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Amazon communities using GPS

The Achuar community is constantly witnessing petroleum companies visit to drill for oil.

Readers of the latest issue of Resurgence magazine can gain a deeper insight into how GPS mapping devices are helping inhabitants of the Amazon.

The Achuar, who live in the north-west of the Peruvian Amazon, are one of the communities taking part in a project that combines the knowledge of their ancient elders with mapping techniques to highlight their existence.

It will also show the government why particular parts of the forest are important to them as petroleum companies continue to pass by to drill for oil.

Gregor MacLennan, co-founder of Shinai, a Peru-based non-government organisation that introduced the GPS devices to the people, explained how maps are being created from the information gained.

He told the magazine: "The maps are drawn by the community in a two-day workshop and then community members walk to all corners of their territory with a GPS, geo-referencing everything that has been drawn on the map.

"We trained local people to both facilitate these workshops and to use GPS."

The name Achuar is believed to mean aguaje palm, which is a form of palm tree that grows in wet areas in tropical South America.

Posted by Claire SharpADNFCR-2767-ID-19803859-ADNFCR

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