l Defending our territory: the biocultural community protocol of Alto San Juan, Colombia 137
Table 1: Summary of perceived problems
Resource
Traditional
system
Significance
Problem
Gold,
platinum
Artisanal
mining
Cultural and
economic
• Artisanal mining is not properly recognised nor
regulated in the national regulatory framework.
• The national mining regulations violate local dynamics
as control mechanisms for the implementation and
operation of mining companies are not applied rigorously.
• Exploitative techniques of large-scale commercial
mining companies infringe the ecosystem and social
arrangements of the community, generating loss and
changes in natural and cultural values of the population
without generating compensating actions or sanctions.
Medicine,
use of
renewable
resources
Traditional
knowledge
Social, cultural,
spiritual
• Traditional knowledge is not valued and is only noticed
when the knowledge is lost, when holders of knowledge
die and do not leave a legacy.
• We need more research on traditional knowledge
associated with our festivals, development of tools and
instruments and crafts, these investigations must be
made known to promote the well-being of the
community.
• In the past, researchers come to work and take the
knowledge and information without ever returning to
show the community the results of their work.
• The investigations do not respond to our needs, ideas
are brought from outside, the research benefits people
outside the community territory of Upper San Juan.
Timber,
sustainable
and nonsustainable
Forest
management
Cultural,
economic
• There is a need for internal regulation of commercial use
and logging. Interests of the timber trade and the arrival
of outsiders violates community dynamics, generates loss
of our forests and does not consider management to
restore our territory.
• Insufficient alternatives for forest income-generation
that promote forest conservation, and make visible the
cultural values associated with it.
experience in protocol development in
different countries.5 This guided the identification of problems relating to certain
resources, and cultural mechanisms, traditional norms and values which promote
conservation. National and international
rights were also linked to the community
claims. The other component focused on
the stages of intervention processes for
endogenous community development. In
this particular case, this referred to understanding the community’s perceptions of
their reality, the problems that require early
intervention and particular scenarios
5 See Natural Justice (2010).
which are most affected, and subsequently
identifying possible solutions and actions.
Three workshops were organised, and
field interviews were carried out with artisanal miners in their working location. The
workshops were attended by representatives of the communities of Carmelo, Playa
de Oro, Angostura, Manungará, el Tabor,
and the ASOCASAN community council.
Participants included young people,
women and men, among which were traditional miners, farmers, traditional doctors
and teachers. This allowed a better representation of all community interests and