Indigenous peoples protect the rainforest with hi-tech tools
source: http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,4547011,00.html?FORM=ZZNR5
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Illegal logging is a threat to the rainforests of Peru. But the indigenous communities are using both ancient knowledge and modern technology to protect biodiversity and stop further destruction.
The lush green of the rain forest offers rich natural resources which the Ashaninka Indians have lived on for centuries. At the Yoreka Atame school of primeval forestry in Brazil, young indigenous and non-indigenous people have been learning how to make use of them in a sustainable way.
Since 2007, the school has taught more than 2,000 participants skills like the cultivating fruit trees, keeping bees, and erecting dams in creeks and lakes to enhance spawning grounds for fish.
"That's how we Ashaninka Indians here in the border region between Brazil and Peru want to pass on our traditional knowledge," said Moises Piyako. He cofounded the Yoreka Atame school together with his brother Benki in 2007.
Political problems between Brazil and its neighbor Peru make life complicated for the indigenous people in the border region.
"We are suffering from Peruvian logging companies, and now the Peruvian government also wants to dig for oil along the border," said Moises Piyako.
Illegal timber-fellers from Peru are increasingly encroaching on the rainforest on both sides of the border.
The land and its resources belong to the Ashaninka, according to the Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention 169 adopted by the International Labour Organisation, ILO. It recognizes the rights of ownership of the peoples over the lands which they traditionally occupy. But Peru has been trying to circumnavigate international law by granting mining concessions for areas that are owned by indigenous peoples.
"In the process, Peruvian timber companies even illegally enter Brazilian territory," said Ashaninka spokesman Benki Piyako. "Illegal logging is putting our whole region and its biodiversity at risk." (more at link)
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So, to protect their land, they use GPS technology, vlogging, monitoring, satellite photos to show the deforestation, etc. They even sell CO2 certificates.
The lush green of the rain forest offers rich natural resources which the Ashaninka Indians have lived on for centuries. At the Yoreka Atame school of primeval forestry in Brazil, young indigenous and non-indigenous people have been learning how to make use of them in a sustainable way.
Since 2007, the school has taught more than 2,000 participants skills like the cultivating fruit trees, keeping bees, and erecting dams in creeks and lakes to enhance spawning grounds for fish.
"That's how we Ashaninka Indians here in the border region between Brazil and Peru want to pass on our traditional knowledge," said Moises Piyako. He cofounded the Yoreka Atame school together with his brother Benki in 2007.
Political problems between Brazil and its neighbor Peru make life complicated for the indigenous people in the border region.
"We are suffering from Peruvian logging companies, and now the Peruvian government also wants to dig for oil along the border," said Moises Piyako.
Illegal timber-fellers from Peru are increasingly encroaching on the rainforest on both sides of the border.
The land and its resources belong to the Ashaninka, according to the Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention 169 adopted by the International Labour Organisation, ILO. It recognizes the rights of ownership of the peoples over the lands which they traditionally occupy. But Peru has been trying to circumnavigate international law by granting mining concessions for areas that are owned by indigenous peoples.
"In the process, Peruvian timber companies even illegally enter Brazilian territory," said Ashaninka spokesman Benki Piyako. "Illegal logging is putting our whole region and its biodiversity at risk." (more at link)
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So, to protect their land, they use GPS technology, vlogging, monitoring, satellite photos to show the deforestation, etc. They even sell CO2 certificates.
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endovenoso
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wow, now that is fighting back
- 2 years ago
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endovenoso
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sirpaulmcdarkney
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Kudos to the Ashaninka. Not only are they preserving their indigenous culture, they are taking major steps toward preserving their indigenous habitat. Would the Native American have been so lucky... who knows what our country would look like now!
- 2 years ago
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sirpaulmcdarkney
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idealist
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i want to protect the rain forest.. but its so far away :(
- 2 years ago
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idealist
