7. Thinking Aloud
The aim of this session was to give the participants an opportunity to describe and visualise the issues
or problems faced by their communities. The session aimed at creating a space to collectively
discuss these issues and how BCPs or other processes may contribute to addressing them.
Mainyoito Pastoralist Integrated Development Organisation (MPIDO) by Nicholas Soikan, Kenya
Mr Soikan introduced MPIDO as an organisation that envisions a just and equitable society that
recognises and upholds human rights and the fundamental freedom of indigenous peoples. MPIDO
promotes, facilitates and creates an enabling environment to realise human rights, secure natural
resources and livelihoods for sustainable development of indigenous peoples, mainly the Maa
speakers.
Mr Soikan painted a comprehensive picture of the multifaceted and crosscutting nature of the issues
and challenges that most indigenous communities MPIDO is supporting are facing, such as:
A threat
to cultural identity,
indigenous
languages,
religions,
traditional
governance
and
livelihood systems and associated
economic practices.
Exploitation of indigenous cultures.
A loss of biodiversity due to
inappropriate conservation policies
and the introduction of harmful alien
species.
Forest loss and land degradation.
A top down, undemocratic and nonparticipatory approach to natural
resource governance.
A lack of recognition and integration
of indigenous knowledge and
practices.
A discriminatory allocation of land
and an unsuitable land tenure
system that is unfavourable to
pastoralism and community control
of natural resources.
Inequitable sharing of access to key resources such as water points
Climate change and its impacts on pastoralist communities.
Women’s land rights.
Stigmata from both colonial and post-colonial governments.
Corruption, inefficiency and general institutional failure
He then highlighted the different contexts where BCPs may be relevant:
Pastoralist mobility and pasture management could be addressed by sustainable border
policies developed by the communities through such protocols.
BCPs could facilitate REDD and REDD + mechanisms and a proper coordination of related
activities,
BCPs could enrich free and prior informed consent (FPIC) guidelines application and
effective implementation,
BCPs could assist the mapping of forest resources and, generally speaking, community
natural resources and cultural significant sites.
BCPs could assist in defining what a community forest is.
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