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- Convenor:
-
Hannah M B Gibbs
(University College London)
Send message to Convenor
- Discussants:
-
Anabel Ford
(UCSB)
Rebecca Friedel (Heritage Education Network Belize)
Sylvia Batty (Heritage Education Network Belize)
Rafael Manzanero (Friends for Conservation and Development)
Cynthia Ellis Topsey (Duke of Edinburgh Awards Belize)
- Format:
- Roundtable
- Sessions:
- Tuesday 26 October, -
Time zone: Europe/London
Short Abstract:
A roundtable with anthropologists, community representatives and conservationists sharing the impact that changes in access to forest landscapes have on local, Indigenous and Maya communities; and approaches which strengthen sovereignty and address challenges to the use of these cultural landscapes.
Long Abstract:
The Belize-Guatemala border region sits at a nexus of influential political, environmental, and socioeconomic forces, which have contributed to significant changes in the way local communities can use the local environment and self-identify. Ethnographic work has revealed the extent to which anthropological research in the region, originating from European and American explorers, has defined paradigms of cultural heritage, influenced tourism, reinforced the value of "traditional" identities, and estranged local, Indigenous, and Maya communities from their traditional lands. Innovative collaborative work between local communities, archaeologists, conservationists, educators, heritage professionals, and other specialists has adapted conservation management and land rights to reflect the diversity of views regarding cultural environmental heritage and address how local communities have been disenfranchised.
Community based conservation initiatives are working to protect the local biosphere, while collaborative archaeological and cultural heritage outreach focuses the needs of conservation and landscape management policies to reflect local community experiences of value. Community-based programmes have a significant impact on how the cultural landscape in the region is protected, and support the rights of local, Indigenous, and Maya peoples to use their natural wealth and resources. This work is internationally recognized in pioneering Indigenous rights as well as Indigenous-led environmental defense and sustainable development. Human rights issues in the region relating to lands, forests, territories and cultural identity and knowledge, reinforce the need for urgent cross-disciplinary approaches to conservation, and acknowledge that conventional land-management methods are insufficient for fully understanding and reflecting the rich cultural complexity of the region's forest landscape and use.
Accepted participant details:
Session 1 Tuesday 26 October, 2021, -Cynthia Ellis Topsey (Duke of Edinburgh Awards Belize) Anabel Ford (UCSB)
Short bio:
One Resource, Two Nations: The Binational Peace Park Initiative Straddling across Belize and Guatemala, El Pilar, a designated Archaeological Reserve and Monumento Cultural, is on its way to becoming a bi-national Peace Park and a symbol of cooperation between these countries.
Additional details:
The El Pilar Peace Park Initiative offers the world an inspiring example of how to heal border disputes through mutual management of a cultural and natural resource. The initiative promotes the cooperative management plan of El Pilar Archaeological Reserve for Maya Flora and Fauna by two nations, Belize and Guatemala, uniting the contiguous protected areas while honoring the planning processes of both nations, crossing political, economic, and cultural boundaries.
On the long-disputed frontier between Belize and Guatemala, an ancient causeway links El Pilar’s Maya monuments on both sides. The discovery of the causeway in 1993 led to a call for the world’s first archaeological peace park, a symbol of collaboration between two countries for the benefit of both nations and future generations.
El Pilar Archaeological Reserve for Maya Flora and Fauna provides a way to build common ground and work cooperatively on a project that equally affects and concerns both nations, building confidence and trust in each other as they build resources for their countries.
Conservation of the Maya forest and the study and preservation of the Maya culture is important to the entire Maya forest region. With concerns for biodiversity and interest in tourism, El Pilar stands as a beacon for peace and prosperity locally and for the world.
Rebecca Friedel (Heritage Education Network Belize)
Short bio:
Rebecca Friedel has been conducting ecological anthropology in and working with the communities of Western Cayo since 2013. She is passionate about community outreach, having established two sister organizations focused on this: Fajina Archaeology Outreach and Heritage Education Network Belize.
Additional details:
Friedel has conducted various activities within Western Cayo since 2013. Ethnographic work with Western Cayo community members in 2014 solidified an observable connection between the archaeological research being done by foreign institutions and researchers within the area and local community economic and social structures. Outreach efforts have been made by Fajina Archaeology Outreach, Heritage Education Network Belize, and many local collaborators to better communicate with and include local communities in heritage- and culture-related research. This includes book donation drives, creating and distributing tri-lingual children's books, organizing and hosting annual archaeology and culture fairs, fostering interest in heritage- and culture-related content through social media, and various other initiatives.