For All of We
A small Rama community in Bangkukuk, Nicaragua, speaks out about the Grand Canal Project. This project is a rival to the Panama canal and will cut through 176 miles of dense jungle and dredge millions of tons of soil from the largest freshwater lake in Nicaragua. pretty good productions
Our Place on Earth, Chapter 3 - For All of We
Pope, heading to Booby Cay, Bangkukuk, Nicaragua
The indigenous community of Bangkukuk faces many social and climatic challenges, including drought, intense storms, illegal land-grabs, and overfishing. In this installment, OPOE follows the Nicaraguan-based NGO, blueEnergy, as they collaborate with Bangkukuk villagers to adapt to these increasingly dramatic challenges.
Voices from the Film:
"You can’t figure things out if you aren’t doing things...”
Guillaume Craig, Executive Director, blueEnergy
...says Guillaume Craig, the Executive Director of the NGO, blueEnergy. "I believe that it's every organization's and every community's job to figure out what works for them." This idea of "taking action" is essential to building community resilience. Often, the "right way" to do something isn't immediately apparent, and it's only by trying things, learning as you go, sharing outcomes, and trying again, can solutions be uncovered.
Bangkukuk, Nicarauga
In the quiet village of Bangkukuk...
...you might not notice the impacts of climate change at first. But things here have changed. Wells go dry in the summer; there's fewer fish in the ocean; the seasonal arrival of shrimp is unpredictable; new bugs infest their plants; and stronger storms with thunder - an unfamiliar sound until recently - is the new normal. On the social side, cattle ranchers illegally seize their land, violence is on the rise, and a Chinese company is planning to build a canal right though their village: forceable removal is a possibility in Bangkukuk.
"It's always the last region people are thinking about ...
...and it's the most vulnerable one," says Martina Luger of the NGOs, blueEnergy & HORIZONT3000. "Nicaragua is the fourth-most venerable country when it comes to climate risk, and the second poorest country in all Latin America."
Building resilience in the face of these challenges is a big task and one key to success for Martina and blueEnergy is the community-based adaptation approach, which is based on collaboration, building trust, and continual learning and sharing between community members and blueEnergy.
Dig Deeper
A Chinese company is planning to build a rival to the Panama Canal. It will destroy 176 miles of rainforest and displace the indigenous Rama community of Bangkukuk. PrettyGoodProductions talks to to the villagers about what they know, and don't know, about one of the largest planned infrastructure projects in the world.