l Accessible technologies and FPIC: independent monitoring with forest communities in Cameroon 159
Figure 4: ‘Gathering’ choices
The logging company changed its management plan to reflect this.
Participating in meetings with powerful outsiders is not easy for many rural
people. To avoid intimidation, the advocacy
work involved a series of stages, from local
to regional to national level. Firstly, each
community’s cartographers joined a local
group to attend local meetings organised
Photo: Téodyl Nkuintchua
communities in presenting their maps to
authorities with power to investigate illegal activities, and forest managers whose
activities could be improved by better
knowledge of local peoples’ needs. For
example, one logging company claimed
that there were no indigenous people that
used the forest in their concession.
Community maps showed this was wrong.
Community cartographers during training learn how to use the icon-based GPS device.