A community advocates for land rights and protects its ancestral forest with mapping technology. WORDS AND IMAGES Rudo Kemper   The Ogiek of Mount Elgon are an Indigenous group native to western Kenya. They have lived across the vast swathe of moorland and forests of Mount Elgon since before colonial occupation and the subsequent creation

Maya Daurio, Sienna R. Craig, Daniel Kaufman, Ross Perlin, and Mark Turin Maps have long been used for a variety of purposes, including to characterize land use and land cover patterns or to delineate the extent of territorial jurisdictions such as national or regional borders. In this way, cartography has long been a tool of

WORDS AND MAPS Jordan Engel “More indigenous territory has been claimed by maps than by guns. This assertion has its corollary: more indigenous territory can be defended and reclaimed by maps than by guns.” —Bernard Nietschmann, geographer Throughout time and across cultures, the thing that is often most important to a people is land. While

by Andrea Giacomelli . To reach the Farma Valley in Southern Tuscany, Italy, you need to stray far off the standard tourist routes south of Siena and away from the seaside, too. Set in the heart of the Metalliferous Hills, the valley covers approximately 120 square kilometers and includes three natural conservation areas with a

by Barbara Dovarch . People mapping is a creative and serious game Local knowledge and everyday experience are needed to play There are no losers or winners, but roles and positions There are no leaders or teachers; everyone is both expert and learner There are no hierarchies, the main rule is respect Every voice can

by Barbara Dovarch   . . . . . . . . . . . This photo gallery is an extension of “People Mapping: Visualizing Sense of Place for Decision Making” by Barbara Dovarch. . Back to Vol. 6, Issue 1 | Read the Table of Contents | Like Our Stories? Please Donate!

by Barbara Dovarch   Planning and resource management in urban and rural development often fail to meaningfully engage local inhabitants. That misses two important aspects: firstly, a narrative of places already exists and is embedded in local knowledge; secondly, people are experts on their own living spaces. In addition, spaces and related processes are socially

by Jordan Engel “More indigenous territory has been claimed by maps than by guns. This assertion has its corollary: more indigenous territory can be defended and reclaimed by maps than by guns.” — Bernard Nietschmann, geographer Throughout time and across cultures, the thing that is often most important to a people is land. While global industrial society’s

by Jon Corbett, Christine Schreyer, and Nicole Gordon   “Every language is an old-growth forest of the mind, a watershed of thought, an ecosystem of spiritual possibilities.” — Wade Davis, 2005 There is a fundamental and synergistic relationship between language, culture, and biological diversity. Within Canada and around the world, Indigenous communities face the parallel losses of