How Indigenous Communities Territorialize Social Media: The Case of The Guardians of the Forest — Clamor: Environmental Justice/ Art/ Activism

As it becomes ever more important for activists to show digital presence, a closer look at Indigenous campaigning reveals what really matters on social media

By Julian Willming, Beatriz Rodriguez-Labajos and Lina Salas

Figure 1. Guardians of the Forest Campaign Logo.

Due to its networked and global structure, social media platforms and media portals are a crucial factor influencing the success of environmental justice conflicts. Indigenous communities defending their lands against multinational corporations or governments across the globe are well aware of that. Thus, indigenous activists are increasingly using social media to place their messages into the world and to connect to each other, building digital alliances in their common struggles.

A recently published book by researchers Brownwyn Carlson and Jeff Berglund situates indigenous people as avid users of digital technology and social media platforms, especially Facebook and Twitter. A recent interview with Misha Vallejo on our Clamor Blog finally got us intrigued about how social media could be a transformative tool for effective environmental activism.

Eager to understand why social media plays such an important role for indigenous communities, we had a closer look at a widely shared campaign during COP26: Guardians of the Forest (Fig. 1), organized by the Global Alliance of Territorial Communities. We contacted the Guardians of the Forest’s campaign team, who helped us to examine their social media activities during COP and the impact it might have had on the achievement of their demands.

Guardians of the Forest: Advocating for Nature and Community-Based Solutions on Social Media

Guardians of the Forest is a global campaign that connects the demands of indigenous communities worldwide for a just and community-led protection of the global forests.

During COP26, the campaign has focused on the sustainability solution of nature-based solutions. While nature-based solutions are often portrayed as key drivers for a net-zero transition, the Guardians of the Forest advocate that these approaches have to be community-based, with a special focus on communities from Territories of Life, which are defined as areas conserved and governed by indigenous people and local communities. One key argument in this debate is that forest management by indigenous communities halts deforestation rates by up to 50%. The campaign thus serves as a strategy to make indigenous voices heard at COP26 and in the global discourse around nature-based solutions, showing these solutions are incomplete as long as communities protecting the territories are not at the center of them.

Having this in mind, how is the Guardians of the Forest campaign using social media to promote their position? Two essential strategies articulate their social media content: Digital Storytelling and Digital Alliance Building. Let’s see them both.

Figure 2. “Homecoming - Indonesian Indigenous Youth Return to the Community”.

Visual Digital Storytelling about Nature and Community-Based Solutions

Firsty, the narration of a story is crucial. This story, however, is neither linear nor singular, but pluralistic and multi-facetted. It is a story about communities across the planet, which proves that nature and community-based solutions exist and flourish. One successful example shared on the Guardians of the Forest social media platforms is the Homecoming Movement, a trend among Indigenous youth (e.g. in the Indonesian Talang Mamak community) to return to the rural communities after finishing university education in the cities. A posted video features a graduated student as he returns to the community and helps prepare the region for climate emergency and increasing food insecurity (Fig. 2). The use of film offers a detailed insight into what is happening in the communities, pairing it with voices by Indonesian UN delegates and elders in the community.

Figure 3. Facebook Post by Guardians of the Forest.

Other examples are the Kichwa People in Ecuador demanding the living forest to become a legal entity in international courthouses (Fig. 3), or ACOFOP (acronym for “Association of forest communities of Petén” in Spanish), an association protecting 500.000 ha of forest in Mesoamerica. Along the posts, the repeated slogan of the campaign is: “See how Nature and Community-Based solutions are the most effective way to tackle climate change.” Further, social media images of community members and beautiful landscapes emphasize: “This is what Nature and Community-Based Solutions look like” (Fig. 4).

The stories create a sense of closeness with the communities. Practices usually invisible for a large part of the world could be seen because the community shares them, using their own voice and skill. The stories build stronger intimacy to the community than a documentary or an anthropologist´s research about them. Such mediation is removed from these stories, which makes it easier to understand what the Guardians of the Forest network actually demands. In fact, some of the indigenous people have received training in filming and photography from the campaign´s funds. This leads to control and autonomy over the contents, which resembles the results of Brownwyn Carlson´s study where indigenous activists emphasized the importance of autonomy from states on social media.

Finally, these stories can also be interpreted as a form of hope. The Western media landscape is too often telling stories of the dooming events of climate breakdown and focus on the civilizational failure of managing this crisis. In contrast, the Guardians of the Forest share stories of grassroots and community-led organising which literally save the conditions for all life on earth.

Digital Storytelling by the indigenous campaign Guardians of the Forest makes use of both moving images and pictures. The stories are all real-life examples that advance real-life solutions. Yet, what would the best story teach us if it would not be discussed and shared among the public?

Figure 4. Facebook Post by Guardians of the Forest.

Digital Alliance Building and Direct Advocacy

Next to the tool of digital audio-visual storytelling, the campaign uses social media to address their target audience: environmental leaders attending COP26. The Guardians of the Forest wanted to be heard in political decision-making and thus built credibility and alliances digitally. In order to do so, the Global Alliance established a connection to Prince Charles, referring to him as one of several environmental leaders that agree on the protection of indigenous communities: “Indigenous and local leaders met with Prince Charles of Wales. He called to “reward communities for the protection of forests and (...) honor the rights of indigenous peoples and local communities (...)” ” (Fig. 5). The campaign makes clear that international leaders support the Guardians of the Forest, which creates peer-pressure for other leaders to pay closer attention to the demands of the campaign.

Figure 5. Prince Charles. Facebook post by *Guardians of the Forest.*

A further look into the social media activities of the network supports this claim. A live-streamed discussion called “Nature (AND COMMUNITY!) Based Solutions” with indigenous leaders and renowned environmentalists Andrew Revkin, David Kaimowitz and Andrea Carmen among others, initiated a scholar-activist dialogue on why nature-based solutions have to be community-led. This discussion with academics from all over the world supports the demands of the campaign and helps the network build international alliances. It is interesting to see that social media serves as the platform where these discussions and connections are held. The Guardians of the Forest use this platform to educate and advocate, while showing that scientists have their back.

The recurrent use of the hashtag #GuardiansoftheForest helps to promote digital presence, and trace the circulation of the network’s messages. Furthermore, there is frequent reference to the website of the Global Alliance, the international network of indigenous communities organising the Guardians of the Forest campaign. Thus the social media site also becomes an information hub. Observers will get the opportunity to direct their interest to the websites of the different communities, which are all regularly fostered and updated.

Figure 6. Global Alliance member Sonia Bone Guajajara at COP26. *Guardians of the Forest* Facebook Post.

As shown in a strand of social media posts, these websites communicate the demands of the campaign. There are five key demands of the Global Alliance: land rights, recognition of traditional knowledge, end to criminalization and murder of leaders, direct funding and free, prior and informed consent. These demands are directly addressed to the COP26 decision-makers, and there is evidence that those are indeed listening to the network. This manifests in a post about the Brazilian indigenous leader and Global Alliance member Sonia Bone Guajajara who represented the indigenous network at COP26 and spoke to the world´s politicians about a lack of indigenous voices in decision-making (Fig. 6). The campaign Guardians of the Forest further communicates these demands online, ensuring that no misunderstandings or wrong interpretations arise, but also as a way to keep decision-makers accountable.

Conclusion: Indigenous Social Media Activism has Just Begun

The case of Guardians of the Forest confirms that indigenous social media activism has reached a global scale. Some of the posts by The Guardians of the Forest have received over 800 engagements, the Twitter following has increased to almost 7000 subscribers , with global leaders sharing the network´s digital output. This is the result of continuous, coherent and comprehensive advocacy, paired with awareness-raising and compelling audio-visual storytelling.

Going beyond what Brownwyn Carlson has called “avid users” of social media, we would consider The Guardians of the Forest “strategic” or “nifty” protagonists on social media. Their social media content is too activist to call them users. Most of the indigenous social media content seen in this example fulfills the purpose of expanding political narratives towards inclusion, exchange and collaboration. While indigenous communities have been ghosted in elitist political conferences for a very long time, they territorialize social media with such conviction that it is impossible to keep ignoring their demands for global environmental governance.

As it becomes ever more important for activists to show digital presence, a closer look at Indigenous campaigning reveals what really matters on social media

Guardians of the Forest: Advocating for Nature and Community-Based Solutions on Social Media

Visual Digital Storytelling about Nature and Community-Based Solutions

Digital Alliance Building and Direct Advocacy

Conclusion: Indigenous Social Media Activism has Just Begun

Read more …

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