An Amazon United: Mapping for Future Resilience

Strengthening Community-Led Mapping for the Amazon: Lessons, Achievements, and Next Steps

The Mapeos Amazónicos project aimed to support indigenous and local communities in the Amazon region by improving access to geographic data and open mapping tools. Through collaboration with regional organizations, the project sought to enhance territorial knowledge, environmental monitoring, and land rights advocacy. While significant progress was made, key challenges also provided critical learning opportunities for shaping future efforts in the region.

Key Achievements:

Despite logistical and structural challenges, the project successfully mobilized a large network of contributors and produced high-impact geographic data:

• 1,569 contributors engaged in mapping via HOT’s Tasking Manager
• 107 validators ensured data accuracy
• 1,712 contributors participated in MapSwipe for remote mapping
• 128,035 buildings mapped
• 28,614 km of roads mapped
• A foundational base map was created for various communities across Colombia, Ecuador, and Brazil

These efforts provided local and indigenous organizations with essential geographic information, supporting advocacy for land rights, environmental conservation, and disaster preparedness.

Lessons Learned

Throughout the project, several fundamental lessons emerged:

1. Bridging the Digital Divide: Indigenous communities in the Amazon face significant technological barriers. Without a structured digital literacy and training strategy, direct inclusion in mapping activities is limited.
2. Strength in Regional Partnerships: Collaborating with national and regional organizations representing diverse indigenous communities maximizes impact, given the geographical remoteness and high logistical costs of reaching individual communities.
3. The Role of Trust and Cultural Sensitivity: Trust, community involvement, and transparent dialogue are essential for success. Challenges related to safety, territorial conflicts, and reliance on intermediaries led to project disruptions, underscoring the need for more inclusive engagement strategies.
4. Refining Data Collection Approaches: The pilot use of MapSwipe highlighted the importance of careful planning and ongoing strategy adjustments to ensure high-quality, useful data.
5. Shifting HOT’s Role for Greater Impact: Rather than directly training and equipping indigenous communities—an approach that requires substantial resources and risks unintended conflicts—HOT is best positioned to support NGOs already working deeply with specific communities.

How Data Users Benefited

The mapping data produced under MapeosAmazónicos has been instrumental for various stakeholders:

• Indigenous Organizations: Used geographic data to identify territorial boundaries, sacred cultural sites, and natural hazards.
• Local NGOs in Mexico: Leveraged land use and forest monitoring data to strengthen advocacy efforts for territorial defense using low-cost mapping tools.
• Community Development Initiatives: The foundational base map created through this project is now supporting environmental conservation and community resilience efforts across the Amazon region.

A local government official from Macas, Ecuador, shared the impact of these efforts:

“These workshops are wonderful and serve as an opportunity to train ourselves and at the same time to meet important contacts with which to propose new municipal projects for the good of the citizens, improving our local reality through this knowledge that they are giving us.”
— Iván Palacios, GAD official in Macas, Ecuador

Next Steps and Priorities

In the upcoming quarter, HOT will focus on revitalizing key partnerships across Guatemala, Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, and Brazil. Activities will include:

• Re-establishing collaborations with regional and indigenous organizations
• Launching remote training sessions in Ecuador, targeting organizations specializing in Amazon conservation and field mapping
• Expanding efforts to ensure that underrepresented groups—including women, indigenous communities, and persons with disabilities—have access to open mapping opportunities

By building on lessons learned and strengthening regional partnerships, HOT aims to continue supporting community-led mapping initiatives that contribute to land rights advocacy, environmental protection, and sustainable development in the Amazon.