A database can assist judicial decisions in land conflict cases; "Tô no Mapa" already has 10 families in 91 registered territories that, together, occupy approximately 500 hectares, roughly the size of the Federal District.
The application I'm on the map It is now integrated into the Traditional Territories Platform of the National Council of Traditional Peoples and Communities, together with the Federal Public Prosecutor's Office (MPF). With this new feature, peoples and communities, often outside official maps, can send information about their territories more easily, in another step towards the regularization of Traditional Territories in Brazil.
The partnership highlights the existence of the territories of traditional populations and seeks to support judicial decisions, the protection of territories under threat, and the creation of specific public policies. To contribute to the prevention and mitigation of human rights violations, the Traditional Territories Platform issues a certificate attesting that the community is traditional and organizes a collection of georeferenced data on areas traditionally occupied by peoples and communities.
“The integration aims to strengthen the mapping of communities and facilitate access to the Traditional Territories Platform. Now, communities will be able to be part of this database, which aims to prevent the violation of rights and guarantee territorial rights,” says Isabel Castro, a researcher at Tô no Mapa and project coordinator at IPAM (Amazon Environmental Research Institute).
Operating for a year, Tô no Mapa is a mobile application for the self-mapping of Traditional Territories by people living in the communities. Whenever possible, the communities receive support from the Tô no Mapa team through training workshops. To date, 91 territories have been mapped, occupying a combined area of almost 500 hectares where more than 10 families from traditional Brazilian populations live, including quilombola communities, indigenous peoples, geraizeiros, retireiros, fundo and fecho de pasto communities, babaçu coconut breakers, vazanteiros, riverside dwellers, extractivists, and family farmers.
Seu Manoel Filho, apprentice griot and president of the Dona Juscelina Quilombo Remnant Community in the municipality of Muricilândia, northern Tocantins, registered three communities on the app: in addition to his own, he also registered the Dona Domicília and Dona Eva quilombos. “For over ten years we have been fighting for our territory, and 'Tô no Mapa' is a tool to support the community in pursuit of our goals,” he says. “This is our ancestral territory, even though we don't yet have it [administratively]. Anything that strengthens the community is welcome.”
The Manoel community already has certification from the Palmares Foundation, the first step in the process of recognizing the quilombo (maroon community), and has been awaiting, since 2010, the Technical Report of Identification and Delimitation from INCRA (National Institute for Colonization and Agrarian Reform), the initial phase of the land titling process.
Interactive map
Um interactive map The information regarding the location and characteristics of these traditional communities will be available for free and open access starting at noon this Monday, the 31st, the launch date of the second report "From Tô no Mapa," by the organizations IPAM (Amazon Environmental Research Institute), ISPN (Institute for Society, Population and Nature), and Rede Cerrado in partnership with the Instituto Cerrados.
“The interactive map makes visible the communities that have agreed to the publication of their data and that have participated in all the necessary steps to complete the registration in Tô no Mapa. Our idea is that it is always under development, aligned with the characteristic movements of the socio-biodiversity of PCTAFs, and that it can also strengthen the struggles of the communities by representing them in a network,” says Bruno Tarin, technical advisor for governance and engagement of Tô no Mapa at ISPN.
Most of the 91 mapped territories are in Minas Gerais (23%), Mato Grosso do Sul (19%), Bahia (14%), and Goiás (14%). Communities from Maranhão, Mato Grosso, Piauí, and Tocantins were also registered. In total, there are 11 segments of traditional peoples and communities, in addition to family farmers, with a greater presence of quilombola communities (37%), indigenous peoples (19%), family farmers (13%), geraizeiros (2%), retireiros (1%), and fundo and fecho de pasto communities (1%).
Conflicts over land
The main conflicts reported by those living in these territories are land invasions and disputes (48%), mainly in Goiás, Maranhão, and Mato Grosso do Sul. Water conflict (16%), focused on Tocantins and Minas Gerais, was the second most reported, followed by pesticide contamination (13%), uncontrolled fires (12%), and illegal mining (1%) – the latter occurring more frequently in Minas Gerais.
Regarding the types of land use that communities make of their territories, farming was the most common (28%), followed by animal husbandry (16%), agroecological production (13%), conservation (10%), extractive activities (8%), fishing (3%), and tourism (3%). Also available on Tô no Mapa, the category of "other uses" had 19% of the responses, which cited the use of the territory for sacred spaces, cemeteries, sports fields, and schools.
“In a universe of 91 territories of traditional peoples and communities and self-mapped family farmers, 165 conflicts were reported, and it is possible to affirm that in many of these territories there is more than one ongoing conflict. The conflict over land, possession and invasions is still the most reported among the conflict situations, resulting from the lack of state action to guarantee the ownership of Traditionally Occupied Territories, as well as the total paralysis of the agrarian reform policy,” highlights the anthropologist and executive secretary of the Cerrado Network, Kátia Favilla.
According to her, further studies are still needed to understand that many of these conflicts are threatening the very survival of the territories, such as the indiscriminate use of pesticides, degradation resulting from mining, and conflicts over water use. "This second report deepens the trend already observed in the first and presents good indicators for actions to guarantee these territories for traditional peoples and communities and family farmers," she adds.
Guide to regularization
In addition to integration with the Traditional Territories Platform, Tô no Mapa presents the Guide to Formalizing Traditional Territories With the release of the project's second report. Prepared by the Cerrados Institute in consultation with the Federal Public Prosecutor's Office, ISPN, and Rede Cerrado, the document systematically and didactically outlines the process of formalizing requests for territorial recognition of traditional communities.
“There are thousands of traditional communities in the Cerrado, a socio-biodiversity to be proud of, to know and to protect. However, most of them still lack formal recognition and face various difficulties, including land tenure issues,” says Yuri Salmona, a member of Tô no Mapa and director of the Instituto Cerrados. “The Guide to Formalizing Traditional Territories is a groundbreaking document that we developed together with our partners, in which we have compiled the main guidelines on the different possibilities and a step-by-step process for formalizing these territories.”
With the aim of contributing to the empowerment and struggles of communities for the guarantee of rights, the guide is shared with representatives of territories at the beginning of registration on the application, and is now also available on [platform name]. Tô no Mapa website.
From now on
Tô no Mapa is developed using open-source software and is constantly undergoing improvements to the user experience, focusing on the security and transparency of the application. Community participation is necessary, including to reinforce protection: during registration, users must authorize or not the disclosure of territorial data.
For 2022, the initiative plans new collaborations and improvements to increase the representation of communities in Tô no Mapa. Building partnerships with civil society organizations, social movements, and universities is also an important step to deepen the analysis of data collected by the application, to generate evidence about the role of communities in the conservation of socio-biodiversity, and to expand land tenure security in the territories.
Dialogue with representatives of indigenous peoples, traditional communities, and family farmers remains fundamental so that Tô no Mapa can continue to respect and reflect their points of view.
About I'm on the Map
The "Tô no Mapa" app has been launched. in October of 2020 This stems from a perceived gap in official data on Traditional Territories in Brazil. A survey conducted by IPAM and ISPN in part of Matopiba, a Cerrado region encompassing the states of Maranhão, Tocantins, Piauí, and Bahia, showed that there are 3,5 times more communities there than reported by the responsible government agencies.
Through workshops, research, and dialogue with communities, Tô no Mapa became a tool for self-mapping and strengthening the debate about territories. The project is currently funded by CLUA (Climate and Land Use Alliance) and the Good Energies Foundation, and aims to build a map that truly reflects the territorial reality of peoples, traditional communities, and family farmers in the country.
The application is available for Android and para iOS.
Access the full report in Portuguese e English.