Community Empowerment Facility Profile

BACKGROUND

As the second largest island in the The Philippine archipelago, Mindanao has a third of the country's land resources and nearly half of its fishery yield. It is also home to a quarter of the nation's indigenous or lumad peoples who comprise 16% of Mindanao 's population.

Overwhelming landlessness, in the midst of vast natural resources, together with the highest military expenditure in the country, mark Mindanao 's landscape. The control of land and other natural resources is largely limited to warlords and armed groups, and the economic and political elite.

The project was designed in response to a pressing demand and need of Indigenous Communities in the target areas. The urgency of land tenure security in the remaining ancestral domains, is the main priority of all indigenous peoples/communities in the The Philippines. The passage of IPRA (Indigenous Peoples Rights) Act has provided the legal backbone to achieve this result. However the lack of government capacity and recources to fully implement the law, has left the responsibility to the communities and support groups.

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GOAL AND OBJECTIVES

The project's goal is to facilitate the recognition of the indigenous communities' rights over their ancestral domains. The main purpose and objectives are to:

1. Increase the capacity of partner communities in filing legal claims over their ancestral domains; and,
2. increase the capacity of IP communities in preparing their "ancestral domain sustainable management protection plans" (ADSPP).

SPECIFIC OUTPUTS OF THE PROJECT ARE:

• Ten indigenous communities can identify, delineate and map the extent of their ancestral domains.
• The partner IP communities are provided with the necessary technical inputs and will develop their Indicative Ancestral Domain Sustainable  Protection Plans (ADSPP) which are culturally sensitive, participatory and articulate the views of the various interest groups of the communities.
• Formal claims for certificates of ancestral domain titles are fully accomplished and filed by the partner communities with the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP)

MAPPING and ANCESTRAL DOMAIN SUSTAINABLE PROTECTION PLANS (ADSPP)

The mapping of the Indigenous People's ancestral domains is carried out through a participatory mapping process which includes an on-ground survey and delineation of the domain. The mapping of activities follows the principle of "Self Delineation" as mandated by the IPRA guidelines for mapping ancestral domains. In order to facilitate this critical activity, traditional and, if necessary, state-of-the-art technology is used, including the Global Positioning System (GPS), to ensure data accuracy and cost containment. PAFID provides both professional know-how and equipment.

The ADSPP serve as the community's guide to managing its resources. The project provides the necessary infrastructures which facilitate the drafting of the Community's ADSPP. This is carried out through community planning activities using specialized tools such as Participatory 3-D modeling, which enables the community-participants to easily grasp the basic concepts of spatial analysis and determine the current resource base of the ancestral domain, its use-patterns, bio-physical information and movement through time. The information generated in this activity is documented as thematic maps and is used as major inputs in the ADSPP.

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WHO WILL BENEFIT?

The project supports the initiatives of 10 indigenous people's organizations in Mindanao who are negotiating the legal recognition of ancestral domain claims. The beneficiaries of the project include 11 communities composed of at least 5,000 families, representing seven tribes in Mindanao. All of the partner communities have previously filed claims with the government but due to the lack of the necessary legal requisites, there has been no progress.

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CONCLUSION

CEF is supporting this project with a contribution of USD 75,000 over three years. The indigenous people will be afforded the opportunity to achieve recognition of their ancestral domain rights. The activity of delimiting these domains will be carried out using traditional and innovative technology.

The intervention creates the opportunity for establishing common community guidelines for sustainable management of natural resources and other means of subsistence. The activities also foster the preservation and respect of culture; providing initiatives that secure information and knowledge of indigenous communities, including the gathering of evidence and documentation of traditional narratives and epics.

The project has a potential of replicability, the guidelines for determining suitable areas, include the following:

• willingness and ability of the community to invest resources and spend time away from the farm and other important economic activities;
• ability to build up a consensus to file a claim;
• strong and active presence of traditional elders;
• presence of a committed, competent and respected facilitating NGO, or government extension workers; and,
• strong desire of the community to identify territorial boundaries for land tenure security and to communicate their traditional management practices in order to secure management prerogative.

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