First published on 06/29/2015, and last updated on 03/29/2018
By: Fereshteh Sabetian, Regional coordinator for West Asia, ICCA Consortium and Ghanimat Azhdari, Cenesta, Honorary Member of the ICCA Consortium
LandMark is an important new resource in the ongoing effort to preserve indigenous and community lands. It is the world’s first online interactive global platform in the service of this cause, and it provides maps and other critical information on indigenous and community land (lands which are collectively-held, used and managed). Clearly, the lack of existing information available to the public makes many indigenous peoples and their communities almost invisible, and thus more vulnerable. Landmark is designed to help indigenous peoples and communities protect their land, and to strengthen land and natural resource rights and secure land tenure.
During the LandMark’s meeting of June 1-4, 2015, Ghanimat Azhdari gave a presentation on the indigenous peoples and local communities in Iran, and on Cenesta’s efforts in creating participatory GIS on their territories. Her presentation led to the inclusion of UNINOMAD (Union of Indigenous Nomadic Tribes of Iran —a member of the ICCA Consortium) as a new member of the Steering Group.
The information on Landmark is given at both the community and the national level. Community-level data include boundaries of lands held or used by indigenous peoples and communities, including lands formally recognized by governments and those held under customary tenure arrangements.
LandMark was launched officially on November 10, 2015 in Washington DC and in Lima, Peru. The following day it became available in Indonesia through the offices of AMAN, another organization affiliated with the Consortium through the Working Group on ICCAs in Indonesia—an ICCA Consortium member. More information can be found on the dedicated website: www.landmarkmap.org.
ESPAÑOL: Se puede encontrar información sobre el Proyecto “landmark” aquí!
For more information please contact Feresteh (fsb@iccaconsortium.org) or Ghanimat (ghanimat@cenesta.org).
