1. CULTURES AND BIODIVERSITY INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS (CUBIC)
From 21 to 30 July 2000, the Yunnan Province of China was host to the Cultures and Biodiversity International Congress. It was a congregation of over 200 researchers, NGO workers, indigenous communities, and environmental scientists and advocates from different parts of the world. The congress was aimed at bringing together these people to strengthen regional cooperation in cultural and biological conservation efforts.
THEME AND TOPICS
The main concern of CUBIC was "To create awareness about the great potential that local cultures have in the construction of development alternatives, which guarantee the sustainability of the environment and natural resource management." It aimed to fulfill this through sharing of experiences and knowledge, and by inviting participation and cooperation among policy makers, international development institutions, and indigenous communities.
The 10-day congress tackled a wide assembly of discourses on cultural survival, indigenous rights, biodiversity, environment, development, and globalization. To tap the wealth of knowledge and experiences of the participants, the congress was designed in such a way that all papers were shared within the limited period of the event. Participants submitted papers related to the theme prior to the gathering which were organized and grouped together according to themes. During the congress proper, two types of plenaries were arranged: one was to orient the participants towards specific topic groups, and the other was to gather feedback and discuss common issues. Participants were free to choose a sub-plenary or topic group where they could learn and participate. Sub-plenaries were intended to be workshop-type activities with one facilitator leading the discussions through a short input while providing anchorage for ideas and conclusions from group members at the same time.
Discussions at the sub-plenaries were focused and hinged at the following points:
- Looking at the potential of indigenous knowledge and culture in biodiversity management
- Analyzing the actual situation and threats at the local level
- Envisioning the future role of cultures and biodiversity
The sub-plenaries were the main vehicles for developing principles and actions for the Yunnan initiative.
FIELD VISITS
After the lectures and discussions, participants were organized into working groups and were primed for field trips to 8 locations within Yunnan Province to interact with various indigenous groups. The aim of the field visits was to look at past, present, and future dynamics of cultures and biodiversity as can be seen in communities found in Xishuangbanna and Zhongdian.
YUNNAN INITIATIVE
The most significant outcome of the congress was the Yunnan Initiative. It is mainly an instrument which proposes alternative strategies for conserving nature and cultures amid the rapid process of development and modernization. The Initiative was developed through deliberations by CUBIC participants towards enhancing cultural and biological diversity efforts. It highlights the unpredictable status of indigenous communities as they strive to survive in their environment while adapting to government policies and economic systems. It also calls attention to the need for partnerships among local cultures, government, NGOs, academicians, and businesses, so that communities become part of a development process that effectively combines indigenous and scientific knowledge and expertise.
The Yunnan Initiative does not claim to be an action plan or a prescriptive policy paper. Rather, it is an orientation for action that different actors involved can take up and implement. By establishing principles and general actions in full support of local communities and their role in biodiversity conservation, the Initiative hopes to help NGOs, researchers, policy makers, and local communities to enhance, strengthen, and focus their work so that sustainable development is truly realized.
SPECIFIC ACTIONS
While continuously developing and finalizing the Yunnan Initiative, CUBIC participants are also in the process of designing cross-country exchange visits. These visits are meant to be educational exchanges between communities in the region so that experiences in community-based resource management, including related policies and existing scenarios, can be shared and assessed.
2. INTER-COMMUNITY EXCHANGE ON NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
One of the immediate actions that emerged from the CUBIC Congress was the Inter-Community Exchange on Natural Resource Management. The initiative commenced through a meeting among CUBIC participants working with indigenous peoples. It was mainly an open discussion regarding the conduct of cross-community visits to facilitate the exchange of learnings and experiences on community-based resource management, livelihood development, and cultural survival for indigenous peoples in Southeast Asia and Southwest China.
The Environmental Science for Social Change (ESSC) and Center for Biodiversity and Indigenous Knowledge (CBIK) organized and facilitated this meeting as an initial step towards the fulfillment of principles established during the Congress. It was held on July 31, 2000 at the Harbor Plaza Hotel in Kunming, China. Attendees of the meeting represented a wide range of experiences from universities, non-government organizations, research institutes, foundations, and cultural communities.
Participants suggested various approaches to the exchange process. Some felt that forming a network should be the foremost activity. Others believed that developing a framework that relates to watershed and policies should come first, while others maintained that actual cross-community exchange should happen first. It was later agreed that a list of potential exchanges be drawn up from which necessary actions could be concretized.
FOCUS AND PRIORITIES
Much of the effort will be directed to re-shaping community-based resource management actions: that of paying attention to local people more than to biodiversity. The learning visits will mainly be an exercise in listening to the concerns of the people which would later be articulated in a broader forum. The intention is to influence policy-making, particularly those that are related to development, community-based resource management, farming, and other livelihood technologies. It will also be an opportunity for communities to learn and share farming experiences and knowledge, and to establish links between themselves and existing knowledge systems in the region.
ELEMENTS OF THE EXCHANGE
During the consultation, there was a general understanding that it is important to adapt the the uniqueness of each cultural community. This would ensure that the whole spectrum of community concerns would be clarified and narrowed down, guaranteeing that approaches would be direct and knowledge transfers would be precise. Networking is necessary to be able to scope interests of cultural communities in different countries and identify where possible exchanges could take place.
The group joining the exchange would be a mixture of research institutes, farmers or indigenous communities, and local government where necessary. Learning groups will be kept in small numbers and will operate on a bilateral exchange level, as the pattern is to visit only those communities and areas nearest to the visiting communities' particular situation. At some point however, multilateral exchanges could be facilitated so that results of bilateral exchanges could be brought together.
LEARNING AREA SUGGESTIONS
Some learning areas suggested were:
- Culture
- Single / Multiple Resource Use Management, eg., cultivation of rattan and how it affects / is affected by elements such as marketing, traditional management, etc.
- Livelihood
- Economic Benefit Sharing
- Land-Use Management
- Mapping and Boundary Issues
- Basic Welfare and Involvement of Local Government
- Autonomy Strengthening
- Management of Nature Reserves or Protected Areas
- Eco-Tourism
SHARING OF SIMILAR EXPERIENCES
During the meeting, some participants shared experiences from previous exchange efforts. The case presentations helped bring ideas on how to develop potential structures for actual visits for the Inter-Community Exchange. Among the cases presented was a learning visit conducted by three Philippine Indigenous groups to two Indonesian communities. The intention of the visit was to share experiences and impart knowledge among rattan gatherers. A similar process is expected to take shape in the planned visits.
Currently, networking activities and coordination among activity partners are being conducted in preparation for the exchange visits. It is projected that at least two country exchanges would spin off early next year.
3. EDITORIAL: WHEN SCIENCE IS NOT ENOUGH
Over the past 150 years, scientists have accumulated a wealth of taxonomic knowledge of almost everything that has lived in the environments of Asia. Given the growing concern over Asian environments, this knowledge has helped put into focus the richness and uniqueness of the biodiversity in this part of the world. This wealth of knowledge has been more recently utilized to direct and guide efforts of conservation.
However, each science that deals with the environment only gives a partial view of reality and no one science gives a complete picture or an integrated and comprehensive world view. In other words, no one environmental science tells us how things fit into the overall picture.
When one views the distribution of cultures in Asia, there are few areas where people have not lived in close relation to their environment. With respect to the richness of biodiversity in Asia, this does not occur in wilderness areas as often imagined. Such richness in fact occur in areas of social and cultural marginalization within a society and not in a social vacuum. The area may often have a fairly rich culture while being economically underdeveloped and weak in terms of political institutions.
Several different levels of social interaction are generally operative in these areas. In the Philippine context, to mention but a few: there are usually non-profit organizations working with communities in different ways, the overall aim being social improvement and empowerment. Sometimes there are government programs of basic social service and development. There may also be groups pursuing a business strategy or programs of environmental conservation. These programs frequently overlap. Sometimes they support each other and at other times, they are in conflict with each other and with the principle of biodiversity protection. In most cases where biodiversity protection is a concern, the majority are in areas where communities exercise de facto management in a traditional way, though without legal rights or access to basic services.
People have to become familiar with the term "biodiversity", come to value it, and realize that biodiversity affects us personally. In this way, a scientific concept has to shift to related expressions in all cultures and the value therein dwelt upon to give a cultural and social basis to biodiversity. It is imperative that people in all walks of life be made more aware of the importance of biodiversity and its role in and contribution to a healthy and sound environment.
For example, when engineers set out to develop dams and roads, these projects will definitely have an impact on the environment and in many cases a negative impact. Yet the project designers have little knowledge of the impact these projects will have on the area, on the cultures, and on the biodiversity. They seldom appreciate the importance of biodiversity conservation - even if surveyed, it has become yet only another requirement - and its implications for the environment and the life of communities. For the project design to be environmentally sensitive and in a real sense, scientifically acceptable, a comprehensive knowledge needs to be available and factored into the design stage. What usually happens is that communities have to react when the project is already under way and damage to the environment - that could have been foreseen and prevented - has already happened. To prevent this from happening again and again, it is obvious that there should be codes of assessment and procedure, codes of conduct and self-regulation which incorporate the lessons learned from past experience and the best scientific knowledge available. It is also clear that at the local level, people must be informed, educated, and prepared to participate in any decisions in mainstream society that affect them and not just a programmed formality of a prior and informed consent.
4. FEATURE: A VISIT TO THE OLD DAKA VILLAGE IN XISHUANGBANNA
As part of the Cultures and Biodiversity Congress, 16 of its participants visited the Old Daka village in Yunnan Province, China. The participants were welcomed by the government-appointed village head and the local leader whom they call Zoema. There was a rich sharing between participants and village members who talked about their daily lives and showed the participants around the community. Participants in turn shared their experiences in their home countries.
COMMUNITY SITUATION
The Old Daka village is a community located 12 kilometers from the Xishuangbanna Tropical Garden, a repository of botanical species found in different parts of Xishuangbanna. The Hani community of Daka village came from uplands in the east 30 years ago looking for paddy fields. The said that in the land where they came from, they worked hard but food was never enough. Hani communities were always fighting and leaders were asking them to pay taxes. In 1958, they settled in the place where they are now. No one occupied the land when they arrived and they were able to start opening paddy fields little by little. Transition in ownership occurred in 1982 when the land was divided among the members of the community.
The busiest months for the community are from April to May and from August to October when they focus on the paddies. Between these periods, they work on rubber, Chinese cardamon, vegetables, or go outside the village to seek other jobs. The village is now into swidden farming and collecting sap from rubber trees. In the swidden plots they plant rice, corn, watermelon, soybean, and peanuts. Cashews are occasionally planted but generally, the soil is not good for growing this produce. There area around 20 hectares of land used for paddy farming, with one-third irrigated and the remaining two-thirds rainfed. The swidden plot that was visited by the Congress participants had been operating since 1994. The community first planted rubber 15 years ago from seeds bought from the market in Menglun township. Later they were able to plant using seeds gathered from existing stands. The sap that they collect everyday is brought to the factory for processing.
As tax payment, government asks community members to give 20 kilograms of rice from their produce. Sometimes government asks them to reserve 50 kilograms of their rice harvest for government itself to purchase from them. Rubber is taxed Y8 per mu per year and payment is required after ten years of growing. Community members expressed that the produce from the total land devoted to paddy farming is not enough to support the local population. Weeds are also a problem in swidden plots and agro-chemicals have to be purchased and applied to deal with the problem.
The Old Daka village has one school for students in the first three primary levels. A teacher handles an average of 16 students per class. Students in higher grade levels are sent to Menglun township which community members find quite expensive as they have to pay Y20 per child to the township government.
ON CULTURE AND BIODIVERSITY
During this brief interaction, the relation of culture and biodiversity to the daily lives of community members emerged:
HEALTH: Members plant red and white varieties of peanuts. Though both can be sold at the same price, the red variety brings a higher revenue than the white due to its bigger size. Planting the white peanut variety, however, still has value as it is used to produce a medicine to stop bleeding.
LEADERSHIP: The community believes that to have a plentiful harvest, the local leader must be the first one to sow and harvest the crops, and rice - the most important crop - can only be sown or harvested within the Dragon Day in May.
COMMUNITY RELATIONSHIPS: It is believed by the community that crop productivity and hunting activities are tied to family relationships: if the relationship with any family member is bad, then production will be less or none at all. Harmony within the family is therefore very important: "If there is harmony then the ancestors are happy." The younger Hani who was translating for the local leader, however, had this to add: "Harmony within the community is also important because if relationships are not good, then the community cannot be organized." He related the experience with an irrigation project initialized the previous year where local government gave insufficient money and villagers had to become laborers. He also expressed his feeling that people who are better off do not want to invest time but poorer people actively do so. The local leader expressed his own observation that the rich are only active verbally but not in action.
VISION: The government-appointed village head wants to see a new and better road that can be used all-year round. In the future, they want to see modern roads within the village, and growth in economic industries, but do not know yet what those will be. The local leader agreed with him because he feels that government will build roads anyway and that they could not control that. However, he hopes that their culture and traditions can be preserved.
PRIORITIES: The local leader cited two things he wanted to preserve most: the dragon forest where they buried their ancestors, and the water well where belongings of the dead are washed to prevent the spread of disease. It is the community's belief that If these belongings are washed in the well, they may not be buried along with the dead owner and should be passed on to relatives. They also believe that washing in any other water source would spread disease to the river. The leader expressed his concern very succinctly: "If there were a road instead of a well, how would we wash our dead's belongings on the road?"
REQUESTS AND COMMITMENTS: Participants were eager to relate their experience when they returned to the Congress and open discussions on how the group could contribute to the improvement of the situation in Old Daka village, even to raise this issue to a policy level. A feedback process was also proposed to communicate back with the leader and members of the village.
5. VOICES FROM THE FOREST: THE LOGGER - A STORY ABOUT CULTURAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT
(by Datu Migketay Victorino L. Saway - Philippines)
A Logger entered the territory of a tribe to start his logging business. The Chiefain approached him, saying that he could not go through with his business unless he performed the "permission ritual" to the gods and spirits of nature as was custom. The Logger willingly consented and performed the ritual.
After the ritual, the Logger approached the Datu and said: "Datu, I want to be your friend. Just tell me everything I need to do to respect your customs. The logging business is good and we want to help your people. We've seen your difficulties because your farm is too far away across the hills. But we will build the roads and bridges for you. You can ride on the logging trucks and transport your farm produce easily. If you want to build a community house, we will just pull the logs to your doorstep. We will give you a chainsaw to cut the logs. Your people will work in the company and you can also work as their supervisor. We will give you oil for your light."
While listening, the poor Chieftain saw the good opportunities. He said: "Well Mr. Logger, I accept your friendship. Since you are a good man, I am willing to work with you. Our mountains are rich with logs and I give them all to you. Rest assured that I will be responsible for my people."
Then all the trees were cut down and the soil was eroded. The rivers became muddy and dried up. Many outsiders came to work with the company and they soon became the majority. The roads brought squatters to the forest. The deer, birds, bees, butterflies, and fruits disappeared as did the herbs for medicine and food from the forest.
The Logger, on the other hand, became rich. He bought all the flatlands and established a livestock industry, a pineapple plantation, and a transport corporation. With so much money, he also became politically powerful. He became a congressman, then the governor of the province.
The poor Chieftain lost the land and his leadership. He had lost control of the forest. His worship areas were destroyed. His hunting grounds were empty. His people became slaves and servants of the rich. The bright future of his generation was gone forever.
Had the Chieftain known the impact of the logging industry to the survival of his people, he would not have allowed it to operate in the area. Had he known that his places of worship would be desecrated, his hunting grounds destroyed, his food security threatened, his pharmacy, shelter and territory controlled by someone else, he would not have allowed the Logger to operate. Had he known that the rivers would be muddied and emptied of fish, he would not have allowed the trees to be cut, for those riches and bounty are for his children's children. The clear water, beautiful forests, fishes, birds, bees, honey, and butterflies, are nature's bounty and heritage for the future generation to live and enjoy.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Sadly, we get to hear stories such as these when it is already too late or too difficult to minimize the adverse effects. The Cultural Impact Assessment (CIA) is a proposed tool to articulate the concept of "Free and Prior Informed Consent" (FPIC), a prerequisite for development projects to be considered socially acceptable in the Philippines. But until now, despite legislative provisions, the essence of FPIC has never been fully realized. The necessity and urgency of such an instrument is illustrated in the story above. The CIA will provide the framework for evaluating and assessing development programs and projects that affect indigenous people and their ancestral domains.