Field Fellowships

ISE Field Fellowships support individuals working on social justice, ethics, applied ethnobiology or resource management issues in the field. Fellows may be Indigenous peoples or from local communities, or may have worked with local groups for many years. They may or may not be undertaking academic research and may be established and experienced, or ‘emerging leaders’. The main objective is to support outstanding individuals helping to provide concrete solutions to resource management, traditional resource rights, health or social justice problems identified by local groups.

The Field Fellows receive $20,000 per year for two years. Funds can be applied to costs of field and project work, or to cover an individual’s time; the fellowship is intended to support individuals doing excellent work, without attaching many strings or creating bureaucratic demands on their time. A solid track record is necessary, but priority will be given to individuals undertaking their work outside traditional financial and institutional support structures, and therefore with more significant need of assistance.

2009-2011 Field Fellow – Johannes Henricus “Jenne” de Beer

Johannes Henricus “Jenne” de Beer is considered the “father” of the Non-Timber Forest Products movement by his Asian collaborators, in that he has drawn global attention to this important source of subsistence resources for local livelihoods as well as income for the rural and upland poor. His work at the grassroots level, in over six Asian countries is rare in that he is able to work with, understand, empower, and mobilize forest-based Indigenous communities towards defense of their ancestral territories in the sustainable utilization of forest resources. This Fellowship will support his dream of continuing his work to secure long-term resource and land rights for Indigenous peoples especially in Indonesia, Malaysia and the greater Mekong region. Jenne was nominated by Patricia Shanley, Center for International Forestry Research, Bogor, Indonesia.

 

Updates on Jenne’s Jenne’s work:

No Need for Shame

Negrito Cultural Revival & Empowerment Initiative (Philippines)

As reported earlier on the ISE website, a successful “Mam-eh”¹ Aeta Cultural Revival Festival cum Development Forum took place last April in Bgy. Sta. Juliana, Tarlac. The forest foods themed² event was not only great fun, but also a huge morale booster – for those who participated, and also eventually resonating far beyond.

For the last couple of months and still at time of writing, I have been in full preparation for a similar event for this coming February with Ati and Ayta (former) hunter gatherers in the Visayas, covering the islands of Panay, Negros, Boracay and Sibuyan. This Festival/Development Forum will be hosted by an Ati PO, the ‘Malay Highlander Association’ in Aklan, Panay.

Meanwhile, a special featuring the Mam-eh festival in the NBTA newsletter³, on release, became an instant hit and subsequently turned into a helpful tool for explaining the larger idea behind the initiative in first contacts with communities, officials and others.  The reaction of an Ayta chieftain in the thickly forested mountains above Cadiz, Negros Occidental, was typical. After carefully studying the pictures and after captions were explained, he exclaimed “See, there is no need for us to be ashamed!”.

A happy side event will be the first ever (!) exhibition on the cultures and ways of life of the Visayan Negritos, which will open immediately after the Aklan festival in the Negros History Museum in Bacolod. And the top organic restaurant in the same city is ‘in’ to organize a ‘Wild Food’ event at about the same time. (This, after the chef tasted some Collybia albuminosa, delicious mushrooms growing exclusively on termite mounds and which I brought fresh from the Cadiz mountains.)

Further scheduled for 2012 is a series of exchange visits and one of these exchanges will specifically involve traditional midwives. During activities and consultations over the last two years, I could not fail to notice that among Negrito leaders, a vastly disproportional number is made up of traditional midwifes or hilots. They also appear among the most knowledgeable, not only related to childbirth and health issues, but also in other fields.

And finally, much encouraged by NCIP⁴ Commissioner Conchina Calzado, the first Agta Dumagat ever appointed to the position, steps are already being taken (including fund raising) in preparation of a large scale national event assembling all the countries’ Negrito groups, which is tentatively scheduled for National IP Month (October, 2012). This event is scheduled to coincide with celebrations to commemorate “15 years IPRA”.

No Honey, No Money! (Indonesia)

A different type of event, though also concerning a beautiful forest food, took place last September in Ujung Kulon National Park, Indonesia. The Madhu Duniya⁵ (MD), a large gathering of Apis dorsata honey collectors from several countries in South and Southeast Asia, is set to provide a culturally appropriate platform for the sharing of expertise and experiences among peers. Only once before such a gathering had taken place, four years ago in Andhra Pradesh, India, and indeed there was much to share as many (mostly positive) developments have taken place since in the steadily expanding MD network.

During a related symposium on “Forest Honey, Health and Nutrition”, in the botanical garden of Bogor and with top experts involved, the superior health benefits of A. dorsata and Trigona spp. honey, pollen and propolis were extensively discussed⁶.

All of the above, already accomplished or just set in motion, are direct outcomes of the privilege I have had – thanks to the ISE Darrell Posey Fellowship – to, firstly, spend ample time with the Negrito hunter gatherers of the Philippines.  Secondly, and likewise, the fellowship has enabled me to contribute to building a larger and more assertive community-based forest honey network in Asia. In recognition of the latter contribution, the participants in the Ujung Kulon meeting (again!) awarded this ISE Darrell Posey Field Fellow with a special “Dorsata Queen Bee” Award.  Finally, I am most grateful to the many who volunteered to assist me whenever they could in these ventures!

 

The work of ISE Field Fellow, Jenne de Beer, was highlighted by Kara Santos in The Philippines Daily Inquirer – Beyond Organic. “There’s not much attention given to the fantastic food that many of these people have in the forest,” said Jenne de Beer, a field fellow at the International Society of Ethnobiology (ISE), who was among those who conceptualized the festival. The idea for the festival evolved from campfire discussions with local leaders, he added…

Read Jenne’s article, entitled Panuppoy! Cultural Revival in the Siera Madre (Philippines) on Page 10 in the Special Issue of the ISE Newsletter (March 2010).

Jenne’s Interim Report is also available for those interested in more details about his work.