Participatory Mapping as a tool for empowerment · Participatory Mapping as a tool for empowerment Experiences and lessons learned from the ILC network StefanoDiGessa with contributions

INTERNATIONALLANDCOALITION

Participatory Mappingas a tool for empowermentExperiences and lessons learned from the ILC network

KNOWLEDGE CHANGEfor

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The ILC ‘Knowledge for Change’ Series

In this series:

1. Common Ground – The Challenges to Developing Inclusive LandPolicies: Experiences of the International Land Coalition inPromoting Land Alliance for National Development

2. Mobile Livelihoods, Patchy Resources & Shifting Rights: ApproachingPastoral Territories – An Issues Paper

3. Securing Access to Common Property Resources in a 'Modernizing'World: Outcomes from 41 Case Studies on Common PropertyRegimes from Asia, Africa, Europe and Latin America

4.Working at the Boundaries: International Land Coalition’sEngagement with the Land Rights of Indigenous Peoples andtheir Neighbours

5. Participatory Mapping as a Tool for EmpowermentExperiences and Lessons Learned from the ILC Network

This publication shares the experiences from the International LandCoalition’s network on participatory mapping as a tool for empoweringcommunities to gain secure access to land and natural resources.While the publication expresses the lessons learned by the ILC,the views and case studies are those of the authors.

The opinions and assessments made herein do not necessarilyreflect the views of the civil society, governmental, bilateral orintergovernmental organizations associated with these activitiesor with the International Land Coalition.

Participatory Mappingas a tool for empowerment

Experiences and lessons learned from the ILC network

Stefano Di Gessa

with contributions fromPeter PooleTimothy Bending

Acknowledgements and Contacts

Our MissionThe International Land Coalition is a global alliance of civilsociety and intergovernmental organizations workingtogether to promote secure and equitable access toand control over land for poor women and men throughadvocacy, dialogue and capacity building.

Our VisionSecure and equitable access to and control over landreduces poverty and contributes to identity, dignity andinclusion.

INTERNATIONALLANDCOALITION

Secretariat at:Via del Serafico 107,00142, Rome, ItalyTel +39 06 5459 2445 Fax+39 06 5043 463E-mail: [email protected]

JANUARY 2008

Contributors

PAFIDPhilippine Association forInter-Cultural Development,The Philippines

Grupo TierraNicaragua

HARDIHarmonisations des Actions pour laRéalisation d’un Développement Intégré,Madagascar

PhotosILC Secretariat, PAFID, HARDI, Grupo Tierra, J. Corbett

Case Studies assembled by S. JonckheereInputs H. Liversage, B. Codispoti

The International Land Coalition would appreciate receiving copiesof any publication that uses this publication as a source.

The ILCwishes to thank the EuropeanCommission for providing supportthat helped to make this publication possible.

List of Contents

Part 1: Mapping: Opportunities and Challenges

Foreward V

1. Introduction 1Opportunities and Lessons 2

2. Overview of Mapping Technologies 4Towards Self-Sufficiency in Community Map Making 4Appropriate Geomatic Technology 5Methodologies and Technologies Used in Community Mapping 6

3. The Potential of Mapping: the Experience of ILC’s Partners 10Mapping for Community Cohesion and Advocacy 10Mapping for Land Rights Identification, Adjudication and Registration 10Mapping for Land Use Planning and Natural Resource Management 11Mapping for Land Dispute or Conflict Resolution 12Mapping for Territorial Planning and Spatial Integration 13

4. Mapping as a Tool for Empowerment: Lessons Learned 14

5. Prospects for Scaling Up 17Different Ways of Scaling Up 18

Part 2: Case Studies

1. PAFID: Participatory 3-D Modelling in Mindanao - The Philippines 21

2. Grupo Tierra: GPS-supported Community Mapping in Nicaragua 29

3. HARDI: Citizen’s Cadastre in Madagascar using Satellite Imagery 36

Selected References 43

III

ACH Acción Contra el Hambre, NicaraguaAFRA Association for Rural Advancement, South AfricaAPA Amerindian Peoples Association, GuyanaAPLR Association for Protection of Landowners Rights, GeorgiaCADT Certificates of Ancestral Domain TitlesCEDETI Centro de Tecnología Intermedia, BoliviaCEPES Centro Peruano de Estudios Sociales, PeruCIDOB Confederación de Pueblos Indígenas de Bolivia, BoliviaCODER Comisión para el Desarrollo Rural San Juan de Cinco Pinos, NicaraguaCPI/AC Comisao pro Indio do Acre, BrazilFTierra Fundación Tierra, BoliviaGIS Geographic Information SystemsGPS Global Positioning SystemGTierra Grupo Tierra, NicaraguaHARDI Harmonisation des Actions pour la Réalisation d’un Développement

Intègre, MadagascarILC International Land CoalitionIMPECT Inter-Mountain Peoples Education and Culture, ThailandINETER National Cadastre InstitutionIPs Indigenous PeoplesIPRA Indigenous Peoples Rights ActJKPP Jaringan Kerja Pemetaan Partisipatif, IndonesiaLMMA Locally Managed Marine AreasNACFP National Association of Communal Forest and Pasture, AlbaniaNCIP National Commission on Indigenous PeoplesNGO Non-Governmental OrganizationNRM Natural Resource ManagementPACOS Partners of Community Organization, MalaysiaPAFID The Philippines Association for Intercultural Development,

The PhilippinesPGIS Participatory GISPhilDHRRA Philippine Partnership for the Development of Human Resources in

Rural Areas, The PhilippinesPLOF Local Land Use PlanPPGIS Public Participation GISP3DM Participatory 3-Dimensional ModellingUNORCAC Unión de Organizaciones Campesinas e Indígenas de Cotacachi, EcuadorYTM Yayasan Tanah Merdeka, Indonesia

List ofAcronyms

IV

The members and partners of the International Land Coalition together represent agreat diversity and richness of knowledge and experience in land tenure issues.The ILC’s Knowledge for Change Series of publications was created to share workwithin the Coalition that is particularly innovative in supporting the land rights ofmarginalised people.

“Participatory Mapping as a tool for empowerment” brings together a number ofvaluable experiences on community-mapping approaches. These represent a setof tools and methods that are rapidly being taken up, developed, improved andshared by community-based organizations in many parts of the world.

Map making at the community level can be a very empowering tool in securing landrights. Locally-produced maps present a collective expression by the community oftheir entitlements, and have been used successfully in many contexts to persuadedecision makers of the legitimacy of local claims to land and natural resources.

For populations that have been marginal to national political and economicprocesses, creating maps of ‘their’ lands has been a means not only to validatetheir land claims, but also to becoming more powerful in espressing and defendingtheir rights within national processes. Legal recognition of rights is thus often onlyone of a series of outcomes of community-based mapping. Increased communitypride and cohesion, ability to influence policy, sounder natural resourcemanagement, and a greater political voice can be equally important outcomes.These are all important milestones towards enabling people to more actively decidewhat ‘development’ should mean in their own communities and territories.

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Foreword

Bruce H. Moore

Director,

ILC Secretariat

P articipatory mapping is well establishedas a tool of development intervention.

The mapping elements of Participatory RuralAppraisal, for example, have gainedincreasing prominence since the late 1980s.They have allowed for improvedinformation exchange between communitymembers and outsiders (e.g. researchers,NGOs, government) in the design andimplementation of development projects.Today, however, community-based mappingapproaches have also become importanttools for many land stakeholders. They areno longer confined to exchanges ofinformation for project design andimplementation. Mapping can be a powerfultool for communities and for the civil societygroups that collaborate with them. Mappingprocesses can be used to help secure accessto land and natural resources, to facilitatethe management of these resources and tosupport community advocacy onland-related issues. In other words,mapping is increasingly playing a role in theempowerment of people and communities.This paper seeks to give an overview of thedifferent roles participatory and communitymapping can play in helping communitiesimprove their control over their land andnatural resources. In particular, it reviewsthe lessons learned by International LandCoalition (ILC) network members andpartners in combining participatory mappingand spatial information technologies toimprove secure land access and control for

poor men and women. This overview doesnot seek to cover the full range of themapping toolbox; rather, it seeks to framehow technology-assisted communitymapping is related to the broader goal ofempowering rural people, a central objectivefor many of ILC’s partners. This paper seeksto show howmapping can facilitatecommunity empowerment, but also how itmust be employed with care, being mindfulof the risks for communities that suchactivities can entail.

As well as giving this overview, this paperwill present three case studies, eachdemonstrating the use of a differentcommunity-mapping strategy in a differentcountry and context. Both the overview andcase studies are presented with theobjective of sharing the innovations,experiences and lessons learned by ILC’spartner organizations.

These are experiences arising from thebuilding of alternatives for rural areasthrough the empowerment of localstakeholders, especially rural communities.Such innovative tools or practices aredeveloped and carried out by ILC membersand partners in collaboration withcommunities facing land-related problems.They are an attempt to offer concreteopportunities to disadvantaged groups toenhance their capacity to advocate for, gainand secure their access to land.

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1. Introduction

Part One:Mapping:Opportunities and Challenges

1.1 Opportunities and Lessons

Mapping tenure relations not onlyprovides spatial information about thelandscape of natural resources, theiruse and ownership; it also maps thesocio-political relationships underlyingthis landscape, in particular theinstitutional structures that governnatural resource use. Mapping is anexercise through which tacit knowledge,as embedded in people’s spatialmemory, is converted into explicit andexternally-usable knowledge. Herein liesthe usefulness of mapping as a tool forempowerment, but also some of therisks that it entails.

Participatory or community mappingcan be used:

� As a tool for advocacy and as a way toenhance community cohesion in theface of land-related challenges;

� As a way to identify rights, a way tomake customary tenure relations andrights apparent for outsiders and away to facilitate the officialadministrative recognition of theserights;

� As a tool for conflict resolution indisputies related to land, naturalresources, and/or territory; and

� As a tool for improved collaborativenatural resource management and forcross-sectoral territorial planning.

In none of these areas is successautomatic or even easy to achieve.There are no blueprint mappingprocesses that can be appliedregardless of context. Instead, it isnecessary to keep in mind a number oflessons.

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Part One: Mapping:Opportunities and Challenges

The InternationalLand Coalition (ILC)

Our MissionThe International Land Coalition is aglobal alliance of civil society andintergovernmental organizationsworkingtogether to promote secure andequitable access to and control overland for poor women and men throughadvocacy, dialogue and capacity building.

Our VisionSecure and equitable access to andcontrol over land reduces poverty andcontributes to identity, dignity and inclusion.

The following lessons have been learnedfrom the experiences of ILC’s membersand partners:

� An enabling environment matters:mapping to secure rights works bestby taking advantage of a political andlegal window of opportunity. In thisrespect, developing a strategicpartnership with government can pay off.

� Mapping needs to reflect all types ofrights, not just the fixed territorialownership rights that map makingmay prioritize.

� The mapping process - building thecapacity of the community - maymatter more than the final map itself.

� Advanced mapping technology mustbe inclusive, not exclusive to a few.

� Making the map is not the end of theempowerment process but thebeginning – the community’s capacityto use the map for its own benefitmust be enhanced.

� Mapping can highlight social relations.This can be a basis for improvingnatural resource managementinstitutions.

� Mapping and defining rights to landcan challenge power relations in asociety, and thus carries the risk ofaggravating social tensions andconflict. Attention must therefore bemade to mitigate such risks inparticularly polarised or politicisedcontexts.

Different community mapping approachesalso bring with them different prospectsfor the scaling up of the mappingprocess. Factors that affect scaling upinclude the level of communityengagement in the process and themapping capacity that exists within thecommunity, the complexity and expenseof the technology used, and the level ofinvolvement of government agencies inthe process. But the experiences of ILCmembers and partners also illustratethat scaling up can refer to differentaspects. Scaling up can mean theamplification and diversification ofcommunity mapping capabilities,community-to-community disseminationof mapping practices seeking toinfluence decision making at higheradministrative levels, or replicating anapproach through expanding thegeographical coverage of a programme.

The three case studies illustrate diversemapping approaches in practice.These case studies cover the workof PAFID in the Philippines, Grupo Tierrain Nicaragua and HARDI in Madagascar.They illustrate practices of participatory3-D modelling, GPS-supportedcommunity mapping, and citizen’scadastre using satellite imagery.

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1. Introduction

S ome low-tech community mappingtechniques were developed for use

by development practitioners as part ofParticipatory Rural Appraisal (PRA).Other approaches to mapping forcommunities, by communities, weredeveloped by indigenous peoples’organizations. The former were morefocussed on the design andimplementation of developmentprojects, the latter on producinghigh credibility maps for advocacy forsecuring land rights, therefore, morehigh-tech. While PRA techniques havebecome incorporated in community-ledapproaches and combined with moreadvanced mapping technology, therehas been a trend in more technology-dependent community mappingtowards greater affordability and morecommunity self-sufficiency.

This section gives an overview of someof the key mapping technologies andapproaches that have beendeveloped and are in use, as well as toproviding some background on theirdevelopment.

2.1. Towards Self-Sufficiencyin Community Map-Making

In the 1970s, indigenous map-makershad little choice but to rely on outsideagencies to take care of the technicalaspects of map compilation. But sincethen, map-making technologies havebecome progressively more accessible,easier to use and cheaper. It is nowpossible to set up a complete map-makingunit, capable of producing high quality,digital and printed maps, and servingthe interests of many communities, forless than US $10,000.

The increasing affordability of advancedmapping technologies has had anenormous effect on the mappingcapacity and self-sufficiency of somerural people's organizations.An example is the Amerindian PeoplesAssociation (APA) which first managed amapping project to map out Amerindianancestral domains in the UpperMazeruni in Guyana. The mapping unitused for the pilot cost around US$16,000. Once the pilot was completed,APA was able to employ this mappingunit in mapping the remainingAmerindian territories in Guyana.

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2. Overview of MappingTechnologies

In the early 1990s the Forest Peoples’Programme and Local Earth Observationworked on a ‘no-name’ methodology formaking geographically accurate mapsdesigned to maximize localself-sufficiency, for example, by choosingtracing (manual) over scanning (digital)or by using graphics software ratherthan GIS to make tenure maps.This ‘no-name’ method is furtherdescribed below. The mapping processwas organized as on-the-projecttraining, designed to produce not only atenure map but the capacity to makemore maps. This methodology has beenused, and improved, in the course often more community tenure-mappingprojects in the Guyana Shield region.

Cartographic self-sufficiency was not adeclared goal of these early projects,but rather evolved as an unintendedconsequence. Once communities andtheir associations had learned how tomake their own geographically accuratemaps, based upon an original data baseof traditional names and knowledgethey had gathered themselves, mappingbecame an instrument for expressingand advancing their agendas forstewardship, a tool for levelling theplaying field when dealing with externalgroups.

2.2. Appropriate GeomaticTechnology

Community mapping methods areapplications-driven. They are pragmaticand opportunistic combinations oftraditional and Western technology andpractices, guided by considerations ofwhat works, what is available, and whatcan be afforded. Executing a mappingproject is like cooking with what is freshthat day. And community mapping mayperversely entail the deliberate scalingdown of mapping technologies,localizing and simplifying them so as tomake them accessible to communitymapping groups. The geomatictechnologies that have been selected orsimplified for community mapping makeit possible for individuals toprogressively scale up their expertise.

Capacity building starts with whatremains the most important feature ofcommunity mapping, the collection oforiginal and often geo-referenced fielddata, using interviewing andsketch-mapping, along with GlobalPositioning System (GPS) units andcompass binoculars. Both instrumentsare durable, cheap and easy to learn.The next level is computer mapping.In this case indigenous associations,other popular organizations orsupporting NGOs usually managethe computer mapping facilities neededto provide mapping teams withgeo-referenced field maps.

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2. Overview of mapping

The next step, the use of GeographicalInformation Systems (GIS), is oftentriggered by a switch in focus, forexample, to more complex naturalresource management applications.GIS is also useful where complex,high-quality maps are needed tosupport negotiations of tenure rights.

Mapping processes are initially oftendriven by strategies of negotiation overtenure, access and stewardship rights.But the mapping process can alsoprovoke other processes withincommunities. It can reinforce localawareness of land issues, whiledrawing in younger people as mappersand elders as sources of knowledge.It can localise cartographic operationspreviously restricted to distant agencies.Above all, as negotiations proceed, themapping process can elucidate a localand territorial information base,indicating where people live and havelived, the resources they depend upon,their seasonal movements in gatheringand hunting, and so forth.

This traditional knowledge base can bekept current and continues to givedistinctive form and purpose to whatrural peoples do with their lands- it can be mobilised to provide for thefuture as well as elucidate the past.Land settlements act as a threshold.Beyond them communities face a fresharray of environmental issues andplayers such as monitoring, protecting,and restoring their lands while dealingwith incursions from corporations andother external agencies.

2.3. Methodologies andTechnologies Used inCommunity Mapping

One of the main advantages of communitymapping is that the first and mostimportant step - the gathering andmapping of original field data - is also theeasiest to teach and the cheapest tosupport. A range of key methods andtechnologies is summarized below. Someconsiderations on the advantages anddisadvantages of each are also given.

The No-Name Method

This method is designed to maximisecontrol by communities and/or by theirassociations. Skills are needed in basiccomputer graphics at this stage, but notin GIS. The cost of the equipmentneeded to control the entire mappingprocess has fallen below US $10,000,even to US $5-6,000 where there is localaccess to a wide-bed scanner and a newgeneration of intermediate printers.In Stage I, rivers, and sometimescontours, are extracted from the besttopographic maps available, by digitizingor tracing on mylar and scanning.These features, along with latitude andlongitude, become the projectbase map a ‘no-name’ map from whichall ‘political’ features have beenremoved. In Stage II, community teamsare trained in interviewing communitymembers and in using GPS units fornavigation and field mapping.In Stage III, the field data placed onthe ‘no-name’ field map is transferredto the base map.

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Interviewing and Sketch Mapping

This is the entry phase and the essentialcore of community mapping. Sketchmapping can work as a complement toconversations with informants. In somecases, all that is needed is a sketchmap, as in PRA applications. In others,sketch-mapped data are transferred totopographic maps. Most communitymapping continues to use sketch mappingin some way. But while sketch mappingmay be enough for transactionsbetween communities, sketch maps areat a disadvantage compared to officialscaled maps in external transactions.This disadvantage has been almostentirely overcome with the advent ofthe GPS.

Asset Allocation Mapping

This is an interesting variant of sketchmapping, particularly used by indigenouscommunities with the ultimate aim ofenabling them to make informeddecisions over the allocation of theirterritorial assets. To do this, they neednot only to arrive at their ownevaluations of these assets but also tounderstand the multiple values assignedto their assets by others; they must beable to map the ways in which assetsare imagined, defined and evaluated byan unfamiliar and mutating array ofexternal interests. Just as tenuremapping has evolved as a way ofenabling communities to pursuenegotiations over tenure, so assetallocation mapping preparescommunities to implement the results,

to exercise stewardship of theirterritories and to deal with rival claimants.Whilst tenure mapping is about makingclaims rooted in the past, asset allocationmapping is about the future.

GPS-based Field Mapping

For community-mapping teams to beable to map local knowledge andresources over extensive territories,GPS is increasingly essential, while GISremains an optional tool for processingthe data collected. GPS units are lowcost without sacrificing groundaccuracy, and reasonably reliable, andtheir use for navigation and fieldmapping can be taught in one or twoweeks.

Computer-based Map Making:Graphics Software and GIS

Two methodologies are in play incomputer-based map making. One usesgraphics software, such as AdobeIllustrator, to make geographicallyaccurate maps. This is one step in the‘no-name’ mapping method and thesequence of mapping routines serves asa platform for using GIS to compilemaps. GIS becomes more useful whencommunities decide to move fromone-off tenure maps to mapping as aninstrument for resource management.The cost and complexity of computer-based mapping no longer presents aserious obstacle to its localising inremote communities.

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Instead, computer-based mappingtechnologies, both the mappinghardware and the GIS software, continueto evolve in more user-friendly andfinancially accessible ways.1

Image Maps

All aerial and space imagery is slightlydistorted in its raw form. Once rectified,the geographical accuracy of the imageis comparable with that of topographicmaps, thus the term ‘image maps’.For community mapping, image mapsbring significant advantages.

First, landscape images can be morereadily accessible and understandableto community members than symbol-based maps, allowing interpretationwithout prior training. Second, imagemaps make it possible to apply theno-name method in areas without a

dense river network to serve as ageographic frame of reference: earthimages display more varied and finersurface detail than topographic maps.Third, image maps are becomingcheaper and are often free. Fourth, theyare becoming accessible via the web tocommunities where public access tomaps is restricted. Five, image mapsare, in theory, not loaded with politicalor neo-colonial content in the form ofnames and boundaries (other thaninfrastructure). They are a kind of‘no-name map’, only a lot moreinteresting. Nonetheless, the status ofan image map as a kind of photographmay sometimes be problematic.Image maps may be seen as ‘fact’ bycommunity members who are thus lesswilling to challenge what they see,compared with non-photo-based mapswhich may be more readily seen asmerely a starting point for discussion.

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1 For community mapping units in the 1990s, there was a usually unaffordable gap between the costs ofwide format (usually 36 inch) printers and scanners and their letter-sized equivalents.However, advances in image maps, and increasing access to digital versions of topographic map layers, aremaking wide-bed scanners obsolete, replaced by a new generation of intermediate affordable printers,which can produce maps of the same size as conventional topographic maps.


3-D Landscape Modelling

This methodology is an easily learned,and engaging, approach for communitiesto map their traditional lands.It provides an accurate and immediatelyunderstandable representation of alandscape, comparable on screento 3-D representations with GIS whenviewed with special glasses.In the Philippines, the PhilippineAssociation for InterculturalDevelopment (PAFID) has sucessfullyused this approach, while in ThailandIMPECT (Inter-Mountain PeoplesEducation and Culture, Thailand) uses3-D modelling as part of the inductionprocess for new community members.As a result, there are now more than250 such models in existencein Thailand. From the experience ofIMPECT or PAFID, one the biggestadvantages of relief models is that theyare visual and tactile. They easecontribution in legend making as well as

in debates over legend symbols andtheir placing on the model by manycommunity members at once. This, inturn, allows for wider participation inprinciple.

The potential for the dissemination ofmodel-making techniques is high,as it is an almost entirely manualprocess. Relief models can begeo-referenced to comply with standardcartography requirements. However,there are obvious terrain limitations,e.g. modelling does not work well inlowland landscapes with little relief.3-D modelling has also not been widelytaken up in the Americas.This could be a matter of geographicscale. Tenure mapping in the Americasoften covers very large collectiveterritories of several communities,whereas optimum 3-D modelling uses alarge scale and is usually limited to asingle community, or a fewcommunities in a limited area.

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T he experiences of ILC’s networkmembers suggest that mapping

initiatives are undertaken with at leastfive key purposes in mind: (1) providingcommunity cohesion and leverage forcollective action, (2) identifying,adjudicating and registering land rights,(3) improving land-use planning andmanagement, (4) supporting landdispute or conflict resolution, and(5) forming a basis for territorialplanning and socioeconomic integration.

3.1 Mapping for CommunityCohesion and Advocacy

Mapping often contributes to buildingcommunity cohesion and, especially inthe form of 3-D modelling, can be usedas a tool to pass historical knowledgedown through generations, thusnurturing cultural identity (as hasbeen the experience of, for example,UNORCAC-Ecuador and CPI/AC–Brazil).This may be particularly significant forindigenous communities for whomcultural rights can be closely linked toterritorial rights. For them, mapping canbe used to buttress their own vision ofthe many interrelations between peopleand the surrounding environment, aswell as between land and territory.

In cultural mapping, information is notnecessarily geo-referenced. Sketchmapping and ethno-mapping can becombined with geographical informationsystems when the knowledge generatedin the mapping process is also aimed atland rights registration (PAFID-The Philippines, JKPP-Indonesia).Community mapping of local andindigenous knowledge, moreover, hasthe potential to facilitate localgovernance as a channel through whichto defend or advocate for the rights ofindigenous peoples to their ancestrallands (CEDETI-Bolivia).

3.2 Mapping for Land RightsIdentification, Adjudicationand Registration

Geo-referenced community mappingcan help rural communities have theirland claims recognized by stateinstitutions, particularly where theexisting legal framework is receptive tosuch claims. There are examples of thison both the individual and family levels,as well as of land rights claimed andsubsequently registered by communities(PAFID-the Philippines, APLR-Georgia).

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3.The Potential of Mapping:the Experience of ILC’s Partners

Geo-referencing community spatialknowledge (e.g., PGIS, PPGIS, GPS,ortho-photo mapping, participatory 3-Dmodelling, satellite imaging) providesthe accuracy needed in community-ledprocesses for state authorities torecognize the results (FTierra–Bolivia,HARDI-Madagascar). Although thehigher level of accuracy required(especially for individual titling of smallplots) can make the processtime consuming, mapping for landregistration enables information to betransferred and digitized into GIS.While land title deeds or certificates ofoccupation do not capture the overallcomplexity of land insecurity, a reliableand regularly-updated cadastral systemcan enhance land security for the ruralpoor, particularly when maintained atthe local level. Community-levelorganizations advocate for decentralizedland administration systems that have beencreated and monitored in a participatorymanner. These are often perceived asmore equitable and able to empowercommunity-level land institutionsbecause they make information availablewhere it is generated and better reflectcommunity-level land systems, such ascustomary use rights (NACFP-Albania,HARDI-Madagascar, FTierra-Bolivia,GTierra-Nicaragua).

However, title deeds or certificates ofoccupation alone will not secure landrights for poor men and women unlessenforcement is guaranteed and theprocess of identifying and issuing themis unbiased by vested interests. Indeed,

the mapping process may bring outlatent conflicts. The process must alsobe affordable and its methodsunderstandable by communities thatuse them (AFRA-South Africa).

3.3 Mapping for Land UsePlanning and NaturalResource Management

Planning and managing land use isintimately linked to tenure security.Moreover, land planning goes beyondthe determination of primary rights(ownership rights) to include secondaryuse rights (access to grazing land,water resources, fruit trees and forest).These are fundamental in defining thelivelihood strategies of the communities’poorest members and partially definethe comparative advantage of acommunal tenure system as analternative or complementary to anindividual ownership/tenure system.

ILC partners’ experience in this area isoften linked to broader strategies ofland demarcation and/or territorialplanning, as in shifting cultivationmanagement or pasture management(NACFP-Albania, APLR-Georgia), or landand water use optimization (ACH/GrupoTierra-Nicaragua, UNORCAC- Ecuador).When past, present and future patternsof natural resource use are taken intoaccount, the mapping process can alsohelp to create a learning environment inwhich landscape-nested institutions,and their strengths and weaknesses,appear more clearly to community

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3. The potential of mapping

members (ACH/CODER-Nicaragua).When community institutions or waterusers’ committees are empowered asfull partners in action research – ratherthan treated as mere subjects for datacollection – mapping land and water useplans can become instrumental innegotiating better conditions forfarmers (CEPES-Peru).

3.4 Mapping for Land Disputeor Conflict Resolution

Land conflicts, particularly in rural andremote areas, are multi-dimensionaland complex in nature. Often thefinancial concerns of national and localgovernments generate policies thatattract outside investment to areas inwhich disputes or conflicts already existand where laws and policies related toland and territorial rights – particularlythose concerning indigenous peoples’rights – are not in place or notenforced. A blend of statutory,

customary and hybrid (formal orinformal) institutions and regulationsmay co-exist in the same territory, allhaving a de jure or de facto authorityover land rights.

In such contexts, mapping can be apowerful mechanism to transform andpossibly resolve disputes or conflicts, ifit is accompanied by appropriateinstitution building and a broader effortto empower people and communities.Community-initiated and collaborativemapping can assist the negotiationprocess in extractive exploitation (APA-Guyana, YTM-Indonesia). Furthermore,mapping can help manage conflictthrough the identification andstrengthening of conflict managementcapacity both within the community(ACH/Grupo Tierra-Nicaragua) andamong neighbouring communities(PAFID-The Philippines, NACPF-Albania).

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3.5 Mapping for TerritorialPlanning and Spatial Integration

Decentralization processes are underwayin many countries. With varying degreesof effectiveness, these are devolvingpowers to local and regional bodies.Within the newly empowered orestablished political or administrativeunits, therefore, new opportunities areemerging for community members todefine paths of development. This isparticularly important for rural areas,historically neglected in the design ofnational policies.

For decades, the planning has beenurban-biased and done on asector-by-sector basis. There is nowsome movement towards inter sectoraland spatially-integrated territorial

planning. In this context, mapping cansupport the process of identifyingterritorial units of management, whilehelping rural communities to includetheir concerns in an enlarged, integratedvision of local realities. Mapping allowsthe spatial visualisation and recording ofthe social, economic and naturaldynamics of a given territory. This includesroutes of communication and commerce,natural resource management systems,water flows and commercial flows. Inother words, by using a common spatialframework, maps can fortify the users’understanding of how physical, social andeconomic factors interact. Spatialintegration thus becomes a step towardsocio-economic integration (PhilDHRRA-The Philippines, JKPP-Indonesia).

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3. The potential of mapping

M apping, when combined withgeographical information

technologies, can be highly supportivein advancing the land rights agenda ofrural communities. Maps often representa step toward grass-roots empowermentfor better land access and tenuresecurity. Rural maps, in the experienceof ILC’s partners, have shown themselvesto be useful tools, increasing the users’capacity to advocate, lobby, plan, manageand monitor territorial and land–relatedissues within the mapped area. It mustbe said, however, that the promise ofcommunity empowerment throughmapping may be tempered by concernsthat the mapping process – including thecontrol and management of itstechnology – can reinforce or reconfigureexisting forms of power distribution andrelations.

Here are several key lessons that arisefrom ILC’s experiences of using mappingas an empowerment tool:

1. An Enabling Environment Matters.Mapping helps communities takeadvantage of a political window ofopportunity. Mapping is most successfulin helping gain security of tenure anduse rights when land administrationinstitutions and decision-making

processes are to some extent accessibleand accountable to rural people.Many ILC network members developstrategic partnerships betweengovernment and civil society in an effortto make mapping outcomes binding.This has proven to be a viable strategy– although one that is difficult, delicateand time consuming. It increases thelikelihood that the state will recognizeland claims by rural poor and indigenousgroups, including those documentedthrough mapping. A key aspect of anenabling environment for communitymapping is access to cartographicinformation. Are base maps available,affordable and up-to-date?

In Indonesia, for example, communitymembers often find it impossible to buymaps. JKPP labelled their approach‘counter-mapping’ as a tool to influencegovernment to accept and promotecommunity mapping and its results.

In the Malaysian province of Sarawak,community mapping itself has beencriminalised. Such cases of officialhostility to community mapping showhow access to information and stateagencies becomes a key factor indetermining the feasibility of differentmapping approaches.

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4. Mapping as aTool for Empowerment:Lessons Learned

2. Mapping Needs to Reflectthe Full Bundle of Rights.Secondary rights – including rights touse, improve, assign, and transfernatural resources – are highly relevantfor rural people. Ownership rights mayappear more clearly than others,though, and, if registered via a mappingprocess, can obscure the bundle ofsecondary rights, thus reducing thelivelihood options of those relying onthem. There is also a trade-offbetween map accuracy and respectingthe fluidity of some use rights. In manyrural areas, land rights are founded onvoluntary-based flexibility and mappingcarries the risk of freezing the fluidityof those tenure arrangements.Accuracy of boundaries – necessary fordispute and conflict resolution, naturalresource management and landdemarcation – should aim to reflectthe agreement reached by mappingusers concerning the trade-off betweenfluidity of land rights and their relativesecurity.

3. The Mapping Process MayMatter more than the Results.In the experience of ILC’s partners, theultimate aim of mapping land rightsmay not be the final lines on a map somuch as developing the community’sability to resolve conflict, buildconsensus and take collective action.With this in mind, it is important toestablish guidelines to make the wholeprocess as transparent as possible.

4. TechnologyMust Include, not Exclude.More advanced technologies, such asthose related to GIS, permit a wider useof vast amounts of information but runthe risk of increasing the conceptualdistance between those making themaps and those providing the localknowledge that nurtures the maps.All too often, it is difficult to make thetechnology available at the local levelbecause software is either too costly oravailable only in English (a majorconstraint in countries where English isnot even the second language), orsimply because of frequent distruptionof the electricity supply.

Capacity building in the use of mappingtechnologies can represent anempowering experience for some ruralpeople, but this may happen at theexpense of other community members(e.g. women, elders, orphans, andreturnees). Experience shows how, insome cases, communities strategicallychoose not to master new mappingtechnologies unless the mapmakersthemselves are accountable tocommunity members. Training– includingthe production of important referencematerials in the local language – isimportant in improving the capacity ofcommunity members to monitor andintervene in the mapping process.

15

4.Mapping for empowerment

5. Maps Are the Beginning of theEmpowerment Process, not the End.Maps are made to be used. The ideathat the map can be an empoweringtool implies not only that there must bea local demand for mapping, but alsothat communities should have animproved capacity to develop map-usestrategies. Community institutions andtheir members should be able to updatethe maps according to their needs.The long-term usefulness of a mappingexercise depends on the initial strategy,that is, whether capacity building forthese long-term uses is built in.

6. Maps Visualise the Social Worldas well as the Natural.Mapping not only helps to identifyphysical resources; it can also identify

customary institutions that managethese resources and regulate poweramong different territorial stakeholders.Maps may thus not only reveal rightsthat community members wish topreserve and secure, but socialrelations that they may wish to change.This can provide a basis for reviving andstrengthening local Natural ResourceManagement (NRM) institutions thatmay have grown weak over time.This can contribute to greaterenvironmental sustainability andreduced conflict. This institutionaldimension of mapping must be takeninto account when setting out thestrategy, so that the final map productis not a mere museum item, but a realtool for community empowerment andsustainable development.

16


O n the global scale, a great varietyof community mapping

methodologies is in use. The potentialfor the scaling up and replication ofthese approaches varies greatly.One of the lessons of the work of ILC'snetwork members and partners is thatdifferent approaches bring with themdifferent prospects for scaling up.It has also been learned that scaling upmeans more than one thing. Scaling upcan mean increasing the geographicalcoverage of a programme, replicating a

process and disseminating techniquesfrom one community to another,seeking to influence higher levels ofdecision-making, or diversifying andextending the applications of mappingwhere it is already used. Differentscaling-up objectives may require theadoption of different community-mappingapproaches. This section looks at someof the basic characteristics of mappingapproaches and suggests how thesecharacteristics affect prospects fordifferent types of scaling up.

17

5. Prospects for Scaling Up

Tenure maps are made with the intent of producing legally-acceptable evidence ofprior land use and occupancy to be used in national or global negotiations.Two strategies for organizing tenure mapping projects are in play. One builds localcapacities in gathering traditional knowledge via interviews and sketch maps butout-sources the computerised aspects of map-making to official cartographicagencies. The other uses the same community requirement for a tenure map as acontext to initiate a graduated training process aimed at competence in and controlof the entire mapping process. Community-based teams learn to use GPS toproduce geographically-accurate field maps. A simple computer plus printer set-uphas enabled some indigenous associations to set up their own mapping units.Official reaction may include denial or criminalization, but the most serious problemis sustainability: tenure maps are one-shot affairs; they get things going but cannotkeep them going. What can community mapping teams do next and who will support them?

Peter Poole (IIED 2006 )

Is there Life after Tenure Mapping?

5.1. Different Waysto Scale Up

Amplification and Diversificationof Mapping Expertise

This implies scaling up the utility ofmapping for communities that alreadyemploy mapping as a tool. Amplificationrefers to advancing geomatic expertisein the manipulation of geographicinformation. Diversification refers to theapplication of data gathering, manipula-tion and analysis skills to new purposes,such as, tenure mapping, asset allocationmapping, natural resource management(forestry, fisheries, wildlife census,impact assessment), and culturalmapping.

A key factor in the diversification andamplification of community mappingcapacity is the extent to which initialmapping projects are centred ondeveloping capacity within the community.However, even cooperative mappingapproaches, where government agenciesprovide technical support and the

community role is focussed on gatheringbasic data through sketch mapping andconversations, develop core skills forcommunity mapping. Experience hasshown that many communities whichstarted as cooperative projects havesince graduated to capacities in GIS-based resource management.The success of community-basedresource management where tenure issecure is an indication of what ispossible where conflicts over tenure orresource access can be resolved.In this process, mapping units housedin either indigenous associations orsupport NGOs, have played a pivotalrole in capacity building, throughtraining individual mappers andassisting with technology transfer.These experienced mapping andcapacity-building groups could play asimilar role in enabling thosecommunity-based groups that haveacquired basic mapping capacities todiversify into new applications, such asbiodiversity monitoring, conservationarea management and delivery ofenvironmental services.

18


Dissemination of Expertiseto Other Communities

The geographical scaling up of mappingapproaches to cover more communitiescan occur through horizontal disseminationfrom community to community.Prospects for disseminating expertise toother communities are obviously higherfor communities that have acquiredtheir own mapping capacities.Community control and engagement isan asset, as is interest in networkingwith other community-based mappinggroups and NGOs. A good examplecomes from British Columbia where theAboriginal Mapping Network has beeninstrumental in sharing knowledgeand raising standards. Expectationsabout rapid dissemination can beover-optimistic, however.

Long distance dissemination over theinternet has been less rapid than manyexpected, and more successfulexamples of dissemination seem tocome from exchange visits andlearning-by-doing, even if these havecost implications. The potential forscaling up through disseminationapproaches based on cooperation withgovernment agencies is limited bygovernment readiness to participate insuch a community-led process.

Scaling Up Influenceon Decision Making

Community mapping often aims atinfluencing decision making at somelevel, whether within the community,by local resource managementassociations, by governmentdepartments at the local district andnational level, or even by nationallegislative bodies.

This decision making may concernofficial recognition of land tenure andrights, in which case influencinggovernment is often a very ambitiousgoal. Influencing local dispute resolutionprocesses, planning or naturalresource management decisions mayoften be more achievable. In somecases, for example, this potential iscodified in joint agreements on huntingand fishing or co-managementagreements for protected areas.

In cooperative mapping approaches, theinitial interviewing and sketch-mappingstage occurs in the community, but thetransfer of the sketch-mapped raw datato topographic maps is done incooperation with governmentcartographic agencies.

Advocates of this approach argue thatthis predisposes governments towardsclaims that may emerge from the jointmapping exercise. It is also assumesthat more accurate and professionalmaps, produced by higher-technologymapping processes, are more likely tobe seen as credible by governmentagencies.

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5. Prospects for Scaling up

This is no guarantee of influence,however. In the Philippines, theregulations for acquiring Certificates ofAncestral Domain Title (CADT) requiredmaps of community lands accurate toone metre. This prompted the growth ofa number of support NGOs, with thenecessary mapping capacity, such asAnthro-Watch and PAFID.The government's response was to raisethe requirement, to a ‘surveyor’accuracy of five centimetres. Technicalaccuracy or the prior involvement ofgovernment agencies are key factors,but sometimes influence in an adversarialenvironment simply depends onpolitical pressure. In the case of JKPP inIndonesia, the replicating and scalingup of a mapping programme to covermore than two million hectares hasbeen an important source of influence.

Scaling Up Programme Coverage

Whereas dissemination implies abottom-up process of expandinggeographical coverage, somegovernment and donor-fundedprogrammes can be said to adopta top-down approach to scaling upcommunity mapping. In Madagascar, forexample, the government is seeking,with donor support, to fostercommunity mapping as a tool to buildlocal land cadastres. In theory,prospects for geographical replicationshould be good in government-promotedinterventions. Nevertheless, theinvestment needed for staff training atvarious government levels oftenbecomes an issue as funds tend to

privilege the mapping technology ratherthan training and participation. A riskinherent in this form of scaling up islower and lower participation bycommunities because the targetmeasured is land mapped, rather thanthe quality of the process and theaccuracy of the maps. This problem canbe worst in the lowest levels ofadministration and for the most remoteareas and where, paradoxically,tenure-related conflicts are concentratedand mapping can be most beneficial.Civil society networks and supportNGOs can play an important role inensuring effective participation and aproper delivery of training.

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1.1 Context

A s the second largest island in thePhilippine archipelago, Mindanao

has a third of the country's land resourcesand nearly half of its fishery yield.It is home to a melting pot of culturesdominated by Christian settlers totaling11 million followed by Muslim groupscomprising 22 per cent or 4 million.The lumad peoples, the originalinhabitants of the island, make up theremaining 16 per cent with 3 millionpeople. It is estimated that at least halfof the gold deposits of the country arefound in Mindanao. Most of the lastremaining old-growth forests in thePhilippines are also located on the island.

Poverty and landlessness (14 of the 20poorest provinces in the Philippines arein Mindanao), in the midst of vastnatural resources, together with thehighest military expenditure in thecountry, mark Mindanao’s landscape.The control of land and other naturalresources is largely limited to warlordsand armed groups, and to the economicand political elite. Achieving land tenuresecurity through recognition of ancestraldomains is the main priority of allindigenous peoples/communities in thePhilippines. In the past this has oftenled to (violent) conflicts with neighbouring

communities, migrants and big projectdevelopers (e.g. after the discovery ofmineral deposits).

The Indigenous Peoples Rights ActIPRA was passed in 1997. The lawrecognizes the rights of indigenouspeoples over their ancestral domainsand provides for a process of titling

21

1. PAFID: Participatory 3-D Modellingin Mindanao - The Philippines

Philippines

PartTwo:Case Studies

lands through the issuance of Certificatesof Ancestral Domain Titles (CADT).IPRA law includes ‘Self Delineation’as one of the guiding principles in theidentification of ancestral domain claims.Due to a lack of capacity and resources,however, the National Commission onIndigenous People (NCIP) - a specializedagency that is expected to support thetitling process through validation -is seldom able to support theimplementation of the law. This hasbeen largely left to the communities andtheir support groups, who oftenthemselves lack the capacity to file legalclaims over their ancestral domains.

1.2 Participatory 3-D Modelling

Participatory 3-D modelling integratespeople’s knowledge and spatialinformation (i.e. contour lines) toproduce stand-alone scale-relief models(Figure 1). These have proven to beuser-friendly and relatively accuratedata storage and analysis devices, and,at the same time, excellentcommunication media. Relief modelsmay also contain additionalgeo-referenced information obtainedfrom field surveys, GPS readings andsecondary sources.

22

Part Two: Case Studies

PAFID was founded in 1967. PAFID is asocial development organization whichassists indigenous communities regainand secure their ancestral domains.PAFID was formed following a series ofregional conferences organized by theNational Council of Churches in thePhilippines in the mid-1960s.

The conferences gathered anthropologists,lawyers, academics, missionaries, membersof different indigenous peoples' groups andother advocates to report and assess theproblems faced by indigenous communities.Landmark events in the defence ofancestral domains in the Philippines, suchas the Kalinga peoples' resistance againstthe Chico River Hydro-electric Dam and the

Cellophil Resources Paper Mill in the late1970s, have shaped PAFID from itsinception as a resource centre for indigenouspeoples' issues to its transformation into anon-governmental organization committedto supporting community-based initiatives.PAFID today is an institution with over 140members and a staff of 32 engaged in thedevelopment of indigenous socialorganizations, ancestral domainmanagement, community-based naturalresource management planning,community mapping, agro-forestry,technical services, policy advocacy andothers. Forty per cent of PAFID staff arethemselves members of indigenouscommunities and 38 per cent are women.

Philippine Association for Inter-Cultural Development - PAFID

The making of a 3-D model leadsparticipants through a collectivelearning process to the visualisation oftheir economic and cultural domains inthe form of a scaled and geo-referencedrelief model.

1.3 Steps

Participatory 3-D modelling is a processthat can be used to generate a series ofphysical outputs, from which theinformation may be stored in adatabase for use in GIS. After PAFIDreceives a request from a community,the following basic steps are undertakenin the production of a 3-D relief model:

1. Community meetings2. Assembling the blank model3. Coding sessions4. Validating results5. Digitizing the information6. Community validation7. Handing over the model

Rituals accompany the various phasesof the process.

Community Meetings

Consultation meetings with the communityare held, first, to introduce the conceptof participatory 3-D modelling as amethod that could help them inimplementing actions to addressselected problems and aspirations.Usually PAFID is invited by communitiesas a technical support body to helpthemmeet the challenges theyfirst express even before explainingwhat mapping can offer them.

Next, the community must reacha consensus on some importantquestions:

� Why do we want to make a map?� What do we want to map?� Where do we want to map?� Who will plan the map?� Who will gather the data for the map?� Who will make the map?� Who will see the map when it isfinished?

� What do we want to do with themap/data?

23

1. Philippines

Planning the processFigure 2.

A 3-D relief model in the PhilippinesFigure 1.

Then, the community, with the supportof PAFID, must make logisticalarrangements. This includes finding avenue sufficiently large to allow themanufacturing of the model.The materials needed for the modelmust be procured. It may also benecessary to organize transport,accommodations and catering.

Assembling the Blank Model

A relief model, to be most useful, mustaccurately show locations, distancesand elevations on a given base of aconvenient size. This means thateverything featured on the model mustbe shown in proportion to its actualsize. Based on these considerations,the corresponding base map must bechosen as the source map of theprocess. Pieces of carbon paper areassembled at the back of this map.In preparing it for tracing, the basemap is laminated with plastic tape.

All contour lines are numbered forguidance and consistency. Next, thecontour lines are traced at 20 mintervals. The selected material is thencut per contour line.

Meanwhile, the wooden base of the 3-Dmodel is prepared. The initial layer(contour) is laid down on the base.This is continued for each cut contourusing glue and small nails. The terracingof the contour slopes is then smoothened.

24


Numbering and tracing of contour lines

Cutting the contour lines

Figure 3.

Figure 4.

Laying down different contour layersFigure 5.

The model is allowed to dry and is paintedwith white enamel.

The participants are given the opportunityto study the blank model and orientthemselves to local directions andfeatures.

Coding Sessions

An agreement is sought on the terms,symbols and colours that will be usedin the model. Key informants are theninvited to delineate vegetation types,land use, and other aspects thatthey consider relevant to theirenvironment.

Strings and yarns are used to depictinformation and to define boundaries.

Facilitators may need to help resolveconflicts and initiate agreements.

25

1. Philippines

Painting the model with enamelFigure 6.The colour coding of the modelFigure 7.

Discussions on land boundariesFigure 8.

Validating Results

In the course of the mapping process,and often again before digitizing theinformation, transect walks for delineatingboundaries are organized withappointed community members whereGPS positions can be taken.If a boundary between neighbouringcommunities is to be marked on the GPS,neighbours are also invited to take partin the delineation process. Communitymembers are therefore made familiarwith GPS and its use as a tool, as wellas minimal accuracy requirementsrequired by law to have a land title issued.

Digitizing the Information

A plastic sheet is placed on top of themodel and the data are copied anddocumented. Accurate documentation isessential. The initial results arediscussed with the community.

The transparent plastic sheet,accompanying legend and colour printsare then handed over to the GIS teamfor digitization, editing and datastorage.

Community Validation

Map validation activities are undertakento enable the community to examineand evaluate the accuracy of theinformation that has been providedduring the 3-D mapping and codingsessions. Sometimes there are requestsfor recoding of some importantlandmarks and features whichwere not previously identified for fearthat others might use and abuseconfidential information on the locationof sacred sites or mineral deposits.

26


Taking GPS positionsFigure 9.

Figure 10.

Community validationFigure 11.

��

Data input into GIS

Handing Over of the Model

A handing-over ceremony follows whichformally transfers ownership of thisasset to the community that can use itfor the purpose set forth at thebeginning of the process. The modelhas to be entrusted to an entity withthe means and the commitment tosafeguard and maintain it, and to makeit accessible to those who would like touse, update, integrate or correct datainput previously.

Participatory 3-D models assure thataccurate, meaningful-to-all informationis kept among the people whogenerated it.

1.4. Results

The main aims of these projects are thefull recognition of the rights of indigenous communities over their ancestral domains and long-term sustainable forest management basedon secure community-based tenure.

Indeed, participatory 3-D modelling hashelped to improve the capacity of thecommunities to interact with nationaland international institutions and toinduce substantial change in terms ofresource allocation and management.

Furthermore, modelling processeshave been instrumental in facilitatingconflict resolution. Many have led topotentially stable solutions, anchored inobjectively-verifiable, geo-referencedsources. In light of growingdevelopment pressures, agreementsmaking use of sketch maps andnon-technical descriptions tend to beshort-lived, being prone to subjectiveinterpretations. In addition, modellinghas contributed to improvingcommunication by creating a sharedvocabulary, thus bridging communication barriers due to differentperspectives and spoken languages.

Nevertheless, mapping remains a sensitiveissue. Especially in Mindanao, it has ledto violent confrontations with loggingcompanies that have impeded thedelineation activities. In some cases, the Philippine army was called upon to ensure the safety of the participants. In others, PAFID suffered human losses.

27

1. Philippines

Hand-over of the modelFigure 12.

28


- Abeto, R., Calilung, Z., Talubo, J.P. & Cumatang, B. (2004). Community Mapping in the Philippines: A Case Study on the Ancestral DomainClaim of the Higa-onons in Impasug-ong, Bukidnon. PAFID, Philippines.

- International Land Coalition (2006). Mapping to Catalyse Pro-Poor Changes in Land Tenure Security: An Overview of the ILC Experience. Rome.

- PAFID (2003). Mapping the Ancestral Domains of the Indigenous Peoples in Mindanao. Project Proposal. Philippines.

- PAFID (2005). Mapping the Ancestral Domains of the Indigenous Peoples in Mindanao. Status Report 2004. Philippines.

- PAFID (2005). Participatory 3-D Modelling: Data Generation. Assembly of Members 2005 - Side Event on Participatory Mapping. Slides. Philippines.

- PAFID (2006). Mapping Ancestral Domains in Northern Mindanao - Partnership Project with IFAD - Resource Management Project No. 214. Project description. Philippines.

- PAFID (2006). Mapping the Ancestral Domains of the Indigenous Peoples in Mindanao. Status Report 2005. Philippines.

- Rambaldi, G., Bugna, S., Tiangco, A. & De Vera, D. (2002). Bringing the Vertical Dimension to the Negotiating Table: Preliminary Assessment of a Conflict Resolution Case in the Philippines. ASEAN Regional Centre for Biodiversity Conservation, Philippines.

- Rambaldi, G. & Callosa-Tarr, J. (2002). Participatory 3-Dimensional Modelling:Guiding Principles and Applications. ASEAN Regional Centre for BiodiversityConservation, Philippines.

Further reading

Contacts

Contact Person: Dave De Vera 71 Malakas Street, Diliman, Quezon City, 1100 Metro Manila Tel: 63 2 9274580www.iapad.org/pafid/index.htm

2.1 Context

U nequal land distribution and itsinappropriate use, leading to land

and natural resource degradation, aretwo of the main problems in CentralAmerica. In Nicaragua, 56 per cent ofthe arable land is in the hands of 9 percent of the producers, while 61 per centof the farmers have access to only 9 per cent of useful agricultural land. Nicaraguan producers face market liberalization and unequal competition.Furthermore, legal recognition of land isvery difficult to achieve for the mostvulnerable agricultural producers due totheir limited economic resources, remoteness and bureaucratic hurdles.There is a lack of articulation betweenthe systems that recognize rights at thelocal level and the legal system. This intensifies and prolongs conflicts overland and natural resources, with highsocial and economic costs. This is one of the main contributing factors to the extreme poverty (less than two dollarsa day) and chronic malnutrition of a large part of the population in Nicaragua.

In 2002, the Nicaraguan Government,with the financial support of the WorldBank, launched an ambitious project toupdate the cadastre. Various policies,

programmes and laws related to ruraldevelopment have been created andmodified. Nonetheless, the number oflandless and land-poor families inNicaragua has not decreased.

29

2. Grupo Tierra: GPS supported community mapping in Nicaragua

Nicaragua

Small-scale family agriculture does notseem to be a priority on the policyagenda, even though 40 per cent of thepopulation lives in rural areas andcultivates the major part of the nationalfood staple. Nonetheless, it ispredominately these small-scaleproducers who face poverty.The capacity of local people toparticipate in land administration,meanwhile, continues to be insufficient.

Grupo Tierra has used communitymapping precisely because it is orientedtowards empowering local communities.By helping local communities to visualise their territory, using geo-referencing techniques, GrupoTierra contributes to their participationin a horizontal dialogue with governments and economic powers,where they can put forward their concerns and demands.

30


Grupo Tierra was created as an outcomeof the International Meeting of Farmers’Organisations and Civil Society on ‘LandUse and Economic Development’ inNovember 2003 in Nicaragua.

The participating organizations subscribedto the main findings of the meeting, namelythat (1) the heavy concentration of landownership reveals the great social injusticeand inequity that agricultural producersface, (2) it is a fact that small- and me-dium-scaled agriculture is economicallymore efficient than large farms, and (3) apoverty-free Central America can be

reached through increasing access to landand services for agricultural producers.

After this international meeting, participating organizations decided to set upa working group in order to give continuityto those efforts in Nicaragua. As such,Grupo Tierra was established. It consists ofseven local organizations and four cooperating agencies. A common agendadrives their collective actions aimed at increasing land tenure security, with an emphasis on land reform and the viability offamily farming. Afterwards, other groupsjoined Grupo Tierra. Action Against Hungeracts as its host organization.

Grupo Tierra

2.2 Community Mapping

A community map is the representationa community has of its territory.Community members decide what theywant to represent on the map, in mostcases, community boundaries, land use,infrastructure and water supplies. In fewer cases, individual ownership,which is more difficult to represent dueto the scale of the map, is also included. Maps are always drawn by representatives of the community withas many members of the community aspossible attending and participating.

2.3 Steps

The map is, above all, an instrument tolet people talk and to clarify situations.It contributes to the diagnosis of asituation using the words of the actorsthemselves. Moreover, it is aninstrument to facilitate the negotiationand the monitoring of the agreementsmade among local actors and betweenlocal and external actors such as projectmanagers or the mayor’s office.

In response to a community’s request,Grupo Tierra undertakes the following stepsin order to construct a community map:

1. Meeting with the community2. Locating the community on the map

3. Enlarging the map4. Putting information on the map5. Presenting and validatingthe results

6. Digitizing the data7. Measuring the parcels8. Handing over the map

Community Meeting

The community map is made by thecommunity members because theyhave the best knowledge of the territory and its resources, as well as of the localopportunities and limitations.It is important that groups from thedifferent sectors of the community(men and women, youngsters andelders) participate in order to have adiversity of viewpoints.

A consultation meeting must alsobe held with key representatives tointroduce the methodology and to reacha consensus on the scope of the processand the logistical arrangements.

31

2. Nicaragua

People with their community map in NicaraguaFigure 13.

People with their community map in NicaraguaFigure 14.

32


Locating the Community on the Map

The community is located on atopographic map provided by the National Cadastre Institution (INETER)by looking at clearly identified referencepoints, such as rivers, hills, trails anddwellings.

Enlarging the Map

It is important to enlarge the map inorder to add information to it. This isdone by using a reference grid or byphotocopying and enlarging the officialtopographic map (if possible).

Putting Information on the Map

First of all, the community membersdiscuss and choose what they want torepresent on the map and how it will berepresented. During this phase, thecommunity draws its territory, markingthe location of borders, rivers and trailson the sketch. Before further information is added, a reference grid,with squares that each represent onehectare, is drawn on the sketch.

The desired information about thecommunity can now be placed on themap, for example, dwellings, wells, actual land use (e.g. cultivations, livingzones, forests), community members’parcels and/or the location of conflictareas.

Seven essential elements must beindicated: the map title, north, thelegend, symbols and codes, the scale,the date and the authors.

Example of community localised on topographic mapFigure 15.

Sketch of the community boundaries with a reference gridFigure 16.

A community map depicting the land use of HondaFigure 17.

Digitizing the Data

The data must be processed intoa computer, as hand-drawn maps areeasily destroyed or can be damagedover time. Elaborating a digital versionof the map also offers more flexibilityand transparency to the process. In addition, an updated document canbe printed whenever one is needed. For the digitalization, Grupo Tierra usesa software called ‘Mapmaker Popular’, aprogramme that can be downloadedfree from the internet.

Measuring the Parcels

Agricultural producers are trained in theuse of GPS. They then use this spatialtechnology for measuring their parcels.

It is always easier to start with atopographic map and to make a sketch of the parcel. This gives the opportunity to plan where to initiate the measurement and, moreover, to estimate the approximate time that will be spent.

The next step is to form a measurementgroup made up of men and women who have a good knowledge of the area.Owners of neighbouring and adjacentplots must also be involved, as everybody must agree on the results.

After gathering the data, the information is processed by making useof the 'Mapmaker Popular' or 'Fugawi'computer program2. The results arethen printed on a sheet.

33

2. Nicaragua

Digitising the dataFigure 18.

Measuring the plots with a GPSFigure 19.

2 Fugawi is usually used to dowload points from GPS while ‘Mapmaker Popular’ is used to work on themin the computer.

Handing Over the Map

The community map, and the measurement of the plots, are means,not ends. They are tools to achieve abetter dialogue between different actorson natural resources. Therefore, theinformation obtained in the processmust be handed over to the communityin an adequate manner.

Concerning the communitymap, it is important that the wholecommunity has access to the map.During a consultation session with thecommunity, one person can be electedto act as the curator of the map, withthe obligation of granting access to theinformation every time it is needed.The map may be kept in a public space, like a school or a community house. To avoid any damage, the map can be plasticized or kept in a plastic tube (which is cheaper and safer). In thesame manner, the measurement data ofthe plots must be handed over to thecommunity.

Each owner who worked on the GPSsurvey receives a boundary certificate,reflecting the features of his or her parcel.It is just a certificate, as the demarcationlimits have not been validated by INETER, although INETER has shown interest in community cartography. Hopefully this will lead to some officialrecognition and will help to validate theapproach.

The objectively-gathered informationcan now be used to resolve conflicts

and reach agreements in a transparentway. A facilitator should guide the process and the participants should begiven training in conflict resolution.

2.4 Results

The main objective of the tool is to have a better knowledge of the community’s territorial assets. This helps the community interactwith better leverage with externalactors. It also can contribute to theidentification, resolution and preventionof conflicts over land as well as accessto and use of natural resources, conflicts which are very common in Nicaragua. In those cases where individual boundaries inside the community have been defined and arenow known to all the members, there ismore transparency which increases thesecurity of tenure.

The concept of social participation is animportant mechanism to finding lastingand sustainable solutions.

34


Map for handing overFigure 20.

As the participants are trained in making the community map themselves, in using GPS to measuretheir plots, in systematizing the information, and in conflict resolution,the methodology fosters the further development of their capacity to participate in a horizontal dialogue withlocal and national government and economic actors. In the best case, it willalso lead to legal recognition.

The overall result is better managementof land and natural resources and moresustainable territorial planning, if theprocess is done in a democratic, transparent and participatory way, to sustain the empowerment of local communities.

35

2. Nicaragua

- Dana, P. (1998). Nicaragua’s ‘GPSistas’: Mapping their Landson the Caribbean Coast. GPS World. University of Texas, Austin.

- Gonda, N. & Pommier, D. (2006). Prevención y resolución de conflictos en torno a la tierra y los recursos naturales: Manual práctico de mapeo comunitario y uso del GPS. Acción Contra el Hambre & TROCAIRE. Nicaragua.

- Grupo Tierra (2006). Desarrollo de capacidades locales y nacionalespara una mejor gestión de la tierra y los recursos naturales en Nicaragua.Project proposal. Nicaragua.

- Grupo Tierra (2006). Nota explicativas de puntos del proyecto de Grupo Tierra. Nicaragua.

- International Land Coalition (2006). Mapping to Catalyse Pro-PoorChanges in Land Tenure Security: An Overview of the ILC Experience. Rome.

- Jardinet, S. (2006). Capacity Development and PGIS for Land Demarcation:Innovations from Nicaragua. Acción Contra el Hambre. Nicaragua.

Further reading

Contacts

Contact Person: Piere Merlet, Edoardo CelorioDel semáforo de LOZELSA,1 Cuadra al Lago, 1 Cuadra Abajo.Rotonda, Casa # 773. Altamira D'Este.Managua.Nicaragua.Teléfono: (505) 277 2892.e [email protected]

3.1. Context

A ccording to Article 11 of theMalagasy Law n° 60-004 (1960),

the State is the owner of all the landthat has not been publicly registeredor assigned to an individual by virtue ofa legal land title. At this moment, it isestimated that only 10 per cent ofagricultural land has been registered.

Customary law, giving the land to theperson that cultivates it, prevails inmost of the Malagasy land tenurearrangements. Under customary law,continuity in cultivating land legitimizesits appropriation. Plots are inherited bythe descendants of the first owners witha strong emphasis on ancestral domains. There are no legal documentsthat support these claims andtransferals; instead, they are primarilybased on oral tradition or 'petitspapers', which only have a symbolicand practical value. These customaryprinciples are being threatened bymodern law.

As customary rights are weakening, the farmer faces a paradoxical situationwhere neither the formal administrationnor traditional rights can secure his orher access to land. In the past, the absence of clearly identified land titles

has often led to (violent) conflicts between farmers who claim the sameland. Insecure tenureship also reducesincentives for farmers to make investments in their land.

Land tenure insecurity in Madagascarcan mainly be attributed to theincapacity of the central governmentto respond to the demand for therecognition of land rights and theissuing of land titles.

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3. HARDI: Citizen’s Cadastre in Madagascarusing Satellite Imagery

Madagascar

The two main causes are the lack of financial and human resources withinthe offices dealing with land administration and the complexity ofthe procedures for individual registration (24 steps have to be takenwith an average waiting time of 20years between request and issuance).

The situation is made worse by theskepticism with which farmers havecome to view administrative institutions. HARDI is using the methodology of citizen’s cadastre in aneffort to tackle land tenure insecurity. It is primarily aimed at helping farmersto organize themselves to manage theirrelations with land administrators in amore efficient way and to obtain theirland titles with the shortest delays possible.

Citizen’s Cadastre

Citizen’s cadastre is a methodologywhere the population of the concernedarea as well as the land title holdersand their neighbours together delineatethe plots and record their use in a publicand democratic way. It is a mechanismfor enhancing land tenure security that,on the one hand, is flexible enough totake the material interests of the farmers into consideration, and, on theother hand, respects the juridical framework.

HARDI used two main tools inconstructing their methodology.Through PRAs, the community analysedexisting ownership and land use.In addition, maps derived from satellite

imaging were produced and used todetermine ownership and to identifyland disputes.

3.2 Steps

After receiving a community request for assistance, HARDI undertakes the following basic steps in constructing itscitizen’s cadastre:

1. Programming 2. Informing the community 3. Holding a ceremony 4. Gathering the community 5. Demarcating the physical plot 6. Identifying and recognizing rights

7. Using satellite images

37

3. Madagascar

Agricultural producers trace their plots on satellite images Figure 21.

Programming

The members of the land committee,the president of the Fokontany (localcommunity), representatives of thecommunity, and HARDI representativesget together to discuss the schedule ofthe construction of the citizen’s cadastre. They also decide the frequency of the radio announcements,choose the radio station and settle financial issues.

Informing the Community

Radio announcements are made and the Fokontany is informed through pamphlets to invite the land owners and inhabitants of the focus area toparticipate in the process.

The radio announcements are intendedto reach people who do not live withinthe community. Participants are askedto bring with them all documents thatcould prove the legitimacy of their landoccupancy or that could help inestablishing a claim to land.

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Meeting of land committee and president of FokontanyFigure 22.

Harmonisations des Actions pour la Réalisation d’un Développement Intégré - HARDI

HARDI is a non-governmental, non-profitorganization that was created in Antananarivo.In Malagasy, HARDI is called 'Fivoy hoamin'ny Fampandrosoana'.

The organization aims at:- Understanding the rural and urban world;- Supporting local initiatives to empowerpeople who face difficult situations; and- Giving special support to embeddedactions that result in sustainable solutionsin Madagascar.

HARDI has been concentrating its activitieson rural and urban issues with alternativeeducational projects for children since 1994,micro-credit programmes in favour of smallenterprises since 1999, and support to beekeepers as well as enhancing land tenure security since 2002. HARDI collaborates with a technical partner, INTERREG SFAT, that is trying to help theMalagasy Government in its agrarian reformprocess.

Holding a Ceremony

Before the actual activities start, a smallinitiation ceremony is held. A flag israised, a prayer is said and a 'kabary'speech is held in which the objectivesand the next steps of the process areexplained.

Gathering the Community

The inhabitants of the village are gathered, together with other people whomay not live in the community, yet claimto hold rights to land in the focus area.An agent of the land office and arepresentative of HARDI facilitatethe discussions.

An agent of the land office and a representative of HARDI will facilitatethe discussions.

Demarcating the Physical Plot

To start with, one plot is chosen withthe others dealt with in succession.The owner is asked to come forward.If nobody claims the land, the next plot

is dealt with. If different people claimthe land, a conflict resolution process isinitiated. Stakes are then placed in eachcorner of the plot by the owner. Neighbouring rights holders validate theposition of the markers. If no agreementcan be found, further conflict resolutionis undertaken.

Identifying and Recognizing Rights

The documents that are brought by theperson who claims his or her rights on theplot are examined by the land committeeand by the officials of the land office. Ifno documents can be presented, familyand neighbours are consulted.

Meanwhile, a questionnaire is completedin order to inventory the diversity ofland situations and to compare admini-strative law with customary rights. A certificate of recognition then is signed under the auspices of the gathered community.

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3. Madagascar

Gathering of the communityFigure 23.

Filling in a questionnaire on the plotFigure 24.

Using Satellite Images

A satellite picture is printed and tracingpaper is stuck to its back. An agent ofthe land office and the person whoholds the rights to the land demark theplot with a crayon on the tracing paperunder close attention of the neighbourswho will validate the result.

This information can then be integratedinto a GIS for systematization and usedto create a local land use plan (PLOF).

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Rights recognition by the communityFigure 25.

Delimitation of plots on satellite imagesFigure 26.

Integration of the info into a GIS for map-makingFigure 27.

3.3 Results

The programme has helped indecentralizing titling procedures to thelocal level, as the land administration isincapable of responding to the demandfor land registration. It makes use of Malagasy Law n° 2003-029 thatallows the community the right to issue individual land titles. People are convinced that this processwill accelerate significantly the regularization of their land situation. By identifying and recognizing the landrights of the local farmers, the processhas a great impact on their land tenuresecurity.

The citizen’s cadastre process helps, inaddition, to prevent conflicts over landownership. The participants are trainedin conflict resolution, helping todiminish the economic and socialcosts of these disputes.

HARDI has noted a very strong level of community mobilization, shown bythe fact that people have been ready to leave their homes and fields to participate in the demarcation. By working intensively together and resolving conflicts, community cohesion has been strengthened.

As the information is synthesized in a GIS and used to construct a PLOF, it is expected that this will lead to a better use of natural resources.

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3. Madagascar

A Malagasy citizen with his land title certificateFigure 28.

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- HARDI (2004). Sécurisation foncière dans la commune de Miadanandriana, sous préfecture de Manjakandriana Madagascar. Project proposal. Madagascar.

- HARDI (2004). Projet de sécurisation foncière Ambohimanjaka et Ambohipeno.Project proposal. Madagascar.

- HARDI (2005). Guide pratique pour le règlement à l’amiable des conflits fonciers.Madagascar.

- HARDI (2006) Manuel d’opération : Première version. Slides. Madagascar.

- HARDI (2006). Rapport d’activité sur la sécurisation foncière rurale deMiadanandriana, Madagascar (novembre 2004 – mai 2005). Madagascar.

- HARDI (2006). Rapport final. Projet de sécurisation foncière dans la communerurale de Miadanandriana, Madagascar (novembre 2004 – février 2006).Madagascar.

- HARDI (2006). Rapport final. Projet de sécurisation foncière dans la communerurale de Miadanandriana, Madagascar (novembre 2004 – février 2006).– Annexe XIV – Fiche méthode cadastre citoyen. Madagascar.

- International Land Coalition (2006). Mapping to Catalyse Pro-Poor Changes in Land Tenure Security: An Overview of the ILC Experience. Rome.

- Liversage, H. (2005). Note on Approaches to Pro-Poor Land Registration. Working Draft. IFAD. Rome.

Further reading

Contacts

Contact Persons: Rasolfo PatrickHaja AndrianavalonaLot 111 bis, Cité des 67 Ha Sud, Antananarivo 101, MadagascarTel. 020 22 292 96www.hardi-madagascar.org

Web Resources: www.cenesta.orgwww.ermisafrica.orgwww.iapad.orgwww.jkpp.org www.kuru.co.bw/letloa.htmwww.landcoalition.orgwww.iapad.org/pafid/about_pafid.htmlwww.ppgis.net

Books, Reports, Manuals and Articles:

Adopting First-level Adjudication into a GIS Medium: A Preliminary Report for AFRA.D. Rugege, 2005.

Borders, Rules and Governance: Mapping to Catalyse Changes in Policy and Mana-gement. B. Alcorn, IIED, 2000.

Bringing the Vertical Dimension to the Negotiating Table. G. Rambaldi, D. Devera etal., ASEAN Biodiversity, 2002.

Community GIS or Community vs. GIS? B. Krishna, GIS@development, 2002.

Community-integrated GIS for Land Reform in South Africa. Weiner and Harris,2002.

Community Mapping in Malaysia. A. Lasimbang, PACOS Trust and JOAS, 2004.

Community Mapping in the Philippines: A Case Study on Ancestral DomainClaims of the Higa-onons and Impasug-ong. Bukidnon, PAFID, 2004.

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Selected References

Community Participation and GIS. Position Paper for Spoleto Workshop. D. Weiner,G. Harris, and J. Craig, 2001.

Cultural Mapping and Indigenous Peoples: A Report. P. Poole, UNESCO, 2003.

Do communities need to be good mapmakers? Njau Anau, Jon Corbett et alia,CIFOR, 2001.

Evaluating Empowerment. Adrian Zen, The World Vision Area Development Pro-gramme, 2000.

GIS, GPS and Remote Sensing. U. Deichmann and S. Wood, 2020 Focus 7, Brief 7of 9, August 2001.

Guía Elaboración de maquetas – Ordenamiento territorial con visión Mapuche parael ADI Budi, Chile. GTZ and GAR, 2002.

ICT Update – Participatory GIS. CTA, Issue 27, September 2005.

Land and Conflict Transformation: Policy, Practice and Possibilities for theLand Coalition. North-South Institute, 2006.

Manual on Participatory Village Mapping using Photomaps. Daniel Muller and BjornWode, SFDP, 2003.

Mapping as a Step for Securing Community Control: Some Lessons from South EastAsia. M. Colchester, World Rainforest Movement, 2002.

Mapping for Change: Practice, Technologies and Communication, PLA number 54,CTA & IIED, 2006

Mapping the Ancestral Domains of the Indigenous Peoples in Mindanao.Status Report on the CEF Project. PAFID, 2006.

Negotiating More than Boundaries: Conflict, Power and Agreement Building in theDemarcation of Village Borders in Malinau. N. Anau, R. Iwan et al., CIFOR, 2002.

Nicaragua’s 'GPSistas': Mapping their Lands on the Caribbean Coast. P. Dana,GPSWORLD, 1998.

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Selected References

Note on Approaches to Pro-Poor Land Registration: Working Draft. H. Liversage,IFAD, 2005.

Participatory 3-Dimensional Modelling – Guiding Principles and Applications.ASEAN, 2002

Participatory GIS: Opportunity or Oxymoron? R. Chambers, D. Weiner et al., PLAnotes 33, 1998.

Participatory Land Delimitation: Exprience and Methodologies (CD-Rom), FAO LandTenure Collection N. 2, FAO 2006

P-Mapping and Forestry -Sharing Knowledge on Participatir Mapping for Forest andPasture Areas. Report of the International Workshop, ILC & NACFPA, 2007

Prevención y resolución de conflictos en torno ala tierra y los recursos naturales– manual practico de mapeo comunitario y uso del GPS para organizaciones localesde desarrollo. N. Gonda, D. Pommier, ACH y TROCAIRE, 2004.

Rural Land Plans: Establishing Relevant Systems for Identifying andRecording Customary Rights. J. Chauveau, IIED, 2003.

Saneamiento interno en nuestras comunidades. E. Sanjinés, Fundación Tierra,2005.

Saneamiento simple de tierras comunales. FORMASOL, Fundación TIERRA, Pdt.MINGA. Panacú, 14, 2003.

Siam Mapped and Mapping in Cambodia: Boundaries, Sovereignty,and Indigenous Conceptions of Space. J. Fox, East West Center, 2002.

Sources of Spatial Knowledge and their Implications for GIS: An Introduction. Mon-tello and Freundschuh, Geographical Systems, 1995.

The Monitoring and Evaluation of Empowerment. Resource Document. Peter Oakleyand Andrew Clayton, Papers series, No. 26, 2000.

Tierras comunitarias de Origen – Saneamiento y Titulación. Almaraz Ossio, CEJIS,2002.

Well-rooted? Land Tenure and Challenges of Globalization. M. Vosburgh, GHC Wor-king Paper, 2003.

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Selected References

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Documents

Participatory Mapping as a tool for empowerment · Participatory Mapping as a tool for empowerment Experiences and lessons learned from the ILC network StefanoDiGessa with contributions