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Carbon stocks and cultural mapping in the Amazon Rainforest
May 17, 2012
In 2008, the
Google Earth Outreach
team
visited the Surui tribe
in the Brazilian Amazon rainforest for the first time, upon request of Chief Almir Naramagoya Surui. Their goal was to learn how to share and preserve their culture using
Google Maps
,
Google Earth
, and other online tools including
Picasa
,
YouTube
, and
Blogger
. We were honored to play a role in empowering the indigenous people of a region that had been ravaged by illegal logging to
tell their stories
to millions of people around the world. Filmmaker Denise Zmekhol documented this experience in a video called
Trading Bows and Arrows for Laptops
.
Then, in 2009, Rebecca Moore, head of the Google Earth Outreach team, returned to the Amazon to teach the Surui about
Open Data Kit
(ODK), a new suite of open-source tools that streamlines the process of data collection in the field with Android phones. Using ODK, the
tribe takes pictures of what’s happening on the ground
for proof of the illegal logging that is taking place on their territory.
The Surui also began using ODK and Google Earth to
visualize the carbon reserves
of the forest they live in. This process is part of their 50-year sustainability plan, and serves as a model for how indigenous tribes who have lost much of their ancestral land to logging and deforestation can thrive with the help of a new emerging market based on carbon credits.
Chief Almir, in his joint presentation with Rebecca Moore, celebrated the validation of the
Surui Forest Carbon Project
on Saturday, May 12th at
TEDxBeloHorizonte
in Brazil. This is a groundbreaking outcome for the Surui people for two reasons. First, this is the first indigenous-led project in the world to be validated. Equally important, it’s also the first REDD+ project in Brazil to get certified by both the
Verified Carbon Standard
(VCS) to sell stocks in the carbon market, and the
Climate, Community and Biodiversity
(CCB) Gold Standard to get extra gains from other ‘co-benefits’ of forest preservation, such as increasing biodiversity for a region, or preserving the livelihood of local communities who depend on the forest. The project was validated by Rainforest Alliance and the Brazilian NGO IMAFLORA.
The Surui and their partner
IDESAM
have already measured a baseline of carbon stored in the indigenous reserve and will avoid the emission of 6 million tons of carbon over the 30 years of the life of the project by avoiding the deforestation of 40 thousand hectares of forests and protecting an additional 200,000 hectares. Coordinated by
Forest Trends
, the Surui will work with the Brazilian government and those who want to neutralize their emissions to develop financial mechanisms to ensure the forest is protected and well managed, while also assuring the quality of life for the Surui community. The primary financial vehicle has been designed by
FUNBIO
, a Brazilian NGO specializing in creating financial mechanisms for conservation.
The TEDx talk was made on the heels of another Google Earth Outreach workshop held in Cacoal, Rondonia in May -- this one intended to teach the Surui people how to create a cultural map using Google Earth. Creating a new platform for storytelling online and an interactive repository for shared memories, the Surui students have interviewed their elders to map their ancestral sites, such as the site of first contact with western civilization in 1969, places where the tribes battled with colonists in the 1970s, as well as places of interest, like sightings of jaguars, capybaras and toucans. Once the Surui students have completed the first version of the map, it will be available for all to explore both as a Google Earth KML, powered by
Spreadsheet Mapper 3.0
, and as a narrated tour in Google Earth.
We are very excited for Chief Almir, the
Surui people
, and their partners, including
ECAM
,
Amazon Conservation Team
,
Forest Trends
,
IDESAM
,
Kaninde
,
FUNBIO
, among others, who are entering into a new phase of global significance with the validation of the Surui Forest Carbon Project and the Surui Cultural Map.
Posted by Tanya Birch, Program Manager, Google Earth Outreach
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