Wounaan Land Titling Project

This project seeks to support the Wounaan people of Panama in obtaining full recognition of their traditional lands.
Location:Panama
Partner:Foundation for the Development of the Wounaan People

Project description

Background:The Wounaan number some 8,000 people living in communities spread throughout eastern Panama. With the exception of a few communities, none of their lands have been recognized by the government. Twelve Wounaan communities, numbering about 7,000 people, have never held formal legal title to any of the lands where they have lived and on which they have depended for generations. Their lands have been invaded by outsiders, who cleared the forest for cattle-raising, agriculture, and other development projects.The territories claimed by the communities include significant swaths of largely untouched rainforests, some of the most intact mangrove and lowland forest ecosystems in Panama, and ecologically important rivers and estuaries.

In response to pressure from indigenous groups,in late 2008 the Panamanian Congress passed a law to facilitate the demarcation of traditional indigenous lands.Wounaan leaders immediately began the procedures necessary to have their lands recognized, and were able to navigate the initial steps in titling their collective lands. One of the critical steps in this process is the establishment of written community regulations for land and forest management. This project will therefore support the legal research and community meetings needed to develop the regulations, and subsequent negotiations with the government. It will also support the Wounaan in strengthening their organization so it can take on these challenges.

Activities:
•Community meetings and workshops
•Participatory development of community regulations
•Negotiations with government agencies regarding full recognition of Wounaan traditional lands
•Support for the Wounaan Foundation

Did you know?

•Panama is home to seven indigenous peoples: the Bribri, Bugle, Emberá, Kuna, Naso (or Teribe), Ngobe, and Wounaan, comprising approximately 6% of the total population.
•The Panamanian Constitution states that it “guarantees to its indigenous communities the reservation of necessary lands and collective property of the same to achieve their social and economic well being.”
•Five semi-autonomous indigenous areas, known as comarcas, exist in Panama, though dozens still remain unrecognized.
•In 2008, the UN Human Rights Committee recommended that Panama “recognize the rights of indigenous communities that live outside the comarcas, including the right to collective use of their ancestral lands.”
•New legislation regarding indigenous land rights was passed in December 2008.