Mapping, demarcation of Indigenous lands to be addressed – APA

— as newly developed Geographic Database launched

The Amerindian Peoples Association (APA) on Thursday hosted a Webinar to launch its new study titled “Our Land, Our Life” which is a participatory assessment of the land tenure situation of Indigenous peoples in Guyana along with its newly developed Geographic Database of Indigenous Lands in Guyana.

Dr Laura George of the APA explained the study was carried out to address ongoing land titling issues faced within Indigenous communities and to improve the awareness of rights of the Amerindian population in Regions One (Barima-Waini), Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam), Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni), Eight (Potaro-Siparuni) and Nine (Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo).
First, she highlighted that based on the study, it shows that there is a lack of protection for Indigenous people’s customary tenure system. She explained that there is a failure to acknowledge the collective ownership and management of lands in the land titling process.
Dr George detailed that in Amerindian culture, many communities jointly manage a specific mass of land – especially resources-rich plots, and use it mainly for fishing, farming and resource gathering.
She explained that in claiming these additional lands, the Indigenous population usually encounters issues which can be translated as a violation of Amerindian rights.
Additionally, she noted that much of the previous mapping work conducted by the Guyana Lands and Surveys within the regions prove to contain demarcation errors.
This, she explained, is as a result of the Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission (GL&SC) omitting community participation in the process.
“There is confusion over village title boundaries; there are issues with mapping. At least 35 out of 68 villages pointed out demarcation errors. Some demarcation errors have resulted in parts of lands being cut out and causing conflicts. In our mapping work coming for the GLSC, it points out on any map of Guyana that shows Indigenous lands, Kako is missing entirely from that database,” Dr George detailed.
With respect to the locals working along with GLSC technical staff, it can help to reduce foul-up, especially with the naming of rivers etc.
Furthermore, she posited that the study also shows that there are conflicts with land and resources caused by parties that have papers to titled Amerindian lands.
These include miners and loggers working within Amerindian areas.
Meanwhile, Dr George added, “extractive activities have caused significant damage to land including to cultural heritage sites.” She explained that these activities carried out by miners usually damage areas that are deemed as sacred and culturally important to Amerindian communities.
To remedy the land issues highlighted, the APA carried out intensive fieldwork coupled with technical expertise to develop the Geographic Database of Indigenous Lands in Guyana.
This was spearheaded by Geographers Cameron Elis and Michael McGarrell. Through the use of Global Positioning System (GPS) coordinates and the assistance of elders and captains, the geographers were able to develop a geographical database containing four maps that depict spatial data pertaining to the lands and lives of Indigenous people in Guyana.
The database includes the overview, the threats, the conservation opportunities and the land title error maps. The first map has an overview of Indigenous communities and the latter grasps errors that existed in the previous mapping and demarcation process.
Michael McGarrell, the Geographic Information System (GIS) Specialist and Forest Policy Officer at the APA explained that a lot of data collected came from community mappers.
“We want to have more data available for people to make evidence-based decisions.”
Ultimately, recommendations of the study called for a correction of mapping errors, the improvement of the titling process and for land conflicts to be addressed – this includes the revoking of concessions overlapping Indigenous titled areas.
Dr Ashni Singh, Senior Minister with responsibility for Finance, during his 2021 budget address noted that since the PPP/C Government resumed office, they spent the last few months of 2020 preparing the groundwork for re-energising the Amerindian Land Titling programme to achieve its original target to title 68 villages.
To this end, Budget 2021 allocates $630 million to expedite the granting of titles to Amerindian villages.