'Lives of the Forest' was created by indigenous activists from across the Asia Pacific region exploring the likely impacts of the UN's REDD programme on indigenous resources and lifestyles. It was created during a participatory video facilitator training in Ifugao (Philippines) by representatives of 15 distinct indigenous communities from 8 different countries.
In this article Nick Lunch (InsightShare Co-Founder & Co-Director) describes how the Biocultural Portal (currently working under the project name 'Conversations with the Earth), functions as a web based resource for Indigenous Peoples and other stewards of biocultural diversity to share participatory video promoting local solutions to preserve the worlds biocultural diversity. He argues how the project - as a process at grassroots level - challenges power inequality but is simultaneously empowering for government officials, UN officers, civil servants, donors, NGOs, activists and communities alike.
The residents of Permisan village near the Porong river in East Java have been harvesting fish from their ponds for generations, but since an environmental disaster at the Lapindo Brantas gas mining site in May 2006, the area has been suffering from vast eruptions of volcanic mud, which have buried nearby villages and displaced thousands of people.
The residents of Permisan village (East Java, Indonesia) have harvested fish from the ponds for generations, but since an environmental disaster at the Lapindo Brantas gas mining site in May 2006, the area has suffered vast eruptions of volcanic mud, burying nearby villages and displacing thousands. This Photostory describes the process by which the residents of Permisan created their film 'Living on a Poisonous Stream'.