La contaminación humana por mercurio: un sistema de determinantes socioespaciales a orillas del río Beni (Amazonía boliviana)

El presente artículo tiene como objetivo presentar los resultados obtenidos durante una investigación realizada entre los años 2005 y 2010, en la Amazonía boliviana. Diversos estudios a lo largo del río Beni han enseñado la presencia de mercurio en el medio ambiente, un potente neurotóxico. Convertido en su forma orgánica (llamado metilmercurio), este metal se acumula a lo largo de la cadena trófica acuática, exponiendo a las poblaciones humanas consumidoras de pescado a un riesgo sanitario. Sin embargo, no todas las poblaciones ribereñas están expuestas de igual manera frente al riesgo. Esto se debe a que el consumo de pescado varía según una serie de factores y determinantes, tanto espaciales como sociales, ligados mayormente a la relación de las personas con los centros urbanos (los municipios). La relación depende de la distancia entre las comunidades (en las cuales se agrupan las familias estudiadas) y el municipio; también depende de la capacidad de las comunidades de tejer redes con actores institucionales y de la coherencia de los territorios en los cuales se inscriben. Estos conocimientos constituyen una base para formular políticas de prevención del riesgo, adaptados al contexto.Le présent article a pour objectif de présenter les résultats des travaux de recherche réalisés entre 2005 et 2010, en Amazonie bolivienne. Le long du Río Beni, différentes études ont montré la présence de mercure dans l’environnement, un puissant neurotoxique. Sous sa forme organique, le méthylmercure, ce métal s’accumule tout au long de la chaîne alimentaire aquatique, exposant ainsi les populations consommatrices de poisson à un risque sanitaire. Toutefois, toutes les populations riveraines ne sont pas exposées au même niveau de risque. En effet, la consommation de poisson varie selon un système de facteurs et de déterminants spatiaux et sociaux, en grande partie liés à la relation que ces populations entretiennent avec les centres urbains (les municipios). Cette relation dépend de la distance entre les communautés (où se regroupent les familles étudiées) et la ville, mais également de la capacité des communautés à tisser des liens avec des acteurs institutionnels et du niveau de cohérence des territoires dans lesquels elles s’inscrivent. Ces connaissances pourront être utiles à la formulation de politiques de prévention du risque, adaptées au contexte.This paper presents the results of a research project carried out between 2005 and 2010 in the Bolivian Amazon. Along the Río Beni, various studies have revealed the presence of mercury, a powerful neurotoxin, in the environment. When transformed into its organic form, methylmercury, the metal accumulates throughout the aquatic food chain, exposing the people whose staple diet includes fish to a health risk. However, all riverside populations are not exposed to the same level of risk. Fish consumption varies according to factors and determinants, spatial and social,that are largely related to the links that these populations have with the local towns (municipios). These links depend on the distance between communities (where the families live) and the town, but also on the ability of communities to build relationships with institutional actors and on the level of coherence of the territories in which they reside. These results provide a basis for formulating risk prevention policies, adapted to the context

How to find and share community owned solutions

The main aim of this handbook is to promote community owned solutions by proposing approaches that respond to current and future challenges to sustainability, natural resources management and biodiversity conservation. The handbook introduces key concepts and techniques which underpin a participatory and systems approach to community engagement. It helps a community build up practical skills for exploring, recording and disseminating their own community owned solutions

From resilience to viability: a case study of indigenous communities of the North Rupununi, Guyana

'Resilience' is a term that has achieved significant prominence in scientific circles and now within popular discourse. However, its practical application is often unclear or confused because it can mean different things to different people: To resist? To adapt? To transform? In this paper, we propose a framework - System Viability - able to coherently engage with six distinct properties of all systems, from ecosystems to communities, allowing the identification of trade-offs and synergies for maximising the chances of systems persistence. We apply and evaluate the System Viability framework through participatory visual methods within three indigenous communities in the North Rupununi, Guyana. This paper highlights how the framework allows the measurement of community survival strategies in a consistent and theoretically corroborated way, with implications for national and international policy-makers aiming to promote resilience and sustainability

Indigenous identity and environmental governance in Guyana, South America

In an era of increasing access to digital technologies, Indigenous communities are progressively more able to present sophisticated and differentiated narratives in order to maximise their long-term survival. In this article, we explore how Indigenous communities use participatory video and participatory photography as tools of Indigenous media to enhance, adapt and/or reinforce their collective social memory. This social memory is key for identity formation and self-representation, and the ways in which Indigenous representations are performed promote particular interests and worldviews to the local, national and global scales. Working with the Makushi and Wapishana communities of the North Rupununi, Guyana, the current social memory ‘in use’ was surfaced through the participatory video and photography process led by the Indigenous community. Through an iterative process of analysing images (photos and video clips) and text (written material, narration and spoken word), we identified key narratives of the communities’ social memory. We show how communities provide different messages to different actors through the way they use participatory video and participatory photography, revealing how self-conscious multiple identities shape differing purposes. We suggest that our ability, as non-Indigenous stakeholders, to perceive, appreciate and act upon these more complex and nuanced narratives is critical to help address environmental governance in a rapidly changing social–ecological context

Applying the system viability framework for cross-scalar governance of nested social-ecological systems in the Guiana Shield, South America

Linking and analyzing governance of natural resources at different scales requires the development of a conceptual framework for analyzing social-ecological systems that can be easily applied by a range of stakeholders whose interests lie at different scales, but where the results of the analysis can be compared in a straightforward way. We outline the system viability framework, which allows participants to characterize a range of strategies in response to environment challenges for maintaining the long-term survival of their particular system of interest. Working in the Guiana Shield, South America, and with a range of local, regional, and international stakeholders, our aim was to use system viability to (1) investigate synergies and conflicts between distinct scales of governance, (2) identify scale-related challenges, and (3) test the framework as a conceptual tool for supporting cross-scalar analysis for environmental governance. At the international and national levels, a number of civil society organizations explored system viability indicators that would measure the successful implementation of governance mechanisms relevant to sustainable development and natural resource management. At the local level, we used participatory video and photography within two indigenous territories to enable local participants to identify indicators of viability within community governance systems. A grounded theory approach was then used to identify common themes across the different scales of analysis. Five key themes emerged: land rights, leadership, partnerships, lifestyle, and identity. We found that although most categories of interest were theoretically aligned across scales, all perceived systems of interest were struggling to face up to various cross-scalar challenges undermining different system viability responses. In conclusion, we highlight how the system viability framework can be used with a disparate variety of stakeholders as a practical, participative and “big-picture” approach for facilitating the integrated governance of nested local and regional social-ecological systems

Community owned solutions: identifying local best practices for social-ecological sustainability

Policies and actions that come from higher scale structures, such as international bodies and national governments, are not always compatible with the realities and perspectives of smaller scale units including indigenous communities. Yet, it is at this local social-ecological scale that mechanisms and solutions for dealing with unpredictability and change can be increasingly seen emerging from across the world. Although there is a large body of knowledge specifying the conditions necessary to promote local governance of natural resources, there is a parallel need to develop practical methods for operationalizing the evaluation of local social-ecological systems. In this paper, we report on a systemic, participatory, and visual approach for engaging local communities in an exploration of their own social-ecological system. Working with indigenous communities of the North Rupununi, Guyana, this involved using participatory video and photography within a system viability framework to enable local participants to analyze their own situation by defining indicators of successful strategies that were meaningful to them. Participatory multicriteria analysis was then used to arrive at a short list of best practice strategies. We present six best practices and show how they are intimately linked through the themes of indigenous knowledge, local governance and values, and partnerships and networks. We highlight how developing shared narratives of community owned solutions can help communities to plan governance and management of land and resource systems, while reinforcing sustainable practices by discussing and showcasing them within communities, and by engendering a sense of pride in local solutions

Learning from one another: evaluating the impact of horizontal knowledge exchange for environmental management and governance

There is increasing advocacy for inclusive community-based approaches to environmental management, and growing evidence that involving communities improves the sustainability of social-ecological systems. Most community-based approaches rely on partnerships and knowledge exchange between communities, civil society organizations, and professionals such as practitioners and/or scientists. However, few models have actively integrated more horizontal knowledge exchange from community to community. We reflect on the transferability of community owned solutions between indigenous communities by exploring challenges and achievements of community peer-to-peer knowledge exchange as a way of empowering communities to face up to local environmental and social challenges. Using participatory visual methods, indigenous communities of the North Rupununi (Guyana) identified and documented their community owned solutions through films and photostories. Indigenous researchers from this community then shared their solutions with six other communities that faced similar challenges within Guyana, Suriname, Venezuela, Colombia, French Guiana, and Brazil. They were supported by in-country civil society organizations and academics. We analyzed the impact of the knowledge exchange through interviews, field reports, and observations. Our results show that indigenous community members were significantly more receptive to solutions emerging from, and communicated by, other indigenous peoples, and that this approach was a significant motivating force for galvanizing communities to make changes in their community. We identified a range of enabling factors, such as building capacity for a shared conceptual and technical understanding, that strengthens the exchange between communities and contributes to a lasting impact. With national and international policy-makers mobilizing significant financial resources for biodiversity conservation and climate change mitigation, we argue that the promotion of community owned solutions through community peer-to-peer exchange may deliver more long-lasting, socially and ecologically integrated, and investment-effective strategies compared to top-down, expert led, and/or foreign-led initiatives

Between a rock and a hard place: ethical dilemmas of local community facilitators doing participatory research projects

Participatory research is supposed to involve participants in a collective definition of goals, and the co-production and sharing of research outputs. However, when articulated through an extended period of time involving a range of local, national and international actors, the practicalities of participatory research means that certain groups and individuals become responsible for taking leading roles, with subsequent ethical dilemmas. In the ‘Community-owned solutions for future environmental challenges in the Guiana Shield, South America’ (COBRA) project, the participatory research process involves a group of five Indigenous researchers – “the local team” – in charge of carrying out the research on the ground e.g. defining procedures, carrying out community engagement and supporting the communities in analyzing and disseminating the material. This local team is, in turn, supported by researchers from a national NGO and foreign academics. Considerable responsibility has been given to the local team for achieving project outcomes, and freedom in defining project tasks and activities. This paper analyses the multiple ethical dilemmas arising out of this situation, particularly the role of the local team as intermediaries between the wider community and project partners. We highlight the existence of significant mismatches between research expectations, and the ethical processes in operation at community level which are usually established on long-term, tacit and reciprocal relationships. We discuss how local community researchers are challenged with balancing the tensions between these two ethical polarities, while at the same time producing participatory research outcomes that are acceptable by everyone involved

Ressources, networks and territories,a new geographical approach of mercury contamination along the Rio Beni (Bolivia)

Notre société est fortement marquée par des préoccupations autour de questions de pollution et de ses conséquences sur les milieux et sur la santé humaine. Les métaux lourds, dont le mercure, font partie de ces substances menaçant la santé humaine. ParticOur human society is at present becoming increasingly concerned with issues of pollution and with the impact of this pollution on environment and human health. Among those health- endangering substances are heavy metals, including mercury. The latter, wh

Ressources, networks and territories,a new geographical approach of mercury contamination along the Rio Beni (Bolivia)

Notre société est fortement marquée par des préoccupations autour de questions de pollution et de ses conséquences sur les milieux et sur la santé humaine. Les métaux lourds, dont le mercure, font partie de ces substances menaçant la santé humaine. Particulièrement présent dans l'environnement amazonien, le mercure s'accumule dans la chaîne alimentaire aquatique, les populations dont l'alimentation repose sur le poisson sont donc exposées au risque de contamination. C est le cas des populations de quinze villages riverains du Río Beni, en Amazonie bolivienne. Il existe pourtant des disparités significatives de contamination d'un village à l'autre. Il convient donc de se demander quels sont les déterminants spatiaux et sociaux de ces contrastes. Cette recherche montre que les disparités de contamination sont liées à des disparités d'exploitation des ressources, qui sont elles-mêmes la résultante d'un système socio-spatial envisagé à plusieurs échelles. Le système pathogène de la contamination mercurielle le long du Río Beni fait ainsi intervenir la situation géographique, les formes d'organisation communautaire, la construction historique des villages, les formes de gestion des ressources, les liens sociaux avec des acteurs externes, la cohérence des territoires dans lesquels s'inscrivent les communautés, montrant ainsi qu il n y a pas de fatalité face au risque mercuriel. L'approche géographique permet de dégager des déterminants insoupçonnés de la contamination mercurielle, qui peuvent servir de fondement à des politiques d'aménagement et de développement le long du Río Beni. Au prix d'adaptations contextuelles et à la condition essentielle que les recherches soient résolument interdisciplinaires, une approche géographique sur l'exposition sur le long terme à de faibles doses de polluants pourrait apporter une compréhension nouvelle des systèmes complexes menant à l'exposition différenciée de populations.Our human society is at present becoming increasingly concerned with issues of pollution and with the impact of this pollution on environment and human health. Among those health- endangering substances are heavy metals, including mercury. The latter, which is notably present in the Amazon environment, accumulates in the aquatic food chain and becomes a hazard to people whose staple diet is fish. In the Bolivian Amazon the populations of fifteen villages on the Río Beni riverbanks are thus exposed to it. However, as significant differences in contamination levels can be observed from one village to the next, the factors causing these discrepancies along the river need to be studied more carefully. This study shows that contamination differences vary with differences in resource management (such as farming, fishing, hunting, fruit gathering, logging, employment work, trading,...) which result from a socio-spatial system, which is examined on different scales. The pathogenic system of mercury contamination along the Río Beni includes the geographical situation, the types of community organization, the history of these villages, the types of resource management, the social links with external actors, the coherence of the territories in which these villages are located. Consequently, mercury contamination is not inevitable. This geographical approach helps to identify unsuspected factors of mercury contamination that can serve to lay the foundations for planning and development policies along the Río Beni. With adjustments made to the context and with the capital condition that the research work is resolutely interdisciplinary, a geographical approach of long-term exposure to low doses of pollutants could shed a new light on complex systems leading to the contrasted exposure of populations