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mapping project - introduction
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Cordillera Huayhuash Community Mapping Project
A Resource Management and Conservation Effort
Huayhuash Development Center - May 2006
It has been proven that community based mapping, although not a new idea, is a highly successful method to help both indigenous peoples and governments guide resource management peacefully. Based on the premise that people who live in a place can better manage local resources when given the correct tools, the project would be to develop the skills necessary to generate small-scale community maps pertaining to the Cordillera Huayhuash (pr. Cor-di-yer-a Why-wash) in the department of Ancash, Perú.
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Hand drawn map of the Huayhuash
Jiver Obregon - Chiquian |
There is growing national and international interest in the Cordillera Huayhuash. A conflict is developing between the mining interests, the protected area interests, and the interests of the residents of the area. Many of the sub-surface mineral rights are already granted to various international mining interests (about 75% of the land area), and Mitsui Mining and Smelting LTD. started extraction operations in 2005 after a seven year period of exploration. From 2002 to 2005 there was a substantial interest in the development of a protected area plan created by INRENA (Instituto Nacional de Recursos Naturales) to make at least part of the region a nationally protected area. On the part of the communities, whose interest lies with their aboriginal rights, there is growing organization fueled by fear of non-participatory development. With this recent convergence of interests, maps made by the communities would be an essential part of a peaceful development plan.
In December of 2002 El Centro de Desarrollo Huayhuash (Huayhuash Development Center) was formed in the town of Chiquian with representatives from nearly all of the surrounding communities attending. The formation of the Huayhuash Development Center was motivated by (1) the rapid increase of mining interests, specifically Mitsui which has already caused environmental degradation during their exploration phase (including water and soil pollution effecting two communities) and (2) the desire to develop a sustainable economic base and tourism industry for the local people. The first project that the Huayhuash Development Center will undertake is the community mapping effort and this proposal is the result of the initial years of organizational effort that the Centro has undertaken.
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Community based cartography
Queropalca - August 2006 |
The project has two objectives; mapping, and dissemination of the results. The first objective starts with mapping workshops attended by all communities and then the drafting of the maps for each community follows. The maps would be made by community members according to traditional knowledge and placed in the respective communities for reference and planning. Copies of the maps would be made and then compiled into a regional map. The second objective is to publish and disseminate the work to the Peruvian government and other agencies involved in the region who are currently making land use decisions regarding this region without good information regarding current land use patterns. The second objective would empower the people of the Huayhuash in their effort to regain their customary rights to be a part of the decisions about the land upon which their future generations will live.
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