We support local custodians of biodiversity, such as indigenous peoples to continue protecting the vital ecosystems they live in. Participatory Video can help document and promote traditional knowledge, local culture and languages; and build bridges with scientists, conservationists and decision-makers. Here are some examples.
Some of the poorest people in the world are already coping with a changing climate. InsightShare travelled to Kenya, Zimbabwe and Malawi to facilitate three Participatory Video for Monitoring and Evaluation workshops. The workshops were to help the local partner organisation and community members keep track of ("Monitor") their ability to cope with changes in the climate and decide together (evaluate) what type of adaptation strategy they thought best for them.
Conversations with the Earth is an indigenous network of media hubs to document the impacts of climate change on vital ecosystems and local cultures. 15 indigenous representatives met in Denmark for the UN Conference of the Parties meeting on climate change (COP15). This update summarises the tremendous impacts made at the conference as well as the key milestones through 2009: the year in which InsightShare seeded 6 new community-owned hubs in Panama, Kenya, Peru, Arctic, Philippines and Cameroon.
In Dumba village, the seasons have changed beyond recognition. When rains are meant to come, villagers are facing drought, when harvest traditionally used to occur, floods from the river nearby sweep everything away. People are resorting to traditional foods, migration, old and new crop varieties and community support to survive.
Launched in April 2009, Conversations with the Earth is a collective opportunity to build a global movement for an Indigenous- controlled community media network. This newsletter brings all the latest news from the CWE Hubs around the world.
'Growing Up in Cambridge Bay' charts the experiences and lives of local youth in Cambridge Bay in the Arctic Circle. They document traditional fishing, hunting, Arctic sports, local legends on the origin of death and musical traditions such as throat singing.
'Kuna Conversations with Mother Earth' was created during a Participatory Video during which the Kuna Indians of Panama documented their struggle to conserve the forests, their main source of food and traditional medicine.
'Peru Conversations with Mother Earth' is a powerful film relating the Andean cosmovision. Quechua videographers documented seasonal changes, hail, melting glaciers, christian fundamentalism, and other threats to their culture, livelihoods and landscapes.
Development in Practice is supporting Conversations with the Earth, by making the recent journal issue on Citizens' Media free to download until May 2010, and a print version available at a reduced cost.
In this article Nick Lunch (InsightShare Co-Founder & Co-Director) describes how the Biocultural Portal (currently working under the project name 'Conversations with the Earth), functions as a web based resource for Indigenous Peoples and other stewards of biocultural diversity to share participatory video promoting local solutions to preserve the worlds biocultural diversity. He argues how the project - as a process at grassroots level - challenges power inequality but is simultaneously empowering for government officials, UN officers, civil servants, donors, NGOs, activists and communities alike.
Participatory Video project undertaken by indigenous community leaders at the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues in New York, May 2008.