1 Mar 2019

Travelling South: my first field trip

by | posted in: News | 0

Betsy Alvin, an intern on the Darwin Initiative Traditional Knowledge in Conservation in Guyana project, reflects on her visit community visit. Well! This was my first experience on a field trip going anywhere to do project work. Mr Bernie couldn’t go because his mom was ill and Ms. Rebecca couldn’t go by herself so they called me and said to pack because you are heading south. Going along with us would be Mr Neville Adolph, the new project community liaison … Read More
24 Dec 2018

Parikwarunawa – Land of the heavy breeze!

by | posted in: News | 0

Continuing our trip, we moved from Maruranau to Parikwarunawa. Just after concluding the video screening, the team began packing to make an early departure the next day. Sigh! But it was not time for home and more so Christmas yet! But it was on my mind as we packed. We left on the 11th December for the next village clear back across the savanna to the south central district of the Rupununi. Close to Lethem that you could almost touch … Read More
16 Dec 2018

Pantani Book – 33 Amerindian Tales from the North Rupununi, Guyana

by | posted in: News | 0

If you happen to visit the Rupununi region of Guyana, and take a hike with a local guide, it is likely you will hear plenty of fascinating stories and legends, as it happened to me. At the end of January 2014, I travelled to the south of Guyana with a group of researchers and had an opportunity to visit a place called ‘Skull Mountain’. During the trip, our local guide shared many tales and stories about the rivers, and valleys … Read More
12 Dec 2018

Kaimen! Working with the Wapichan from the South Rupununi

by | posted in: News | 0

A team consisting of three – Ryan Benjamin, Rebecca Xavier and I (Grace Albert) – departed the north savannas for our journey to the south savannas on the 1st December, 2018. Driving through the North Rupununi Wetlands left the feeling of going away for a while. Bearing in mind, we were indeed going to be away for about 20 days.  The team overnighted in the township of Lethem to do our grocery shopping. The next day, after lunch, we were … Read More
12 Aug 2018

Participatory video empowering Indigenous youth

by | posted in: News | 0

Celebrating the United Nations International Youth Day Read our article in the latest Darwin Initiative Newsletter which features how our on-going project activities are seeking to empower youth in Indigenous communities. The article shows how the project is engaging young people through participatory video to explore how traditional knowledge contributes to conservation and the relationship between Indigenous communities and protected areas. It highlights the benefits of participatory video in providing skills and confidence to young people to research their own … Read More
21 Jun 2018

Screening community videos with policymakers

by | posted in: News | 0

Phase 2 – analysing films and collating information http://projectcobra.org/wp-content/uploads/Integrating-traditional-knowledge-02.mp4 Over the past year of the project, Indigenous communities in the protected areas of Guyana have begun making videos on the importance of traditional knowledge to these places. This video showcases the next phase of the project which involves analysing the videos and collating the information into short videos to be screened to policymakers in Georgetown.
1 Jun 2018

Documenting community owned solutions in the North Rupununi

by | posted in: News | 0

In April and May, the NRDDB Darwin Team visited the North Rupununi villages associated with the Iwokrama Forest to begin documenting their community owned solutions for managing the protected area. Bernie Robertson, NRDDB Community Researcher reports on their activities. During the trip, the team provided additional training to the community researchers in using transcripts to sort their videos. They also assessed progress made in making the three videos on traditional knowledge and protected areas. Following this, they began working alongside … Read More
23 Apr 2018

The integrating of traditional knowledge into national policy project continues to touch communities

by | posted in: News | 0

Communities using participatory video to communicate with policy-makers Darwin Project: Integrating Traditional Knowledge into National Policy and Practice is one-year into its community work. Communities that have already been trained are making their videos. Work scheduled to engage communities associated with other Protected Areas in the coming months. Very exciting! The NRDDB team is still on the go; communicating with and visiting communities of the North Rupununi and afar, working to building capacities and enhancing the skills of the young … Read More
19 Apr 2018

Masakanarî Village: The Unexpected

by | posted in: News | 0

Engaging with Guyana’s only ‘Community-Owned’ Conservation Area The Darwin field team recently visited the Wai Wai indigenous community of Masakanari in the Kanashen District. Full support for the TK project was evident as community members participated in training and had a chance to engage their fellow community members through interviews as they practiced what they were learning about participatory video. Author – Bernie Robertson It was decided! We were going to the end of Guyana, Konashen – Wai Wai Territory … Read More
13 Mar 2018

Community engagement in the North Rupununi, Guyana

by | posted in: News | 0

http://projectcobra.org/wp-content/uploads/Integrating-Traditional-Knowledge_low.mp4   This video shows the first phase of community engagement in the Darwin Initiative funded project “Integrating Traditional Knowledge into Conservation in Guyana”. Focused on the North Rupununi communities associated with the Iwokrama Forest protected area, it highlights how involving young people as researchers in their own communities can increase understanding and value for the role and importance of traditional knowledge for conservation.

1 2 3 4 5 6