EarthLore partners with local communities to secure land, seed, food and water sovereignty. By reviving indigenous knowledge and protecting sacred natural sites (SNS) local self-governance is strengthened. Along with focussed support and capacity building, this enables communities to become more resilient to climate change and the industrial processes which threaten livelihoods and endogenous development.
The work of Earthlore is for enabling greater community cohesion (strengthening relationships, building the status of women, reclaiming autonomy over community’s own lives); and strengthening community ecological governance (building seed and food sovereignty, protecting bio- and cultural diversity as well as building local economies). These goals are accomplished through accompanying communities in dialogue processes (surfacing and reconnecting with indigenous knowledge systems and agency); capacity building through training in agro-ecological farming methods, and support for ecological governance; and advocacy, for taking up issues against practices that harm the ecosystem and pose a threat to local traditions and livelihoods.
Paradigmatic
They envision a radically different future based on ‘a different source of law, the laws of the Earth’: “a future in which humans are living in a respectful, just and reciprocal relationship with each other and the Earth. A world in which human communities are rooted once again in their ancestral traditions, identities and lands and are able to hold power to account. Sacred Natural Sites, are protected and recognised as No Go Areas for any industrial activity, as places similar to a church or temple for others. This recognition is enshrined in current local, national and Pan-African legislation, as eminating from a different source of law, the laws of the Earth. Human communities are able to live dignified lives, enjoy food and seed sovereignty and control their own endogenous development.”
They aim to ‘shif[t] worldviews and paradigms by interrogating and challenging current assumptions in policy making and science’ in their Seed and Knowledge Initiative
Integrated
Their vision includes integrating multiple, diverse systems (knowledge systems, ecosystems, cultural and community systems): “Communities cohere around rejuvenated bonds and kinship linked to their own knowledge systems and traditions that are respectful to the larger community of life – diverse species and landscapes. The regeneration of cultural and biological diversity is by now widely experienced across Southern Africa as leading to greater resilience.”
There is a spiritual element to their vision in terms of connecting to a larger whole or “Community of Life” (“Humans have revived a deep sense of responsibility towards future generations as well as their past ancestry and towards other species, and experience themselves once again, as part of the larger Community of Life”) and this is also present in their focus on “sacred” natural sites.
Pragmatic
They take various types of practical action, e.g. supporting legal action, drawing up local constitutions and community governance plans, research, documentation and experiential learning. Eco-cultural mapping is one of their specialist tools/practices, inspired by indigenous peoples in the Colombian Amazon: supporting communities to map, with no special technology, historic ancestral knowledge and practices related to the territory, map the present situation and envision ways to rebuild community and regenerate territory.
Key Publications
’- ‘Sacred Voices’ (collaborative), a short film which shares the messages of eight traditional Sacred Natural Site Custodians from Kenya, Ethiopia, South Africa and Uganda. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhY4jCuPVrM&ab_channel=TheGaiaFoundation.
- ‘Reviving Our Culture, Mapping Our Future’, a 12-minute film about their process of Eco-cultural Mapping. https://vimeo.com/9831187
Additional Notes
Formerly The Mupo Foundation