2010 Annual Report
Helping Traditional Communities Claim Their Territorial Rights
Ford Foundation grantees around the world are working locally, nationally and internationally to ensure that the rights of traditional communities inform land-use policies.
In Brazil, the New Social Cartography Project of the Amazon (in Portuguese, PNCSA) collaborates with indigenous and other communities to map their territories, combining traditional knowledge with scientific, legal and policy expertise. More than 100 communities have taken part so far—mapping more than 1 million hectares, or 2.5 million acres.
Watch a video about how the map was made
Learn more about our Expanding Community Rights Over Natural Resources initiative »Beija Flor Community
Establishing the rights of traditional communities
The Brazilian Amazon is vast, encompassing an estimated 500 million hectares. Largely as a result of progress made by the indigenous rights movement, 22 percent of the region is now officially protected as indigenous people’s land, and another 22 percent is designated for conservation or sustainable use.
Still, 41 percent of the Brazilian Amazon remains contested. With no official owner, undeveloped land can be seized and exploited by private interests or government. One community at a time, PNCSA is establishing the rights of traditional communities to their territory, thus protecting natural resources and strengthening a growing social movement.
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