Lovongai
In partnership with the Lovongai communities.
Impact in Numbers
8
Indigenous members trained in filmmaking
8
Indigenous members trained in geospatial mapping
118,000
Hectares of forest within the Lovongai territory will be preserved through litigation
Biodiversity Hotspot
Coral Triangle
Hectares
118,000
Ecosystem Variety
Rainforest, Coral Reef Systems,
Mangrove Swamps
Species Richness
1,600 species of reef fish, 430 species of corals
Background
The first GeoStory Camps took place in the New Ireland Province, Papua New Guinea, with the Lovongai Indigenous community in March-April 2023.
From 2006, the island has seen a civil war across the twelve different Indigenous clans, stemming from land disputes exacerbated by extractive companies (logging and mining) who have practiced inadequate (or non-existent) consent processes.
With 7+ different clans represented, the GeoStory Camp was the first joint project since the civil war.
From Skills to Legal Action
Phase I: Building Skills
As the GeoStory Camps include different interwoven methodologies, it is therefore initiated in different phases. The first phase is structured through a skill-based curriculum covering the basics of filmmaking and geospatial mapping. Currently this stage has been finalized in the Lovongai island, with the Lovongai Indigenous community.
Phase II: Gathering Evidence
The second phase continues with an advanced workshop, which provides context to the previously learned film and geospatial mapping through evidence-gathering techniques and local human rights and environmental law. This phase is structured through a human rights toolkit, which links filmmaking and mapping to human rights in concrete terms. It provides participants with the key rights through which storylines can be defined to create impactful evidence-based stories that tie directly back to the Indigenous rights and claims that have been violated.
Phase III: Litigation & Preservation
The finished film and mapping content created by the Indigenous participants of the GeoStory Camps will be used as proof of evidence in court cases to protect Indigenous land with the help of local environmental lawyers. Following the lead of the partner Indigenous communities, we help identify the parameters and goals of the legal case to be started. We support in gathering and filling out paperwork, and ensuring all the film and mapping content is powerful and relevant.
Successful court cases that use film and mapping content created during the GeoStory Camps and after by GeoStory Camps participants will preserve around 118,000 hectares of forest and marine resources within the Lovongai Indigenous territory.
denotes that phase is underway
denotes that phase is complete
Evidence-Based Storytelling
Participants of the GeoStory Camp started to learn a variety of technological, media, and narrative skills through different modules covering the basics of filmmaking including storyboarding, producing shotlists, and other pre-production activities. Following the first days, students started to learn the important functions of a 4k video camera and supporting equipment.
Participants learn how filmmaking tools, such as interviews, B-roll or drone footage and spatial data, can be used to strengthen Indigenous rights claims and serve as powerful evidence in court against deforestation. By the end of the GeoStory Camp, Lovongai participants produced and edited a short video covering a social topic of their choice using Adobe Premiere. We also facilitated lessons on operating a drone, collecting B-roll footage, and delved into activities focused on ISO, aperture, shutter speed, and other technical skills to create professional film content.
Mapping to Protect Ancestral Land
The cartography students started to learn basic mapping skills, including the use of GPS devices and spatial databases, and understand their use through documenting lines, boundary area (polygons), location of traditional houses (waypoints) and shoreline erosion (graphic buffer).
This has been foundational for the remaining lessons as participants started to learn the use of ArcGIS mapping software to create a base map and digitized maps to define their territories and map land change and shoreline erosion over time.
Participants became confident in using ArcGIS, as well as Excel, as an advanced process of data collection and map creation. We saw engagement from women: two women in the GIS mapping group (the most female engagement we have seen in GIS mapping across all GeoStory Camps delivered so far). We see this as success in the context of Papua New Guinea and the country’s gender norms.
In collaboration with our partner, Ailan Awareness, we have established an Indigenous-led multi-stakeholder working group to guide the final phases of the project.
With little government intervention and no programs aiding the peace process, Ailan Awareness is the primary leader of traditional peace-building initiatives. Recently, the organization has seen inspiring success in collaboration across clans, with 16 participants attending an intensive month-long filmmaking and GIS mapping workshop. This project includes 16 people who have been identified as potential future community leaders, and those who are equipped with the skills to begin Indigenous-led documentation. The focus is on producing materials that can serve as compelling evidence in court cases while continuously assessing and monitoring the project’s impact. This collective effort strengthens the protection of ancestral lands and helps safeguard the ecosystems that are vital to both Indigenous communities and the planet.
