GPS in the Amazon

I don't like to post things I have fully explored, but have to make an exception for this. Last week, Jean Feraca had a very relevant show on GPS and Amazon tribes. You can listen to the entire show online.

The show had on Mark Plotkin who has worked to teach Amazon Indian tribes to use GPS. You've probably seen the battery commercial on TV. The show describes them as telling the government that they wanted their lands and the government responded by asking for the map of their lands. Map? What Map? So, they used Dr. Plotkin's GPS lessons to start staking out territories. Then they used it to map sacred spots, but they didn't share that one with the government. They've also used it to fight mining and illegal timber cuts.

The show also had on Rebecca Moore who is the head of Google Earth Outreach. Google Earth has been a valuable tool for the tribes as they have worked to map out the changes in their landscapes.

This isn't news anymore. National Geographic covered it earlier this year. I even mentioned it in a paper in First Monday. But this goes beyond breaking news and offers depth in describing a great example of PPGIS in action.

While it is always nice to listen to Jean and Wisconsin Public Radio, it is even better to hear something like this on WPR. While I'll admit that I haven't had the time to finish the show yet, I heard enough to know it was good and I thought I was better off posting it now to make sure that you heard it before the deleted it off the Internet.