The Race to Put Indigenous Land on the Map

Metadata

• Author: Liani MK and Muhammad Fadli
• Full Title: The Race to Put Indigenous Land on the Map
• Category: articles
• Document Tags: #geospatial
• URL: https://restofworld.org/2023/indigenous-land-map-tech/

Highlights

• Nonprofit organizations in Borneo are training Indigenous communities to formally establish their native land rights in order to protect their local areas from such encroachment. But first, they need to demarcate which land is theirs. To do so, they are turning to mapping technologies such as GPS and geographic information systems (GIS), and in some cases drone photography, to document their native land. Once it has been sufficiently mapped, they can apply to have their land be legally recognized as protected native land, and fight against illegal intrusions by logging and plantation companies in court. Without that protection, these communities face displacement, destruction of their homes, and a loss of their cultural identity. (View Highlight)
• Many other projects around the world have similar aims. The Native Land project, also in Canada, uses interactive maps to show the traditional territories and languages of Indigenous peoples across the world. In South America, the Amazon Network of Georeferenced Socio-Environmental Information (RAISG) maps the territories and resources of Indigenous peoples in the Amazon basin. (View Highlight)
• In Malaysia, a legal concept known as native customary rights (NCR) recognizes the collective ownership of land by Indigenous communities even if they don’t have formal deeds. NCR land refers to land that Indigenous peoples have occupied and used for generations, based on their customary practices and traditions known as adat. (View Highlight)
• Passed down through oral tradition, adat encompasses a wide range of practices, including land use, resource management, social organization, and spiritual beliefs, shaping the ways in which communities govern themselves and their resources. It is essential to understanding Indigenous peoples’ relationship with the land, the environment, and one another. For example, adat may dictate how land is divided and allocated within a community, how water and timber are used and managed, and how social and economic relationships are structured. (View Highlight)
• To conduct its mapping, SCRIPS first gathers data from local communities through oral history interviews about their land, and by identifying particular landmarks such as rivers, farms, and communal graves. Then, a team treks into the forests with handheld GPS devices to gather coordinates based on those stories. In a meeting that follows, the community decides which elements on the map are important for documentation. The SCRIPS team then uploads these points into the GIS software, which analyzes and integrates location data (such as latitude and longitude) and the descriptions. The result is a visual map that stores and displays a spatial analysis of the location. (View Highlight)
• The Land Surveyor Act, introduced in 1998, sets out guidelines and regulations on the work of land surveyors in Sarawak. But following Nor’s case, the state government passed a passed a bill that mandated all maps be produced only by a surveyor authorized by the the Department of Land and Survey, without causing any major damage to the land. Under the new bill, non-professional surveyors could be found guilty of “illegal practice” and punished. Some Indigenous communities claim it represented another tool of oppression, restricting them from easily surveying their own land. (View Highlight)
• According to the act, land surveyors are required to seek permission from the Board of Land Surveyors before starting any work on NCR land. This permission is often difficult to obtain as it requires navigating bureaucracy and legal proceedings.
  As a result, many NCR lands remain unsurveyed and undemarcated, leaving them vulnerable to encroachment and exploitation. This has led to numerous land disputes and conflicts between Indigenous communities and developers, often resulting in violence and displacement. (View Highlight)
• The recognition of community maps differs by country. On the Indonesian side of Borneo, a government-led initiative called the One Map Policy (OMP) aims to integrate all spatial data into a single, authoritative map. The policy is geared at addressing conflicts over land use, particularly between Indigenous communities and the government or private companies. (View Highlight)
• But Kartika Sari, chairperson of Palangkaraya Ecological and Human Rights Studies (PROGRESS) in Kalimantan, the Indonesian part of Borneo, told Rest of World the OMP may not entirely solve the issue, as such maps require official documentation. “Most of the Indigenous peoples do not have official documents, because these are ancestral lands passed down,” she said. “This is what ends up becoming an issue — because the adat of the community is not yet acknowledged and protected.” (View Highlight)