Photographs by Will Baxter

In November of 2009, a very special meeting took place within the Tshidzivhe community of Venda, in the North East region of South Africa. The meeting was to carry out an exercise in community participatory mapping, and it was to mark a turning point for the community and all those involved.

Our countryside is being destroyed, and our forests have disappeared…for me the forests are my life. If you cut them down, you wound my own heart.Chief of Vhutanda

Venda, home to the traditional indigenous vhaVenda, known as the 'Rainmakers', is one of the last regions of South Africa where such communities can practice their traditional ways of life. The vhaVenda people are a matriarchal society, where the ecological knowledge which guides the governance of the community is held by women, known as makhadzis. Many of the makhadzis are also custodians of sacred natural sites and are responsible for the associated community practices and rituals to keep order in the community and the ecosystem.

The impact of colonization and the industrial process has fragmented communities, changed power relations and destroyed the rich biodiversity and forests of the extraordinary Soutpansberg mountains, in which their territory is located, in northeastern South Africa. Industrial plantations, mining and tourism are some of the major forces of destruction in the area.

The makhadzis are deeply pained by the destruction of their traditional territory and especially the sacred sites. Accompanied by the Mupo Foundation, our South African partner, they began a process of reviving their knowledge and practices to protect the sacred sites and the associated tradition of seed diversity, bringing young people and the chiefs onboard.

The makhadzis began to sketch the relationship between the sacred sites, showing how these sites are critical places within the ecosystem - natural springs, forest, wetlands, river basins and waterfalls - which maintain the health and resilience of their ancestral territory.

With support from the African Biodiversity Network and Gaia, a community exercise in eco- cultural mapping was then carried out, in November 2009. More than 70 vhaVenda people took part, mostly from Tshidzivhe community, guided by trainers in eco-cultural mapping from Colombia and accompanied by indigenous leaders from the Colombian Amazon and the Russian Republic of Altai.

When I look at the map we are drawing I feel I could cry. Our territory has been badly hurt...I cry for the coming generations. How are they going to live when this country is destroyed? Joyce, Makhadzhi elder

Women, men and youth spent six days mapping. It was a time for deep reflection as the elders shared their knowledge of the territory, the sacred sites, the traditional practices and rituals, many of which are on the verge of being lost.

Remembering the territory, the sites of ecological and cultural importance, and the role of ritual

The first map of the ancestral order of the territory, reflects how things were when the community was living traditionally. This is still in the living memory of the elders - when the territory was teaming with wild animals, forests and had abundant rain.

The second map was of the present. This, they said, is the map of disorder - where the forests are destroyed, there are no more wild animals, rivers and lakes are drying, the rainfall has radically fallen and the traditional crops have almost disappeared.

The final map is of the future - the vision of how the communities wish to regenerate the territory and rebuild their communities. They have already begun to build their future now - such as elders teaching in schools to revive traditional seed diversity, and working with Mupo Foundation to restore and strengthen their bio-cultural knowledge and practices.

As the different maps were completed the makhadzis sang and danced in celebration! They had unearthed a new capacity to express their traditional ecological knowledge so that the community can hold a collective vision. Based on this experience they are planning to develop more detailed maps around each sacred site. These will be used to negotiate with the government to recognise and protect each site and the connection between them. In the face of climate change, the health and vitality of ecosystems is critical. This is the basis of ecological and community resilience.

Eco-Cultural Mapping: building community resilience

Eco-cultural mapping involves all the community, especially the elders. Aside from local knowledge and wisdom, it requires no technology and only the bare minimum of materials - making it an exercise that is easy and for communities to continue mapping on their own. In the Colombian Amazon, for example, it has proved an exceptional tool for indigenous communities to reconnect with their territory, strengthen their culture and protect the rainforest.

We did not know how to move forward. But we now know which way to go. Now we can stand together and do one thing. I can see the way we are going to revive our culture.
Chief of Vhutanda

African Biodiversity Network members from Kenya and Ethiopia, and indigenous people from Altai, who participated as trainees in the mapping, have also carried out eco-cultural mapping exercises within their own regions since returning from this participatory training. Read about the 3D model mapping which took place in Telecho, Ethiopia, at the close of 2010, led by our partner MELCA-Ethiopia.

Watch the Film!

If you've been inspired by this story or would like to know more about this process, watch our short film - Reviving Our Culture, Mapping Our Future - which documents the eco-cultural mapping which took place in Venda at the close of 2009.