from all areas of Manus, and with all technical and local backgrounds, will discuss and add information to the model, including point data (features such as houses, schools, waterfalls, caves etc), line data (roads, streams, rivers, tracks, paths, boundaries, fences, cables, runways etc) and area data (polygons, such as mangroves, forest concession areas, reef flats, beaches, airports etc). Local knowledge on boundaries and features from participants from each part of Manus will contribute to an overall local picture of the province. Official and technical data can also be cross-referenced with local understanding, and represented on the model.

Towards the end of the second week, a facilitated discussion will focus on key issues, including ecosystem services and existing and proposed protected areas; current and proposed development activities (mining, forest concessions, urban and commercial expansion); and information related to predicted climate change impacts.

Future discussions on the proposed Manus MOSAIC protected area network can build on this initial analysis and use the 3D model for further participatory mapping.

General objectives of the Manus MOSAIC P3DM:

The P3DM exercise will enable all participants:

• To learn and understand Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in an open, hands-on and accessible way
• To participate in spatial planning for their own area as well as for the whole province
• To identify planned developments and trends in land-use change, and assessing the impacts of these changes on key ecosystem services
• To open a discussion on climate change impacts and how to integrate adaptation into spatial planning at local and provincial scales
• To discuss management and protection measures for key ecosystem services in the context of scaling-up beyond local efforts to ensure the best network of connectivity in conservation and adaptation efforts for the whole province

Author: James Hardcastle, The Nature Conservancy

Source: Eldis Communities | blog

Community managed forests and forest protected areas: An assessment of their conservation effectiveness across the tropics

This paper assesses the role of protected and community managed forests for the long term maintenance of forest cover in the tropics. Through a meta-analysis of published case-studies, we compare land use/ cover change data for these two broad types of forest management and assess their performance in maintaining forest cover.
Case studies included 40 protected areas and 33 community managed forests from the peer reviewed literature. A statistical comparison of annual deforestation rates and a Qualitative Comparative Analysis were conducted. We found that as a whole, community managed forests presented lower and less variable annual deforestation rates than protected forests. We consider that a more resilient and robust forest conservation strategy should encompass a regional vision with different land use types in which social and economic needs of local inhabitants, as well as tenure rights and local capacities, are recognized.
Further research for understanding institutional arrangements that derive from local governance in favor of tropical forest conservation is recommended.

Authors: Porter-Bolland, L.; Ellis, E.A.; Guariguata, M.R.; Ruiz-Mallén, I.; Negrete-Yankelevich, S.; Reyes-García

Journal Title:  Forest Ecology and Management

Download paper!

Mapping Winnemem Sacred Sites

Mt. Shasta, California, North America - July 12, 2011

Maps tell stories, and control of the printing press allowed colonial powers to tell their own stories for centuries. A Native American tribe that was literally taken off the map in California’s history books — and is still unrecognized by the U.S. government — is using technology to put themselves back on the map. On June 11 and 12, Eli Moore and Catalina Garzon of Pacific Institute, and Miho Kim of The Data Center, led a mapping workshop with the Winnemem Wintu Tribe to continue a long process of documenting sacred sites in the Winnemem’s traditional cultural territory. On Saturday, mapping terminology and GPS skills were mastered in the Winnemem village near Redding, and on Sunday a dozen young people practiced their new skills while visiting four sacred sites along the McCloud River. We filmed the workshop to include as a scene in our Losing Sacred Ground documentary series.

All over the world, indigenous communities are incorporating mapping into their communication and outreach strategies, as they craft the stories they want to tell to the outside world about their struggles to protect land, culture, language and sacred sites. Mapping now figures into five of our eight stories: in Papua New Guinea, Ethiopia, Russia’s Altai Republic, the tar sands of Alberta, Canada, and in northern California. As Winnemem leader Caleen Sisk-Franco says, "We need to create evidence to convince the Forest Service that this is a historic cultural district containing a network of sacred sites that all work together.

Different places teach us different things and have different purposes. But we need them all.

Source: Sacred Land Project

Report back on a short mission to Ethiopia - PGIS practice

I was recently in Ethiopia where I had the opportunity to deliver two seminars on PGIS practice, with focus on Participatory 3-Dimensional Modelling (P3DM) work done in Ethiopia. The 1^st seminar took place at ILRI on May 26. It attracted approximately 20 participants from various agencies including ILRI, IWMI, CGIAR System-wide Livestock Programme, the New Agriculturist magazine and Biodiversity International.

The 2^nd seminar organised by the Ministry of Agriculture in collaboration with GIZ took place at the offices of GIZ and was attended by representatives from MoA, GIZ, WFP, FAO, WFP-MERET, Sustainable Land Use Forum (SLUF), Oromisa SLM program, Austrian Development Cooperation, and the Sustainable Land Management (SLM) Program. Mr. Daniel Danano, coordinator of the SLM confirmed their interest in collaborating with CTA to (i) translate the handbook “Participatory 3-Dimensional Modelling: Guiding Principles and Applications; 2010 edition” in Amharic, (ii) broadcast the video production “Mapping for Change” on national TV, (iii) and to implement P3DM process in “hot spots” within project watersheds.

Great interest in the practice was also expressed by representatives from the WFP and FAO. All participants requested copies of the P3DM manual and of the PGIS Training Kit 

La Cartographie Participative: Guide Pour La Production Des Cartes Avec Les Communautés Forestières Dans Le Bassin Du Congo.

Ce guide explique comment les représentants des ONG, des Gouvernements et des communautés participant aux projets de cartographie participative appuyés par la Rainforest Foundation Royaume Unis dans le Bassin du Congo aident les communautés forestières à produire des cartes communautaires qui sont précises et geo-référencées. Il sert de guide méthodologique pour les facilitateurs sur le terrain.
La Rainforest Foundation est une organisation caritative agréée, qui travaille en collaboration étroite avec des associations partenaires locales, afin de développer et soutenir différents projets qui promeuvent une gestion durable des écosystèmes forestiers et la reconnaissance des droits des populations locales. La Rainforest Foundation travaille également en relations étroites avec les Rainforest Foundation Etats-Unis et Norvège. La mission de la Rainforest Foundation Royaume-Uni est d'assister les peuples autochtones et populations traditionnelles des forêts tropicales du monde, et de les aider à protéger leur environnement et à exercer leurs droits. Selon la Foundation Rainforest Royaume-Uni, la protection à long terme des forêts tropicales est inextricablement liée aux droits des populations qui vivent dans ces forêts.

La Cartographie Participative: Guide Pour La Production Des Cartes Avec Les Communautés Forestières Dans Le Bassin Du Congo.

Indigenous Palawan Leaders soon to Confront the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) in Manila

ALDAW (press release) - The struggle of the indigenous peoples of Palawan against mining corporations is now being impaired by highly manipulative processes being carried out by both NCIP (the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples) and MacroAsia Corporation.

Last week 30 “fake” tribal leaders, so-called Tribal Chieftains, went to Manila (Philippines’ Capital City) in order to show support for MacroAsia Mining Corporation (MAC), despite opposite views from the majority of the Indigenous Peoples of Palawan. These so call Tribal Chieftains have been appointed by NCIP to favour multi-billionaire Lucio Tan’s owned MacroAsia Corporation.

If this process of manipulation is not adequately counteracted, MAC may end up acquiring the required ‘social-consensus documents’ (Certificate of Precondition), which are needed in order to start mining operations in the territory of indigenous communities, some of which are still isolated and have limited contacts with the outside world.

By creating ‘ad-hoc’ “tribal leaders” NCIP and MacroAsia have bluntly disregarded local decision-making processes that are customarily facilitated by elders and so called ‘panglima’ (traditional leaders).

“These fake IP leaders” says Panglima Pedro Sagad “are paid by Macroasia and do not have any right to represent our people, especially with regards to mining companies encroaching in our ancestral territories”. According to Artiso Mandawa, Chaiman of the ALDAW network (Ancestral Land/Domain Watch): “none of these ‘so called’ tribal chieftains inhabit our ancestral land domain. Out of 30 of such representatives, 15 do not even belong to the Palawan ethnic group and eight of them are only half-blood Palawan. Of the remaining seven, two come from other parts of the Island, and five are lowland Palawan having no connections with the upland communities to be directly impacted by MacroAsia activities”.

Authentic representatives of indigenous Palawan communities (panglima), facilitated by the ALDAW network, will soon be travelling to Manila (the Philippine’s Capital City) to bring their voices and grievances to the attention of NCIP and, thus, to counterbalance the ‘fabricated’ testimonies of the ‘fake’ tribal chieftains. The mission, headed by ALDAW chairman Artiso Mandawa will be composed of seven indigenous leaders and representatives from Brooke’s Point Municipality: Pedro Sagad, Wiliton Palete, Prudencio Danadio, Ronald Cumbang, Entecio Gipaya, Titu Cui, Abelio P. Danadio.

Specifically, during the en banc NCIP meeting, the members of the delegations will make an open call to:

1. immediately investigate the mining activities inside the ancestral domain of the Palawan tribe, being carried out without the genuine free prior and informed consent of the tribe as enshrined by the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act (IPRA) or R.A. 8371 and without the mandatory community consultations as required by the Local Government Code of 1991;
2. revise the NCIP guidelines for FPIC, in order to ensure that these will really respond to the meaning of ‘consensus’, as it is perceived by the indigenous communities themselves; 
3. carry out serious in-depth investigations to determine whether, and to what extent, the provincial NCIP officers can still perform their duties in a way that reflects the mandate and priorities of NCIP. Ultimately, those officers who have abused their power and conspired with mining companies should be removed immediately from their positions;
4. revoke and nullify all certificates of precondition issued by NCIP to mining companies in Palawan;
5. disregard the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) signed by mining companies and ‘fake’ tribal leaders who have been appointed by the NCIP rather than by the local indigenous communities;
6. re-due all FPIC processes in conjunction with the operations of MAC and other mining companies in Palawan. 

Aside from attending the en banc NCIP meeting, the indigenous leaders – through their national supporters (‘The Alliance against Mining’ – ATM) will deliver a special message to the President of the Philippines to spare Palawan (the Philippine Last Frontier) from mining operations.

The panglima through a selected ritual specialist will also perform a ritual offering at the office of ABS-CBN Foundation in Manila.  “The purpose of the ritual” says Pedro Sagad  (panglima and ritual specialist) is “to call our ancestors to support us as well as to guide the actions of those government officials responsible for implementing the Indigenous People’s Right Act (IPRA)”. This law, so inefficiently implemented, is – in fact - aiming at protecting indigenous rights and territories nationwide. As part of the ritual there will a symbolic offering addressed to ABS-CBN Foundation (the institution spearheading the 10 Million signatures petition) consisting of non-timber forest products (NTFPs), useful plans, traditional crops and seeds that have been selected by IP of Palawan over thousands of years and in the same locations that  are now being threatened by MacroAsia Corporation.   Say Artiso Mandawa “in doing so we want to place emphasis on the fact that our indigenous people have been the guardians and stewards of these precious natural and cultivated resources over a long period of time and, without us, Palawan would not be as beautiful and green as it still is today.  This is something that environmentalists should always take into account when implementing conservation projects”.

The indigenous delegation will also meet with Cong. Baguilat (Congress Chair for Indigenous Cultural communities) and Cong. Bag-ao of AKBAYAB- Caucus Group on Indigenous People (CGIP). The purpose of these meetings is to brief both congressmen on the proposed congressional inquiry regarding the issuance of Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC) and Certificates of Precondition (CP) to MacroAsia.  The Office of the Presidential Advisor on Peace Process (OPPAP) will also be visited by the delegations to discuss the increasing militarization now taking place within the ancestral domain of the indigenous Palawan communities of Brooke’s Point Municipality.

Undoubtedly, unless MacroAsia Corporation mining will be stopped, the environment on which indigenous Palawan depends for their physical subsistence and cultural sustenance will be irremediably altered.  Also indigenous peoples’ sacred and worship sites are found within the mining tenements of MacroAsia. As of now, MAC exploration activities have also taken place in areas that, according to indigenous elders, are considered as lyen or lylien (sacred forests) inhabited by powerful super-human beings (Taw Kawasa), as well as in areas that are indispensable to subsistence and wellbeing of isolated communities. ALDAW has already obtained geotagged evidences on this as well as film footage.

According to official information, between June 15 and 17, the NCIP will convene an en banc meeting to decide on the issuance or non-issuance of the Certificate of Precondition to MacroAsia Corporation.  The eventual endorsement of this important document will allow MacroAsia to proceed towards the next step: getting the (Strategic Environmental Plan) SEP clearance from the Palawan Council for Sustainable Development (PCSD). After that, MAC will have acquired the most important documents to start the plundering of precious forests and indigenous people ancestral domains.  All measures should be taken to reverse this trend.

What you can do ...

Address your concerns to NCIP requesting the no-issuance of the Certificate or Preconditions to MacroAsia Corporation:

Hon. Roque N. Agton Jr., NCIP Chairman
and also to the attention of the following NCIP commissioners:
HON. Zenaida Brigida Hamada-Pawid
HON. Percy A. Brawner 

HON. Conchita C. Calzado 

HON. Dionesia O. Banua

HON. Santos M. Unsad

HON. Cosme M. Lambayon

Email: resource@ncip.gov.ph

Kindly request President Benigno C. Aquino III (Malacañang Palace, Manila) to support the Brooke’s Point indigenous peoples’ claims against MacroAsia Corporation and the manipulative FPIC processes initiated by NCIP

Email: titonoy@president.gov.ph

Also Sign the no-2-mining-in-palawan petition launched by the Save Palawan Movement and the ALDAW Petition to stop the encroachment of mining corporations and oil palm plantations in the ancestral land of indigenous Palawan!

For more information watch ALDAW videos
http://www.vimeo.com/aldawnetwork
http://www.youtube.com/user/ALDAWpalawan
and see ALDAW Facebook page or contact the ALDAW INDIGENOUS NETWORK (Ancestral Land/Domain Watch) aldaw.indigenousnetwork@gmail.com

CCE Talks: Community-Based Mapping Tools - Fred McGarry, Centre for Community Mapping

Fred McGarry is Director of Waterloo's Centre for Community Mapping, a platform for collaborative innovation that provides mapping research and development services to communities. He worked with Family Services Toronto and the United Way on a community-managed map of social services with city-wide potential.

Presented by the Centre for City Ecology

May 18th, 2011

Urbanspace Gallery, Toronto

CCE Talks: Community-Based Mapping Tools - Nina-Marie Lister

Nina-Marie Lister is an Associate Professor of Urban and Regional Planning at Ryerson University and Visiting Associate Professor at Harvard University Graduate School of Design. She presents on mapping projects that relate landscape, ecology and urbanism and enable communities to decide what is mapped, for whom and for what purpose.

Presented by the Centre for City Ecology

May 18th, 2011

Urbanspace Gallery, Toronto

Participatory 3D Modelling for developing climate change adaptation plans in Boe Boe, Solomon Islands

I’d like to thank all the team who made the ten-day ‘Participatory 3D modelling (P3DM) for climate change’ engagement with Boe Boe community, Solomon Islands, such a successful event.

It is the first time that such innovative, yet simple, mapping and communication tools have been used in the context of climate change adaptation.

The team, led by Kenn Mondiai of Partners With Melanesians, and the Solomon Islands’ TNC staff and local partners, were able to hand over a vibrant, illustrated, ‘living’ and accurately-scaled model of the community customary lands and waters, at a ceremony involving Boe Boe village and neighboring communities.

The model took teams of students and volunteers 3 days to build, and then community members added the detail – from their own houses, their gardens, their route through the mangroves, forest paths, conservation areas, and anything else they reckoned important to note.

At the same time, climate vulnerability and adaptive capacity surveys with households, led by Esther Ririmae and Gideon Solo, and follow-up work by the team with community members on a range of key issues, allowed the modeling exercise to focus on community perspectives of climate change impacts, and the villagers’ collective ability to respond to these and other development pressures.

Of real interest, digital and ‘scientific’ modeling provided by TNC GIS folks (Nate Peterson, Seno Mauli) and Javier Leon of University of Wollongong, was seamlessly integrated into the mapping exercise and gave the community additional perspectives on their local knowledge, to aid decision-making.

The exercise has given all those involved, and all the partners in the Australian Government / AusAID supported project ‘Building the Resilience of Communities and their Ecosystems to the Impacts of Climate Change’, a chance to explore how local communities can assess potential climate impacts, be aware of their own capacities and vulnerabilities, and make decisions going forward.

Please find the attached initial write-up of the activity in the 'files' section at this link http://community.eld...  , along with some resources on conducting P3DM. More detailed reports will follow from Partners With Melanesians and other papers on the lessons learned from the exercise.

The guru of P3DM, Giacomo Rambaldi, based at the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Co-operation (CTA) in the Netherlands, has worked with both Kenn and myself before on the tool, and has an online resource kit available at http://pgis-tk-en.cta.int

Next up is 3D modeling at the provincial scale in Manus!

The initiative has been implemented in the framework of the Australian Government / AusAID-funded project ‘Building the Resilience of Communities and their Ecosystems to the Impacts of Climate Change in the Pacific”.

James Hardcastle

Source: EldisCommunity, 17 May 2011

Read more: Nature Conservancy's adaptation project in Choiseul, Solomon Islands

Changing the World, One Map at a Time

The Ushahidi platform is built on the Kohana web framework, a fork of the CodeIgniter framework. It includes built-in support for Clickatell SMS gateways, and the official Ushahidi-hosted websites use the commercial service. Ushahidi provides the option of using OpenStreetMap maps in its user interface, but requires the Google Maps API for geocoding. Ushahidi is often set up using a local SMS gateway created by a local FrontlineSMS set-up. This video provides a good overview on how the platform is being used around the world.

Source: Wikipedia

Indigenous Peoples and the Collaborative Stewardship of Nature: Knowledge Binds and Institutional Conflicts

Involving Indigenous peoples and traditional knowledge into natural resource management produces more equitable and successful outcomes. Unfortunately, argue Anne Ross and co-authors, even many “progressive” methods fail to produce truly equal partnerships. This book offers a comprehensive and global overview of the theoretical, methodological, and practical dimensions of co-management.

The authors critically evaluate the range of management options that claim to have integrated Indigenous peoples and knowledge, and then outline an innovative, alternative model of co-management, the Indigenous Stewardship Model.

They provide detailed case studies and concrete details for application in a variety of contexts.

Broad in coverage and uniting robust theoretical insights with applied detail, this book is ideal for scholars and students as well as for professionals in resource management and policy.

Pacific Cultural Mapping, Planning and Policy Toolkit

This toolkit has been made possible by the generous contribution of the European Commission, through the Structuring the Cultural Sector in the Pacific for Improved Human Development project. The toolkit was drafted following the Cultural Policy Workshop held at the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) headquarters in Nouméa, New Caledonia from 25–28 March 2010, and is designed to provide guidance to countries and territories carrying out the cultural mapping, planning and policy process.
Culture permeates political, economic and social life across Oceania. Because indigenous peoples and practices have predominated across this region for hundreds – and, in some places, thousands – of years, culture is lived and directly influences the values, decisions and hopes of Pacific Island peoples. Culture in Oceania is primarily understood to reference the people or customs ‘of the land’ but in the 21st century many other ideas, beliefs and practices have now taken root. In addition, Pacific populations are increasingly mobile and have settled beyond their indigenous homelands. Similarly, the Islands have welcomed new migrants from other countries. Culture therefore involves old, new and continuously developing modes of thinking, being and creating.

Globally, this cultural process is of great economic and social importance: many countries in Asia, Europe, the Americas, Africa and the Caribbean prioritise culture for national investment, capacity building, human development, peace and security, economic growth and communal revitalisation. In the international context, culture is increasingly central to ‘creativity’ and ‘innovation’ – two concepts that are at the heart of the cultural or creative industries. In the Pacific Island region, however, these industries are not clearly defined and programmes or policies on culture are still seen to be primarily about promoting or safeguarding tangible and intangible cultural heritage including traditional knowledge.

Source: Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC)

Related topics:  Building Critical Awareness of cultural mapping. A Workshop Facilitation Guide. (UNESCO, 2009)

Philippines Gov’t cancels deal with Canadian company, and other Palawan updates

ALDAW- May 5, 2011: This week, the Office of the President of Philippines announced that it is cancelling its Financial or Technical Assistance Agreements (FTAAs) for several mining concessions in Palawan.

The FTAAs were originally signed by the authority of the President of the Philippines on April 12, 2010 and registered with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources on May 31, 2010 to Narra Nickel Mining & Development Corp., Tesoro Mining and Development Inc., and McArthur Nickel Mining. All three companies are affiliates of Canada's MBMI Resources Inc.

Indigenous Peoples in Palawan, however, aren't quite ready to celebrate the news, as the ALDAW Network observes in a recent statement:

Overview of Rio Tuba Nickel Mining Corporation (RTNMC) in Southern Palawan

"These mining corporations have the potential for causing the devastation of precious watersheds, indigenous ancestral territories and productive farm-land in Central/Southern Palawan. Thus, the temptation on our part would be to celebrate this fantastic news right away, and salute Pres. Noynoy for his long-sighted decision. However, past experiences tell as that government announcements of this kind must be read, interpreted and reviewed with extreme caution before assuming that things are really as they appear to look like. So – before 'full-blast' celebration, let’s us wait and see first how the President's 'decision' looks like on paper. Indeed, we hope that, soon, the concerned agency will make a copy of FTAA cancellation publically available."


It also appears that MacroAsia Corporation has "voluntarily given up" its own mining exploration permit in Northern Palawan. Apparently, the company, which holds a concession covering some 4,500 hectares of land, wants to support the government's plans to turn the region into an eco-tourism hub. However, ALDAW's equally reluctant to celebrate this news, as well.

"To us [it] looks a bit 'plastic' and, perhaps, has more to do with MacroAsia’s attempt to distract national and international attention away from its mining claims held in Southern Palawan which overlap with the Mantalingahan Protected area, with valuable watersheds and with the ancestral domain of Palawan indigenous communities," ALDAW continues. "Some of these IPs are extremely vulnerable having limited contact with the outside world." ALDAW's reluctance is understandable. As the network points out, despite the promising announcements, "indigenous people in Palawan continue to be the object of military abuse and derogatory prejudices." 

"In the first instance, it would appear that mining companies are spreading the news that the NPA is supporting anti-mining leaders. For the past two months soldiers in full-combat gear, have entered the ancestral domain of the Palawan in the Municipality of Brookes’ Point. Two weeks ago, several indigenous peoples have also been taken to the police station without due process and have been subject to intense investigation. Is it possible that what mining companies are attempting to achieve in Southern Palawan is the militarization of the area where they intend to extract minerals, thus creating a situation of tension/danger that may force local indigenous inhabitants to vacate the area or to give up any resistance to mining."

The Save Palawan Movement's lofty "No to Mining in Palawan" campaign leaped passed one million signatures, making it one of the largest running anti-mining petitions around. The Save Palawan Movement is a multi-sectoral coalition of concerned environmental, legal religious and other civic groups which launched the "No to Mining in Palawan" campaign on February 3rd, 2011. This was in direct response to the killing of Dr. Gerardo "Doc Gerry" Ortega, a civic leader who championed the protection of Palawan and an outspoken critic of mining operations on the Island. As of now, the petition has gathered a total of 1,047,989 signatures. Ultimately, The Save Palawan Movement and it partners hopes to gather "ten million signatures to deliver a strong message to the Philippine and Palawan governments so that they would finally say no to mining in Palawan and help protect one of the Philippines’ last remaining treasures."

With the recent announcements from the Office of the President of Philippines and MacroAsia Corporation, perhaps that message is already being received.

Sign the petition at http://no2mininginpalawan.com

For more news and updates on indigenous people and mining in Palawan, visit ALDAW's facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/Aldaw.network.palawan.indigenous.advocacy

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.

• Plus d'informations sur cette étude de cas se trouve a la page http://tinyurl.com/3ptxhyn
• Plus d'informations sur la méthodologie P3DM se trouve a la page http://tinyurl.com/3txe4hv
• Redessiner sa forêt en 3D

Free, Prior and Informed Consent in REDD+

The principle that indigenous peoples and local communities have a right to give or withhold their Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC) to developments affecting their resources is not new. However, experience using FPIC in REDD+ implementation is still limited in the Asia-Pacific region. Using relevant examples from a range of locations and sectors, this manual provides a basis for developing country-specific guidance on employing FPIC in REDD+ processes. This new report has been published by The Center for People and Forests (RECOFTC) and the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ). The report is, according to the Introduction, “targeted at people concerned with the design and implementation of REDD+ projects or programs.”

RECOFTC and GIZ’s report can be downloaded here: “Free, Prior, and Informed Consent in REDD+: Principles and Approaches for Policy and Project Development” (1.4 MB)