For several years Forest Peoples Programme (FPP) has been working directly with indigenous peoples in forest areas use new technology to document their traditional use of forests” map their territories” and to monitor and report illegal logging. Now with support from FPP” indigenous peoples are mapping their lands in Cameroon” Democratic Republic of the Congo” Guyana” Suriname” Venezuela” Thailand and Indonesia.

In Cameroon and the Democratic Republic of the Congo” FPP and a consortium of other local partners and software companies are working together to support the Ngola Baka pygmy communities. These forest communities are using GPS technology to map their territories” recording the exact location of their hunting grounds” sacred trees and important rivers. Because most Baka are non-literate” the GPS computer screens are marked with symbols that denote an important site.

In Cameroon” this national government is also supporting this project and plans to download the data to record the claims and monitor illegal logging activities on Baka lands.

Read more on these projects in a series of recent articles by BBC News here and here.

Read more on Forest Peoples Programme's work with indigenous peoples in Africa here.