Today I found a news item about a group of tribes in the Amazon who received tools and technology to map (and protect) their region. This is a great example of the public participatory approach to GIS. In the words of the president of the organization that assists the tribes:
“Indigenous peoples know, manage and protect the rainforest far better than we do. If you want to protect the rainforest, why not enlist the assistance of the people who actually live there? This is the only way that equilibrium change can be brought about in terms of protecting the greatest expression of life on earth.”
More information from the article:
The Amazon Conservation Team (ACT) works with indigenous groups across the Amazon to conserve biodiversity, traditional culture, and health. ACT has provided 28 tribes with the tools necessary to map, manage, and protect their territories—totaling more than 40 million acres of rainforest. ACT has also launched enduring Shamans and Apprentices programs that preserve, strengthen, and promote indigenous knowledge of the Amazon’s medicinal plants, and provide training to tribal leaders in sustainable agriculture and economic development.
Link to the article:
http://news.mongabay.com/2008/0311-act_skoll.html
Tags: empowerment, gis, public participation, rainforest
March 12, 2008 at 12:10 pm |
Yes, this is a very interesting story. GIS has a lot of powerful abilities that are just now being tapped into by indigenous peoples. There are several tribes in North America that have begun to extensively use GIS technology to map not only resources, but also sacred sites and other sensitive information so that it may be preserved for future generations.