tech, oil spills & indigenous communities in the amazon
DESCRIPTION
After 40 years of suffering from oil contamination, indigenous groups in the Peruvian Amazon are fighting back, harnessing basic tools to document the pollution & pressure the government to hold the oil company accountable. In May 2013, Digital Democracy traveled to a remote part of the Peruvian Amazon to launch a new program with these groups. Remote Access, funded by the Knight News Challenge, is a mobile toolkit to empower people in hard-to-reach places to share critical environmental and human rights information. Follow our journey along the northern Amazon & up the Pastaza River to see how local indigenous groups are taking action, using basic tools to document four decades of oil spills and contamination.TRANSCRIPT
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Launching Remote Access in the
Peruvian Amazon
Remote Access:
A mobile toolkit to empower populations in remote, off-the-grid locations to share information on
human rights & environmental abuses
Winner: January 2013 Knight News Challenge
Remote Access has three components, focused on helping users document,
manage and share information
Initial fieldwork
Pilot Project: Peru• 3 weeks with indigenous communities in oil-impacted areas• 2 weeks of meetings with government & advocacy partners in Lima
Dd Team:Gregor & Emily
Telmo
Community-based monitors
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Rafael
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Adam
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Salvador
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Context
Challenge: 40 years of oil contamination
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Testing a “remediated site”
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Visible oil at the “remediated site”
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What did we do?
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Field visits near the Ecuador border
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Walking the pipeline
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Collecting water samples
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Four-day workshop
Dd team
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Hand-drawn maps
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Practicing with handheld GPS
• Tool development for Peru pilot• Coordinating with local monitors• Training for women monitors• Coordinating with efforts in Guyana, Ecuador & beyond
What’s next?
Follow www.digital-democracy.org for updates