Quilombola Communities Present Research at Google’s Geo for Good Summit

Claudinete Colé and Rogério Pereira from Communities Association of Remaining Quilombos of Oriximiná (ARQMO), The Amazon Conservation Team (ECAM) and Google Brazil, presented results of the USAID/Brazil supported “New Technologies and Traditional People’s Project,” at a conference in California. The project gathers socio-economic data from Brazil’s northern Para State using Google Earth and the Open Data Kit, open-source software for using data in resource-constrained environments.

The team presented their methodology and results including maps of the region’s Quilombolas community, and evidence that the community’s main water sources come from untreated rivers and wells. They also discussed how the communities use fishing for subsistence, and agriculture for obtaining resources, and that many communities use traditional medicine, because hospitals are far away. They also presented regional challenges including illegal logging, fishing, and hunting.

“The next step of the project is called “Sharing Worlds,” to analyse the collected data so we can understand how it can help inform public policies, and how the communities can manage their territories,” explained Colé. The team also recommended that Google make available better satellite imagery and specific icons for the Quilombolas communities.

The Sustainable Territories Program, a partnership between ECAM,IMAZON, and Agenda Pública with the support of the Rio do Norte Mining (MRN) and USAID/Brazil collaborated to implement this project.

You can watch the video of the live transmission here: (From minute 18).