Indigenous peoples have been practicing the monitoring of their natural and physical environment since time immemorial. Before the introduction of the modern writing systems, indigenous peoples already had their “history” in their songs, chants, folklores and paintings, among others. These information systems have been passed on from generation to generation up to the present time using different methods such as story telling, genealogy and performing arts, among others.
Monitoring is an activity or a process of checking the progress or quality (of something) over a period of
time. Note that it has one criteria—it is purposive. For indigenous peoples, monitoring is a process of coming out with information, an integral part of research which is the process of collecting data/information for the creation/ production of a more advance knowledge. Some may equate observation with monitoring. However, monitoring can be further defined as:
- Something that is done on a regular or routine fashion while observation can be done only once;
- Recording or noting the observations—recording may mean you write or mentally take note of what you observe;
- Purposive and systematic, not just done randomly.
Community-based, on the other hand, simply means that the process is under the control and management of the community. Therefore, the information and monitoring system is of, by and for the people of a defined community (a village, town, tribe) under their control and management.
For indigenous communities, whose way of life is very much connected to their natural resources, monitoring is also intrinsic in their lifestyle. For instance, the agricultural calendar of indigenous communities are closely related to when the rain comes, the movement of certain animals or birds and the flowering or wilting of certain plants.
According to the Indigenous Peoples’ Global Partnership on Climate Change, Forests and Sustainable Development,* CBMIS refers to the bundle of research and monitoring approaches related to biodiversity, ecosystems, land and waters, and other resources; as well as, human well-being. It integrates the ecosystems-, human rights-, and sustainability-based approaches with conscious concern on gender, intergenerational and cultural diversity, to indigenous peoples’ economic development and well-being (SIS Submission of Tebtebba and the Partnership to the UNFCCC, Sept 24, 2014).
Why is CBMIS important?
“Knowledge is power.” Crucial for indigenous communities’ empowerment is their ability to generate, process and come up with advance knowledge. To be able to do this, they have to have a baseline or a synopsis of their community.
For instance, monitoring of resources is done because of, but not limited, to the following reasons:
- To have a full access and right over our resources;
- To counter existing state policies that are discriminatory to indigenous peoples;
- To be more critical of the changes in the natural resources and propose solutions; and
- To be used by indigenous peoples and local communities as a tool for management and documentation of their resources and status of their well-being.
Indigenous peoples have been subjects of researches done by external agents for such a long time. But in CBMIS, the community is involved in the conceptualization, implementation, monitoring and evaluation stages.
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What? |
CBMIS is a systematic process of data generation, collation, analysis and management |
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Who? |
The indigenous peoples in the community are the main actors of the process |
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Where? |
In areas needing action (i.e., areas that matter most to the community) |
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When? |
Now |
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Why? |
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Community-Based Monitoring and Information Systems (CBMIS) is an essential part of IPSSDD that aims to be a basis for the community planning, decision-making and advocacy. It is a process where the indigenous peoples, including women and the youth, are not mere subjects but actors and managers of the whole process of producing a baseline information and deciding what to make out of the data they generated.
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* This partnership, established by Tebtebba in 2009, is composed of 18 indigenous organizations and NGOs from 13 countries in Latin America, Asia and Africa: Tebtebba, Lelewal (Cameroon), DIPY and UEFA (DRC), MPIDO and ILEPA (Kenya), NEFIN (Nepal), CERDA (Vietnam), CHIRAPAQ (Peru), CADPI (Nicaragua), SER MIXE-ASAM-DES (Mexico), FAPI (Paraguay), CIR (Brazil), ID and AMAN (Indonesia), Maleya (Bangladesh), NNK and SILDAP (Philippines).