TF020 IAI

Participatory mapping for a sustainable Amazonia 

Principal Investigator (PI): 

David Leonardo Jiménez García, Universidad Autónoma Latinoamericana  

E-mail: david.jimenez4822@unaula.edu.co 

Phone number: (57)3193534836 

Duration and amount: 

(April 2025–April 2026) USD 30,000 

Co-funding: 

USD 38,588 

Participating countries:  

Bolivia, Colombia, Guatemala 

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY  

The Participatory mapping for a sustainable Amazonia project mobilizes local communities and academic actors to develop a training and support process in ancestral territories of Sur de la Paz (Bolivia), the Poaquil Community in the Altiplano (Guatemala) and the Wairari Atún Sacha Indigenous Council of the Municipality of Santa Rosa in the Andean Amazon region of Colombia. The project aims to develop collaborative maps that will enable greater recognition of the forests and their biodiversity, identifying critical conservation areas and community protection initiatives since georeferenced information in these regions is precarious and a greater coordinated effort between academia and communities is required to map the territories extensively. Using maps will be promoted as an advocacy strategy for the integrated management of territories and protecting biodiversity against threats such as deforestation and climate change. 

To achieve these results, the project’s roadmap includes a multi-step process: 1) a training component that engages with the ancestral knowledge of Indigenous organizations on conservation and climate change adaptation; 2) the collaborative development of maps that combine fieldwork and remote sensing, using free tools like OpenStreetMap to produce more inclusive cartographies; and 3) an advocacy strategy aimed at ensuring that the resulting maps inform public policy and strengthen collaboration between the public sector, academia, and grassroots organizations. Together, these efforts aim to improve the use of cartographic data for more effective research and territorial interventions focused on biodiversity protection and climate change adaptation.