The indigenous Wapichan people of Guyana will today unveil a locally–made digital map of their traditional territory along with a proposal to save 1.4 million hectares of pristine rainforest, to protect their land and to develop their communities.
In the making for a decade, the digital map of the area in the South Rupununi District, of Region Nine, which is the homeland of 20 Wapichan communities, is part of a long-standing campaign to have their rights to their traditional lands legally recognised, according to the South Central People’s Develop-ment Association (SCPDA).
The entire Wapichan territory in Guyana, the association said in a statement, is threatened by mega road and dam projects as well as external plans for logging, mining, and agribusiness development. Like many other parts of the Amazon basin and the Guiana shield, the Wapichan communities, it noted, are vulnerable to “land grabs” and “marginalisation” because they lack secure legal title over much of their traditional lands.
The SCPDA hopes that sharing the map and the communities’ conservation proposal would foster dialogue the government and international organisations to help the Wapichan people to realise their vision for their homeland.
“Mappers from our own communities have used GPS technology to map the location of key livelihood, spiritual and cultural heritage sites that hold deep importance to our people and sustain our way of life,” Kid James, SCPDA member, is quoted as saying in the statement. “After ten years of painstaking work, we are very proud of the end result. We are now keen to share our territorial map with the government authorities to show how we occupy and use the land according to a custom and how we are attracted to the territory,” he added.
Building on the mapping and community research to document traditional knowledge and customary land use, the SCPDA said, the Wapichan organised more than 80 community consultations, workshop and public meetings between 2008 and 2011 to create collective proposals to promote sustainable land use, support local livelihood and protect their territory against harmful development.
The proposals, compiled in a Wapichan territorial plan, titled “Thinking Together For Those Coming Behind Us,” which details customary laws for caring for the land and includes over 40 community agreements to secure the community land rights, safeguard and sustainably use resources, and conserve cultural heritage and wildlife sites under community controlled reserves.
Haibert Wilson, Toshao and Chairperson South Central District Toshaos Council is quoted as saying that the communities have worked within the frameworks of the Amerindian Act and the United Nations Declarations on the Rights of Indigenous peoples to document traditional land use and practices of securing what they call beautiful “Wapichan wiizi.”
The statement also quoted Patrick Gomes, Chairperson of the South Rupununi District Toshaos Council, who highlighted the proposal to establish a large Wapichan Conserved Forest in the eastern and southern parts of the territory and plans to protect sacred sites and those important for hunting and fishing. He added, “Our plans also contain agreements made among villagers on common title boundaries and proposed extensions. Community rules and principles for dealing with external development affecting our lands, including rules relating to our collective right to free, prior and informed consent (FPIC) are also included in our document.”
Wapichan leaders, the SCPDA said, pointed out that securing the rights over their forest would not only bring important co-benefits where regional and global climate is concerned but would also facilitate implementation of the United Nation Declaration on the Rights of the Indigenous People, as well as related humans rights and environmental treaties signed by Guyana.
“Recognition of our rights to control and mage our traditional territory,” Toshao Anglelbert Jonny is quoted as saying, “would be one of the best ways of helping Guyana to fulfil to tackle climate change, and meet its obligations under the Convention on Biological Diversity, which aims to conserve and sustainably use biodiversity.”
The Wapichan territory has a rich variety of rainforests, mountains, wetlands, savannah grasslands and tropical woodlands, and the communities have made a living there from small-scale farming, hunting, fishing, and gathering for generations. The area is also has an abundance of wildlife, including endangered species such giant river otters, jaguars, and rare bush dogs.
The launch of the map and the communities’ proposal will be done at the Umana Yana, in Kingston, George-town today, between 2.30 pm and 4pm.
