Empowering local communities through visual storytelling
INDONESIA
Indonesia, the fourth largest country in the world is also one of the most biologically rich and diverse. Among the last countries in the world that have not been fully mapped, Indonesia holds vast rainforests and 25 percent of the world’s coral reefs. An archipelago of more than 17,000 islands, Indonesia has 316 ethnic groups with 670 languages. Photovoices projects in Indonesia delve deep and document a wide range of issues, from social and environmental issues, access to clean water, health, livelihood, to local histories, personal experiences and cultural persepectives, spread across the archipelago.
CHINA
China’s Northwest Yunnan Province is one of the world’s biodiversity hotspots and home to 15 ethnic minorities–each with cultural traditions inextricably intertwined with the high mountains and deep river valleys that are the hallmark of the region. In 1998, the Chinese Government and The Nature Conservancy collaborated in the Yunnan Great Rivers Project to develop a system of Nature Reserves, National Parks, and other protected areas. Photovoices was developed as a means of securing essential information from local people and engaging them in the future of Northwest Yunnan.
