Image by Andrés Alegría / Mongabay.Mapping and analytical challenges
One of the greatest challenges the researchers faced throughout the mapping process was obtaining accurate data on the location of Afro-descendant lands. In Honduras, for example, the state has recognized 32,000 hectares (more than 79,000 acres) of collective lands belonging to the Garifuna and Black Creole populations. However, where these lands are located is unknown.
“The titles have been issued, but there is no cartography that tells you specifically what the limits of these collective lands are,” Anton told Mongabay over a video call.
He explained that not all countries have official data that show where Afro-descendant peoples are settled or where the limits of their territories are. Therefore, it was important to carry out social cartography work with the communities to establish these details. Later, the OTEC carried out technical cartographic survey work to obtain a more accurate picture.
“With Brazil, unfortunately, we have not been able to get a precise picture of the collective lands of Afro-descendant communities,” Anton said. Only a small fraction of the 506 Quilombola territories have their boundaries officially recognized. Due to a lack of technical information, the researchers were unable to accurately measure how much land is occupied by Afro-descendant peoples in Brazil.
Some early estimates led to debates among organizations, and, in the end, they decided not to include a number for Brazil in the atlas. The only numbers they did decide to include were titled territories, which constituted 1.2 million hectares (3 million acres), and lands with requests for recognition and demarcation, which covered 2.7 million hectares (6.7 million acres).
The researchers are now seeking to move on to a second phase of research.
“At this moment, we are working on the cartography of ancestral languages, but we would also like to map the state of conservation of biodiversity and genetic resources in the territories and also the threats the territories face,” Anton explained. He hopes the atlas will “bring awareness about the conservation capacity that we Afro-descendants have in our ancestral territories.”
Banner image: Lemur tree frog (Agalychnis lemur) in Colombia’s Chocó rainforest. Image by Rhett A. Butler/Mongabay.
New precedent as Afro-Brazilian quilombo community wins historic land claim
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Publish date : 2024-10-20 20:32:00
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