Land administration for indigenous
communities: Pilot test in Vaupes
-‐
Colombia
Abstract
This paper describes in detail a designed methodology named Community Mapping Supported by Technology (CMST) that was undertaken in Vaupes, Colombia. Although most of the indigenous territories in Colombia are recognized as Indigenous Reserves, the lack of communities’ boundaries has made it difficult to elaborate a proper zoning plan. Also, the lack of boundaries causes disputes between communities, settlers and natural resources extraction companies. The pilot test carried out in Piracemo community (in Vaupes – Colombia) used a UAV based approach to delimit indigenous territories. The designed methodology involves the community at all time and it integrates native costumes and their conception of the land. Based on the results it could be concluded that the methodology developed for Piracemo is functional and enables the production of highly accurate maps that can easily be applied to other communities. The used of UAVs and other technologies accompanying with participatory mapping appears to help establishing more rapidly and accurate the boundaries acknowledged by them. Further work are suggested in the area of study to develop a successful methodology and a proper tool that help the community to establish their territory and protect their land from extraction projects and future settlers.
Key words: Community Mapping Supported by Technology; UAV; boundaries; indigenous peoples; mapping; Vaupes.
1. Introduction
This study investigates the potential of using a designed methodology named Community Mapping Supported by Technology (CMST) on surveying indigenous territories. Indigenous peoples in Latin America are threated today mainly by the rapid escalation of natural resource extraction (Olsen 2006) as deforestation and mining projects. Also it is known that conflicts between different land users have been rising over the past decades due to increasing global interests in land (Chigbu et al. 2015). An important purpose for mapping indigenous communities has been assisting indigenous peoples to claim and defend their aboriginal titles, ancestral lands and resources (Chapin et al. 2005).
Aboriginal title refers to the inherent right to a territory, which has spiritual and economic value because it is integral to security of tenure (Ballentyne et al. 2014). The protection of the right to property of indigenous peoples is a matter of special importance (IACHR 2010) because for them, a community without territory is condemned to extinction (UNICEF 2003). Therefore, the protection of their land involves the protection of the human rights of a collective, since the land is not only an economic entity but also a necessary condition for their cultural growth and social development (IACHR 2010; UNICEF 2003).
Since 1991, indigenous territories in Colombia are recognized in the Political Constitution, marked the beginning of legal protection of indigenous people’s rights. In Colombia, collective land tenure is a central mechanism of protection, as it is meant to secure for indigenous peoples the possibility of maintaining their traditional form of life and, therefore, to ensure their survival (HREV 2008). Therefore, Resguardos (which is the name given to indigenous territories in Colombia) are created as a legal and sociopolitical institution that gives indigenous peoples a collective ownership title that provides all the guarantees of private property. They also provide them with an ability to posses and govern their territory in accordance with the special rights of indigenous peoples and their own native law (Decree 2164 of 1995). However, not all the indigenous territories and peoples are within Resguardos and even those that do live in it, face difficulties in protecting their land (Olsen 2007).
Resguardos are consisting of one or several indigenous communities. They could also sometimes include people from different ethnics and/or with different languages and laws. Sometimes different ethnics and communities have different conceptions of their land and the lack of the same delimitations can cause boundary conflicts regarded the use of different resources. For this reason it is important to defined communities’ boundaries to reduce on-‐going conflicts and to ensure the viability of the community.
Chapin et al. (2005) mentioned that another reasons of mapping indigenous communities have been strengthening indigenous political organization, economic planning, and natural resource management and document the history to salvage and reinforce cultural identity. The Colombian government is embarked to legally acknowledge the Indigenous Territorial Entities (Entidades Territoriales Indígenas ETIs) mentioned in the 329 article of the Political Constitution (1991). When the ETIs are recognized, the lack of boundaries and spatial information makes impossible to develop a proper management and development plan for all and each community (Makau et al. 2015).
For this project, the pilot test was developed in Piracemo community in Vaupes, Colombia. The indigenous people of Vaupes, have long known that land demarcation are one of the main issues to be addressed before ETIs are recognized and land rights can be asserted, recognized or granted. The methodology developed proposes to give to the communities ownership in the process as an open and a participatory
manner, empowering indigenous people over their land and resources that should expand economic opportunities (Boudreaux 2015).
It has been proved that the use of different technologies increases detail and allows more quantitative analysis (Gilmore & Young 2012). Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) are an alternative or supplement to conventional mapping techniques because provide benefits regards to costs, efficiency, accuracy and flexibility (Mumbone et al. 2015). It is believed that this emerging technology united with geo-‐ information techniques offer an improved method to capturing and producing cheaper and faster spatial data for use in land administration projects (Kelm et al. 2014) such as protection of indigenous land and resource rights. As technology changes and provides more accessible options, the indigenous peoples have more opportunities to identify, demarcate, claim or reclaim aboriginal lands (Boudreaux 2015) and it is important to developed a methodology that help indigenous peoples to achieve those objectives.
This paper also will present a general background of the international legal framework, indigenous communities in Colombia and legal framework and background on UAVs and other technologies. The background presented is focused mainly on the land rights and tenure. This will be followed by the discussion on the developed methodology, which includes the results of the pilot study in Piracemo community in Vaupes, Colombia.
2. Background – Literature review
International legal framework
The fist one to addressed indigenous communities rights was The International Labour Organization (ILO) Convention 107, which emphasized on the importance of the protection and integration of indigenous peoples as an instrument to recognized some basic rights as land property (Roldan 2002). Later The American Convention of Human Rights (1969) established the fist parameters to consider the special rights of this type of communities. The Convention constitutes a prerequisite for the rights to live in condition of dignity, to food, to water, to health, to honor and to free movement and residence. For indigenous peoples, the article 21 has particular importance since guarantee the right to territorial property as fundamental for the development of the indigenous communities’ culture, spiritual life, integrity and economic survival (IACHR 2010).
In 1983, in an effort to address rights issues pertaining to indigenous peoples, the United Nations started working on the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (HREV 2008). Before the declaration was proclaimed, the fist international human rights instrument dealing specifically with indigenous peoples was the International Labour Organization (ILO) Convention 169 adopted in 1989 as a revision of Convention 107 (Roldan 2002). This legally has been ratified by 20
states, 13 of which are in Latin America that explicitly accepted that indigenous peoples do not enjoy their fundamental rights. The Convention recognizes the special nature of the relationship between indigenous peoples with their territories as a collective aspect (article 13). Establishes the right of ownership of land that traditionally has been occupied by them (article 14) and emphasizes on the protection of indigenous peoples’ economic, social, and cultural integrity (article 2, 4 and 5). Demands respect for their autonomy, their right to self-‐government and manage their own process of development, and their right to be consulted on all administrative or legislative measures which interest them (article 6,7,15). Also establishes special rights that governments have the responsibility to fulfill as demarcation of the land and the granting of title. (HREV 2008).
Until 2007, The United Nations General Assembly after negotiated with states and indigenous peoples established The Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples that was discussed since 1983. With 147 votes in favor, only 4 votes against (USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand), and 14 abstentions (HREV 2008) the declaration was proclaimed. The declaration is considered as a standard of achievement to be pursued (UN 2007), and set the standards for the interpretation of indigenous peoples’ rights both in national and international law, including civil and political rights, as well as economic, social, and cultural rights (HREV 2008).
Across countries and at international level, a confluence of legal developments such as soft law guidelines are driving international efforts to secure the land and resources rights of indigenous peoples established in the declarations. Guidelines express broad support for the recognition of the local and indigenous rights to the land and resources, providing a high level guide to national governments that wish to adopt laws and polices to improve land governance, transparency and rights. As an example, The United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGP) (2011) provided complementary guidance to respect and protect rights related to the use of land and resources and remedy violations of these rights (Boudreaux 2015).
Other important guideline is The 2012 Voluntary Guidelines on the responsible Governance of tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the Context of National Food Security (VGGT) (CFS FAO 2012), which support the protection of the legitimate land rights of the people living under customary and informal legal systems, women and other vulnerable peoples. The VGGT addresses the provision of land services, informal tenure, markets, investment in land, expropriation and compensation and conflicts related to the land. VGGT emphasize that land governance in too often weak and discriminatory. Also that many stakeholders as states, civil society and the private sector have a role to play in accomplishing the improvement of formal and informal land governance systems can help protect people and food security, enhance natural resource management and reduce conflict (CFS FAO 2012). Consisting with existing obligations under national and international law, States should provide appropriate recognition and protection of the legitimate tenure rights
of indigenous peoples and should protect them against the unauthorized use of their land, fisheries, and forest by others (CFS FAO 2012).
Despite the laws demanding for customary land to be mapped, accordingly to the World Bank and FIG (International Federation of Surveyors), the 75 percent of the world’s population do not have access to formal systems to register and safeguard their land rights. Although land registration or titling is not a panacea for resolving land issues (Makau et al. 2015), from the perspective of indigenous peoples access to security of tenure is the first step to recognize human rights. Other indigenous peoples requests involving recognition are regarded the protection traditional importance places, control resources, occupy and enjoy their land (Boudreaux 2015).
The importance of these guidelines is that it guarantee indigenous rights and may be used by all countries and regions at all stages of economic development and for the governance of all forms of tenure, including public, private, communal, collective, indigenous and customary (FAO 2012). Slowly countries are adopting these guidelines to create stronger standards at national law, policies and jurisprudence that are accelerating the recognition of the rights and developing customary tenure systems with and for the communities.
Indigenous communities in Colombia and legal framework
According to DANE, in Colombia are 1,392,623 indigenous inhabitants, belonging to 87 different peoples, located in one third of the territory. Each one of these peoples is recognized by its own language (64 native languages), culture, history, cosmology, spirituality, social and political organization and ways of relating to their surroundings. In 2010, the ONIC (Organización Nacional Indígena de Colombia) presented that 32 indigenous peoples are at rick of disappearing related to the internal armed conflict, development projects and the State’s neglect represented by insolation, poverty and lack od access to basic services (IACHR 2010).
The indigenous peoples in Colombia always have been threaten by infrastructural and economic exploitation projects that are been planned and implemented within their territories. In terms of right to land, territorial disputes between indigenous peoples, communities, settlers or other non-‐indigenous individuals have been reported (IACHR 2010) and the country’s laws are not sufficient to guarantee their protection, as the recent laws are not accorded to the Constitution and the international treaties. Also the Constitution is not clear in many aspects and for that reason the Court has ratified that the jurisprudence of the international organs enhances the effective legal protection of indigenous peoples rights interpreting the Constitution in accordance with international human rights treaties (HREV 2008), as the ILO Convention 169 ratified in 2008.
The Colombian Constitution since 1991 established the rights of the indigenous peoples (Unicef 2003) principally because the Constituent Assembly was conformed
also by three indigenous members. Their participation permitted the inclusion of a number of provisions protecting the rights of indigenous peoples and other ethnic minorities, beginning with the constitutional principle that Colombia is a multicultural country (HREV 2008). Also they emphasized the importance of protect the territory as a fundamental right to safeguard the cultural identity and autonomy of the indigenous communities.
In the Constitution, the right to land was guaranteed with the Resguardos and establishing the importance of delimits the communities (Unicef 2003). A Resguardo is a collective property by nature inalienable and immune from expropriation (HREV 2008). A Resguardo is also a legal and sociopolitical institution of an especial kind that provides all guarantees of a private property where the communities have the autonomy in accordance with the special rights of indigenous peoples (Decree 2164 of 1995). The right to property and autonomy is connected also with the right to education, health, potable water, free development and protect their cultural identity (Art. 68) (Unicef 2003).
Resguardos are created and regulated by INCODER, the Colombian Institute of Rural Development. In Colombia are 710 Resguardos in 29,8% of the national territory (DANE, 2007). The laws do not specify how a Resguardo should be established and work, leading to a large number of conflicts between indigenous organizations and the authorities at different levels. The lack of clarity in several laws regarded indigenous rights has caused different interpretations of key provisions and problems in the development of proper plans (HREV 2008).
According to ONIC, there are more than 500 requests from indigenous peoples for title, territorial and boundary demarcation that remain unresolved by the government authorities and had been recognized by the State at the IACHR in 2010. Since then, the Decree 441 of 2010 orders INCODER to clarify and validated the lands occupied and restructure the colonial reservations and land title should be carried out with full participation and agreement of the communities affected (IACHR 2010).
The Colombian Constitution also mentioned the importance of the Indigenous Territorial Entities (Art. 329) and the Organic Law (Ley Orgánica de Ordenamiento Territorial) as instruments to formulate proper development plans. The ITEs will be a political and an administrative entity where indigenous authorities could exercise autonomous government functions, such as collecting and administering economic resources. Although the Constitution did not provide specific rules for the creation of the ITEs and the distribution of the competencies (HREV 2008), the Organic Law of Territorial Regulation (Law 1454 of 2011) now provides the tools to design the specific functions of the ITEs.
The exploitation of natural resources within indigenous territories is another topic that it has been regulated since the Constitution because all development and extraction projects must not harm the cultural, social and economic integrity and
the decisions shall ensure the participation of the communities involve (T188 of 1993). Although, the regulation for the prior consultation have been ratified (Decree 1320 of 1998), indigenous authorities, trade unions and human rights organizations have criticized the decree for violating the constitution and ILO Convention 169 for not consulate the indigenous organizations as the National Commission on Indigenous Territories (Comisión Nacional de Territorios Indígenas) and the Permanent Forum for Consultation with Indigenous Peoples and Organizations (Mesa Permanente de Concertación con los Pueblos y Organizaciones Indígenas) (created by Decree 1397 of 1996), during the drafting of the decree. The decree established a procedure for consultation which did not took into account the different cultural realities of Colombia’s indigenous peoples, and until the flooding by the Urrá dam in the Embera-‐Katío land, the Court declared Decree 1320 to be unconstitutional and ordered state authorities to refrain from applying it. No new decree has been formulated since then.
For extraction projects, many legislations regulate the projects in indigenous territories as the Mining Code (Law 685 of 2001), Forest Law (Law 1021 of 2006) and Law of Rural Development. These legislations established that the activities must not harm the cultural, social or economic integrity of indigenous peoples and requires the prior consultation. Also proposed that whenever potential extraction sites coincide with indigenous territories, the competent authorities shall identify these sites and take special measures for protection of indigenous communities. Also defined indigenous territories “permanent settlement”, being more restrictive that the ILO Convention creating a legal contradiction between the international agreement, the constitution and the extraction laws (HREV 2008). For that reasons, in many cases the legislations have been declared unconstitutional and being reformulated.
Background on UAVs and other technologies
Mapping indigenous communities represents a challenge for traditional cartography methods (Chapin et al 2005), causing the appearance of a variety of methodologies and tools. Since 1960s the principal goals of mapping indigenous lands have been to secure tenure, manage natural resources, and strengthen cultures (Chapin et al 2005). Western cartography has shown not to be the best method to accomplish these goals because it does not take into account the complexities of indigenous landscapes (Sletto 2012).
Indigenous conceptions of space reflect the complex of the social relations and land tenure because boundaries are fluid, overlapping, and changing. A map cannot be seeing only as a neutral object separate from a social context, but requires a new thinking about the process of mapmaking and the result focusing mainly the process (Sletto 2012). For that reason, participatory mapping reconceptualize the meaning
of a map (Sletto 2012) and recognizes the knowledge of local peoples and cognitive
Although the methodology varies between projects, the general characteristics of participatory mapping maintain: the involvement and collaboration of indigenous peoples, the production of maps that represent their traditional spatial knowledge and a dialectical exchange between the locals and researchers (Gilmore & Young 2012).
More recently researchers have added another stage combined geographic information systems (GIS) causing a variety range from highly participatory approaches to more technical efforts with GIS and remote sensing (Chapin et al. 2005; Salamanca & Ospina 2012). Before the appearance of the technology, the maps lack or have poor accuracy and now these methodologies allow researchers to accurately plot the locations on the participatory map (Gilmore & Young 2012). Before GIS, GPS function as a tool to locate the places on a map with low accuracy. Now GIS do not only produce and accurate map but also can offer other types of digitally record as photographs, audio recording, and video, producing a rich understanding of the spaces and narratives represented (Gilmore & Young 2012; Barry et al. 2013).
Encoding traditional knowledge within an official cartographic form with the available resources (GIS, GPS, satellite image), it is easier to confer more legitimacy upon indigenous land claims and help establishing resource management plans. It can also provide a window into how the community perceive and interact with their environment and facilitates an understanding of the boundaries, a general appreciation of subsistence activities and the distribution of biologically and culturally salient resources (Gilmore & Young 2012).
Makau et al. (2015) show how the sketching can be problematic and the satellite image supporting participatory mapping is needed to bridge the information gap in a inclusive manner. Instead of sketching, the communities can easily orient to what is easily identifiable on the imagery and place the boundaries or the interest sites. Then, the data collected can be transferred into a geographical framework.
On the other hand, UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle), UVS (Unmanned Vehicle System), UAS (Unmanned Aircraft System) or drone was initially designed for military purposes, however recent advancement in technology makes it useful for civilian applications such as mapping and surveying (Mumbone et al. 2015; Rezza 2015), conservation (Kelm et al. 2014), forest and agriculture (Grenzdörffer et al. 2008). The UAVs have facilitated the local mapping in areas with difficult accessibility producing accurate maps that can be used for land administration and cadastral survey. Also improves the speed of mapping process and can lower the cost of cadastral surveying (Grenzdörffer et al. 2008; Mumbone et al. 2015).
As satellite imagery, UAV derived mapping presents an aerial perspective with sufficient resolution to make it interpretable without any map reading skills. While it can serve the as a valuable positioning tool to the researcher, it also carries evidence and context that can easily be perceived and understood by everyone
(Barry et al. 2013). Different studies had show that UAV is now an alternative or supplement to conventional mapping techniques. In Albania (Kelm 2014) concluded that UAV technology fit/for purpose because it includes elements of reliability, upgradeability, and affordability and includes participation and inclusion. Barnes et al. (2013) also advocate for the use of UAVs in the insitu delivery of high-‐resolution aerial photos, as well as promotion of citizen participation from elderly to children. Unlike satellite imagery, UAVs can be obtained imagery at short notice making it possible to easily identify and respond to small changes on the land. Although satellite imagery has become relatively cheaper and provides significantly higher, the flexibility of UAVs to reliably capture data over discrete areas give the researcher more tools for a rapid response (Kelm et al. 2014). In addition to maps, UAV can also be used to produce 3-‐D models that facilitate better planning, natural resource management, environmental monitoring, and disaster risk mitigation (Kelm et al. 2014).
The innovative practices in participatory mapping promise to help the struggle for justice in indigenous communities and other marginalized communities that have long lacked a map of their own (Sletto 2012). These tools deliver a variety of methodologies to produce a rapid map process that take into account the knowledge
of the indigenous peoples and provide them a instrument of protection.
3. Methodology developed
The methodology designed, Community Mapping Supported by Technology (CMST) was developed in order to integrate, social cartography, GPS, UAVs, Geographic information system (GIS) on mapping indigenous lands. Previous studies in Mitú by Rojas & Paez (2014) have shown the importance of the formalization with the community in order to obtain an active participation of the members. Their work was develop in the communities of Ceima San Pablo, Pueblo Nuevo and Cucura from the Indigenous Peoples from Mitu Central Zone Organization (Organización Zona Central Indígena de Mitú OZCIMI) where they established that questionnaire and GPS as tools are insufficient to resolve boundary limits, but it can give many information about land use and the territory. They recommend the incorporation of indigenous knowledge and emphasizes on resource management to understand their relationship with the land. Also emphasize on the importance of join collaboration between communities, indigenous authorities and academy to develop a proper tool.
Demarcation of aboriginal boundaries might require the use of non-‐standard mechanisms and the aboriginal group must be consulted before setting any boundary (Ballentyne et al. 2014). The methodology proposed combine latest geospatial technology with community participation to provide secure land tenure and register community boundaries and for these reasons the community is engaged from the onset and throughout the process.
CMST is divided in five main sections; planning, preparation and data collection, field work and community participation, image processing and Geo Information Systems (GIS) and final socialization.
Before any plan has made, it is important to gather all the available information of the region to design a proper plan. It is know that every community and place need different or a variation methodology according to the costumes of the peoples.
i. Previous studies (biological, social, economical)
ii. Cartography (government recognized maps, social cartography) iii. Demography aspects (ethnics, communities)
iv. Social conditions and problems (education, health, drinking water, economy, life plan (Plan de vida))
v. Culture
vi. Development government plans
vii. Political administration (governor, major, indigenous authorities) viii. Infrastructure (communication, transportation, supplies)
ix. Environmental data (climate, hydrography)
For mission planning, according to Mumbone et al. (2015) and Barnes et al. (2014), the following technic aspects are to be considered:
i. Nature of the terrain: requirements for launch and landing area. Rotary wing is easier to launch in a dense forest area.
ii. UAV platform: determined by the size of the area to be mapped. For large areas is recommended fixed-‐wing UAVs.
iii. GSD: depends on the required resolution. Higher resolution (small GSD value) involves low flying height and slower speeds.
iv. Regulatory limitations: for Colombia, there’s no legal regulation for UAVs.
Before the fieldwork, a recognition trip is recommended to establish connection with the indigenous authorities and the community. It is known that permission from the captain or chief of the community is required to work inside a Resguardo or community. Previously we mentioned that every community in Vaupes is associated with an indigenous organization that represents their interests. The organization can help to make connection between the captain and the investigators and indicate the environmental and social conditions of the community. Establish the community previous the fieldwork, would facilitate to set the length of the trip and the transportation.
Also, to develop a successful study the objectives and topics needed to be resolved must be properly set to develop the questionnaire for the interviews.
4. Case study
The information presented in this chapter is a set of information from papers and the recognition trip to make as complete as possible.
The methodology designed was tested in Vaupes, Colombia (Figure 1). Vaupes is located at the southeast part of the country and it is part of the Forest Amazon
Reserve with Amazonas, Guaviare, Caquetá, Putumayo and Guainía. Since 1959 and
until now the 90% of the department is still considered as reserve. The principal purpose of the reserve is to safeguard the soil, water and the life to protect the economical development of the region (Gobernación del Vaupes 2011).
Figure 1. Vaupes location
Vaupes is a transition sector between the dried flatness of the Orinoquia and the Amazonian rain forest. The precipitation is bimodal with a decrease in January to February and July to August and the average annual precipitation is 3254 mm. The average temperature is 26° C with the hottest period between October and April and the coldest between May and September (Gobernación del Vaupes 2011).
Accordingly to the DANE, Vaupes has 19 recognized ethnics and 3 Resguardos, where the 66.65% (11587) of the population in Vaupes (the 0.83% of the total population of the country) are indigenous peoples (DANE 2007). The recognized ethnics are the Cubeo, Tucano, Desano, Barasana, Wanano, Siriano, Yurutí, Tuyuca, Carapana, Piratapuyo, Nukak, Tariano, Tatuyo, Caviyarí, Makuna, Bara, Pisamira, Curripaco and Taiwano. The ethnics are distributed in 217 indigenous communities and established mainly along the rivers. The indigenous communities are represented by eighteen indigenous organizations that are associated principally by a river or basin and the communities beside it. For that reason the rivers are considered as the arteries that give life to the forest and the principal axis of the territory (Gobernación del Vaupes 2011).
The study took place in Piracemo community situated approximately 25 km from Mitú, the capital of Vaupes (70° 22.821’ W and 1° 19.688’’ N). It takes 2-‐3 hours by boat by the Cuduyari River and passing 4 communities; Santa Marta, Puerto Lopez, La Garrafa and Pituna. The Cuduyari River is the most important transportation affluent for the Cuduyari communities and also provides water and food.
The community has a Cubeo origin and it is represented by the UDIC (Unión Indígena Cubeos del Cuduyarí). Piracemo is conformed by 105 habitants and 33 families. The community has a Caseta comunal (reunion house), a boarding school, and a health center. Also, the community has a communal boat, a motor and a chainsaw.
The traditional economy consists in a sustaining economy. The agriculture, provide mainly food and sometimes products that can be sell in the Mitú. The money from the sales is used to buy products like soap, salt, fishing hooks and batteries. They also depend on the river and forest for fishing, hunting and collect wild fruit. The chagras are the crops and the fundamental productive unit. Every family have at list one chagra and they work every day to obtain their food. The chagra is constituted in the forest, and they need to select the place, cut down the trees, clean and burn before plant the seed. The chagras are constituted by yucca, manioc, corn, chontaduro, plantain, name root and pineapple.
The Piracemo was chosen because it gives a broad overview of the diverse social and spatial structures of the Vaupes’ communities. The UDIC recommended the community because it is close to Mitú but not too close, presenting an intermediate condition between the closest and the distant communities.
4.1. Field work and community participation
The fieldwork is divided in 5 steps; initial socialization, interviews, visit and georeferenciate important sites, UAV flight and final socialization.
After project planning and collection of existing information, the process starts with a sensitization session with the community. Before initiating mapping activities, it is necessary to explain the objectives, methods and discussed the potential advantages and disadvantages of this type of work (Gilmore & Young 2012). Every step need to be describe with simple words and if it is possible to do it with videos or images. To execute a successful study the community has to agree to be involved with the project. Also, it is important to let them know the importance of their active participation, recommendations and opinions.
After community agreement, the interviews should start when the community establishes a relationship with the investigation. Although all information should be taking into a count and record, the investigator need to have in mind the questionnaire previously established in the planning section. The interviews should
feel as conversations for the interviewee do not feel as an interrogation. Also the interview should be made in preference on their current activities to avoid any intervention with their work or lives. It is important that the investigator tried to accompanied different members every day to gathered different opinions. Every night the information gathered need to be recorder, establish the information missing and prepare a new questionnaire.
As Davis and Wali (1994) recommend, land-‐use knowledge and indigenous environment need to be included in the determination of boundary demarcation and land-‐tenure policies. For that reason it is important to include all social, economical, environmental and culture information for the results analysis.
Also, the interviews should establish the important places and their location. Complementary, the use of the GPS is employed to georeferenciate the all places visited for future mission plan. As it is mentioned, mental representations of the geographic features and spatial relationship have always been part of the cultural world of the indigenous peoples in Amazonia. The acute awareness of their natural surroundings explains why they are able to orient themselves pictures, photos or maps (Smith et al. 2003). And for that reason their constant participation in locate the limits and important places is important because they know in terms of direction and distance where the places stands in relation to the rivers, mountains and all the other features in their natural social world.
The interviews should gather all information before mission plan could initiate. The planning mission takes into account the information gathered in the interviews and section 7.1. After every flight or as it is needed, the videos and draft images should be taken to the community for verification or to plan a proper flight. This is carried out as Smith et al (2003) recommended. First the team asks the leaders and members to verify the points of resource use, cultural significance and geographic features. Also the boundaries are discussed and establish. And if it is necessary, the team with the community designs a new flight.
Finally, the draft results must be present to all the members of the community for their agreement. The community review the information, makes changes if it is needed and reach consensus on the boundaries. The presentation should be dynamic and must be accompanied with videos and images. Always remember to use simple language as the fist socialization.
4.2. Image processing and Geo Information Systems (GIS)
The image processing generates the final orthophoto. The orthophoto are rectified mosaics of aerial images that can be used for measurement just like a line map (Barnes et al. 2014). The orthophoto should be produce with the proper software and if it is necessary any rectification or measurements a GIS software can be used. The final map should contain the important places and community boundaries as discussed in the fieldwork.
4.3. Final Socialization
After image processing it is important to do the final socialization. The community is gathered again to present the final results and analysis. Always remembered to do the presentation with simple words, videos and images. Finally the community reviews the map and verifies the information. The final comments and recommendations are made. It is important to discuss the things that can be improved for the next time.
If the team cannot travel to make the presentation, it is important to send someone in representation or a video with a recorded presentation. Likewise the community should seed to the team their comments and recommendations.
5. Results and analysis
Before any travel was prepared, a previous approach was made in Bogotá with an indigenous lawyer working in Bogota. We discuss the social situation of the communities, their cultural structure and Rojas and Paez (2014) previous work. Also we establish the potential benefits of the study, the methodology and the possible study area. These conversations establish the basis to prepare the recognition travel.
The recognition travel was made on February. For 6 days two investigators establish connection with three different indigenous associations to determinate the better place to work. Finally we met with some members of the UDIC and present the project. The UDIC fist objective is to establish an education that involves the indigenous culture and the traditional system. Also they are interested on determinate the communities’ boundaries before the ETIs are recognized. They need the boundaries and a georeferenciate map to design a proper development plan for the communities. Also they are aware that the figure of Resguardo cannot protect their territory forever from extraction projects if they do not show that they are using the land. After we discussed the advantages and disadvantages of the study, they recommended the Piracemo community for the reasons presented before.
For two days we visited the community and return to Mitu. The travel was made for 2 hours by boat by the Cuduyari River. The captain was not preset until the end, so we presented the project to the directive of the boarding school and some members. Also as a recognition flight, we flew the phantom over the community. Finally we met Fabio the captain of Piracemo, presented the project and asked for his permission to come back and work with the community. In general, the community was very interested on the project and offered their help.
From the recognition travel we establish the basis to the fieldwork. Mainly we determinate that a longer time is needed to complete the methodology proposed for
several reasons. First, the constant rain can cause a decrease on the flight time of the UAVs. Also we need to gather a lot of information related to the boundaries location, the relationship between the land and the community and land-‐use knowledge. The questionnaire was design mainly to resolve these questions. The social cartography (Figure 2 and 3) shows that the members know where the community is located, but the boundaries locations are unclear.
Figure 2. Social cartography of Piracemo (Ministerio de Educación 2014)
Figure 3. Social cartography of Piracemo (Ministerio de Educación 2014)
To be able to stay for a period it is necessarily to consider that there is no store or stay place in the community. All supplies have to be bought in Mitu or Bogota before the fieldwork. Also it is better to bring drinking water because the community drinks rainwater.
For the mission plan, a bigger UAV is needed to map a large area. The territory is minimum 20 km2 and the Phantom cannot cover that area in one or various fight
with only one landing area available. Also, the football field could be used as landing area so a fixed-‐wing UAV like the Skywalker is more adequate to the terrain.
5.1. Fieldwork and community participation
The fieldwork was made on April for 15 days. Initially two people composted the research team. As planned, the community was expecting us in Mitu and the same day we arrived we traveled to Piracemo. This time we went with the community on the communal boat and traveled for 4 hours. The community does not travel often to Mitu. They only travel the Sundays to sell some products or leave the children on the boarding school.
It was late when we arrived to the community, so the sensitization session started the next day on the Caseta communal. Fabio gathered the community at 7 and after the usual quiñampira, they discussed their problems and then we introduced us and presented the project’s objectives and methods. The community expressed their opinion and we discussed the possible advantages and disadvantages of the work. Also they made some recommendations about the fieldwork and the places we should take into account. During the reunion, the community was very interested in the study and offered their help.
As it is mentioned, the interviews were made as conversations. We started visiting and georefenciate the closest houses and the boarding school. We always had in mind the formulated questionnaire but talked about everything. It was a continuous knowledge exchange and always respected their culture and costumes. The majority of the days we had lunch or dinner with Fabio and his wife and it was the perfect time to resolve dudes and established the next step. Every night we recorded and analyzed the information and established the topics that were missing and made a new questionnaire.
For the conversations we established that the chagras were located mainly on the other side of the river. All the families have a chagra and their own territory to constituted new ones. The territory was not marked, but all the members have in mind their own territory and the territory of the other members. When a chagra is established, it belongs to the family forever and no other member can work on it. Always they expressed us the importance of the chagra and the crop, “A person with out yucca is a poor person”.
For have a better view we visited and georreferenciate Fabio’s chagras. They are awarded of the role of the women in the chagras as the person that know best the territory and the crop. The role of the men is only the heavy work like cleaning and burning the land to establish a new chagra or crop. The chagra need a lot of work and almost every day women work on them. For constituted a new chagra, some members of the community are gathered to help with the work. During summer, they burn the chagra to fertilize the soil and plant the seed.
Fabio explained us the role of a captain. The captain is proposed and selected by the member of the community. It is not an established period of time or payment. The captain has to solve problems, search projects for money and be aware of every aspect of the community.
The community boundaries were very difficult to establish. The members had different opinions were the limits are and they always expressed us that they were imaginary. Regardless the social cartography and the interviews, only until Fabio gave us the Integral Plan of Piracemo “Plan integral de vida indígena comunidad de Piracemo Cano Cuduyari” we have a better idea where the limits are. In the study the limits are established but the cardinal points are inverted:
-‐ Southwest: a lagoon called the Gurupera -‐ Southeast: Wacuyari river
-‐ Northeast: Piracemo River -‐ Northwest: Paujil River
-‐ North: Yaiba flood land (Morichal) -‐ South: Nurimu tawa
The Gurupera, Paujil and Piracemo were easily determined on the river. The Wayucari river closed to the Nueva Reforma community, is a little river that we visited because the forest do not let it see from an aerial picture. But the north and south limits can only be determined with the UAV.
After 7 days gathered information, the other team arrived. The interviews and visits gathered the information before mission plans start. The second team was composed of two people and brought the UAVs; the Skywalker and the Phantom. The next day we gathered the community and plan the flights. The community was awarded where the UAV should flight to gather the needed information. After one attempt the technical problems with the Skywalker were very difficult to resolve and finally no fight was made with it. We only can flight over the community because the Phantom’s flight range. We flew 5 times and covered 1km2 approximate.
Because the climate and technical problems, we made the last flights the final day and the draft orthophotos cannot be processed to the final socialization. The last night the community was gathered in the boarding school to do the final socialization. During the meting, a projector was used to view the videos and the people started to identify the owner of the houses and chagras.
5.2. Image processing and Geo Information Systems
The image processing was carried out using professional software “Pix4DMapper” from Pix4D. The images were processed with the following specifications: 100 m flight height and an average air speed of 9 m/s and a lateral overlap. In this case the quality check was not considered. After the processing, a Digital Surface Model and an Ortho-‐mosaic from residential area were generated (Figure 4).
Figure 4. Orthophoto map
Because all the territory could not be flight, a satellite image was used. The satellite image of 27000 ha was provided by Procalculo. Although the satellite image does not represent the actual status of the land because it was taken on 2010, the image was used to establish an approximation of the community boundaries. As it was mentioned, the north and south limits could not be established on the fieldwork or the satellite image. For that reason, we used the Network Analyst tool from ArcGIS software 10.2.2 developed by Esri, to determinate an approximate use area. We made a grid to establish the roads and assumed a waking (5 m/s) and boat velocity (10 m/s). Also we know that the members have to return to the community by the end of the day and they only work until 12 pm because the sun is too strong. With this information we determinate a maximum of two hours traveling.
As pilot test we used the longest chagra in the image (3.5 km from the community) to establish the time travel. Also we measured the distance accomplished in two hours to draw the north limit (4 km). Finally, the same distance were use to draw the south limit (Figure 5).
Figure 5. Boundaries determination procedure
The final is 3900 ha (Figure 6). It is important to establish that the area determined
is only an approximation of the real area of the community. Also, the roads used are not the roads that the community generally used and the real roads cannot be seen in the satellite image.
Figure 6. Approximate community area
After the approximate area was established, we determined the land use using the Classification tool in ArcGIS. A manual classification was made to correct the classification because the resolution of the image and the similarity between the forest and the established chagras (Figure 7, 8 and 9). Also, for the initial classification the clouds were taking into account (Table 1) and then take out from the final analysis (Table 2).
Figure 7. Land use classification
Figure 8. Chagras land use classification