Amidst increasing concerns about threats to their forests, wetlands and way of life, the Wapichan People of south west Rupununi have set up their own website to monitor their ancestral lands and defend their rights against harmful developments.
According to a press release from the South Rupununi District Council (SRDC), information has been collected by monitoring teams, using smart phone technology, drones and community digital maps. The innovative community –based monitoring and publishing system the Wapichan are using has involved developing and adapting a suite of user friendly open access software tools made available on a platform called Community lands. The information will be managed by the twenty-one villages and communities on their new website http://wapichanao.communitylands.org/ which was launched on Tuesday.