Written by Dr. Georgia Holly, Post Doctoral Researcher at the University of Edinburgh, and Edinburgh Marine Archaeology Natural Heritage Specialist

Activities with C3 and Edinburgh Marine Archaeology on the Darwin Initiative Project ‘Exploring Indigenous Management for Marine Resources’ have been going ahead at full throttle this week. Following three days of training in heritage and biocultural heritage approaches to marine management, the team have been out in the field. After receiving consent, we have begun working with various indigenous communities to map their marine cultural heritage, with a particular focus on biocultural heritage, traditional ecological knowledge, cultural uses of space, traditional skills and practices, and gender roles.

The aims of this work are multifaceted. Although our primary aim is to aid in the development of community-managed marine protected areas, spending time with the communities and the municipal authorities has revealed the various hurdles that must be overcome on the way. For example, interference from commercial fishing has significantly impacted community advocacy for protecting their cultural heritage and ancestral waters. Nominal representation of indigenous peoples in management authorities has led to distrust in the system, and has re-organised traditional community structures. A language barrier between traditional and scientific knowledge has increased demographic divides both within, and outside of the community.

Participatory cultural heritage resource mapping with the Talakdas IP Community, Lakdayan, Brgy. Cheey © Georgia Holly 2023

Considering these issues, work alongside communities will include discussions on marine cultural heritage livelihoods, advocacy, and representation. Furthermore, through understanding how traditional and scientific knowledge intersects, the team hopes to build sustainable conservation and management plans for the ethical and inclusive management of the biocultural heritage within the ancestral waters of Busuanga.