The voices and perspectives of youth must be acknowledged as well as those of adults and Elders to ensure the whole community is part of the dialogue. Youth participated in the development of community-based land management plans and the Pimachiowin Aki nomination dossier. We will need the youth to understand and carry on this work after the Elders are gone. For this, presentations and dialogue sessions with Elders took place at community schools and youth forums. The communities carry out ongoing Elders and Youth Anishinaabe Language, Knowledge and Lands Teaching camps to ensure children and youth understand the importance of the land and continue to support this work in the future. These camps are held outside the communities, throughout the summer.

In parallel, Pimachiowin Aki Corporation held two regional women’s forums:  the Pimachiowin Aki Women’s Forum on January 18, 2017, and the Ikwewak Gikendasowinan on January 23, 2018 where Elders and young women participated in making recommendations to the Pimachiowin Aki partners which were included in the nomination dossier. Ongoing participation and leadership of women in governance is an important feature of the site management framework.

The Anishinaabe knowledge system carried and shared by the Elders has always led community life and land decisions. Through the First Nations Accord, land management and planning and the World Heritage nomination processes, the Pimachiowin Aki First Nations’ knowledge keepers began to work with scientists who were adding their system of knowledge to traditional area plans and the nomination. The only process for success was to set up a regular dialogue between both knowledge systems, and the engagement at the community level of Elders and other knowledge keepers, to ensure the community voice was heard and documented in the plans, the nomination dossier and in all communications, through community-based land working group meetings, meetings of the Pimachiowin Aki Corporation, and meetings of First Nations and government representatives on land management planning and plan implementation teams. The community knowledge keepers and scientists learned to understand each other. This was a long process and with mutual respect and patience, we were able to agree on the information provided in the documents. This process is still in place today, with the engagement of communities when Provincial Governments, Universities and organizations carry out research projects in Pimachiowin Aki.

SITMo has created the Indigenous Peoples Education (IPED) Centre in order to mainstream Indigenous knowledge in the formal education system and serve as a resource centre for Ifugao heritage conservation. The centre is a work in progress as SITMo is currently working with the Department of Education in the development of learning materials that include traditional knowledge, local history and language. The centre is composed of SITMo’s peoples’ organization including farmers, traditional weavers, community volunteers, culture bearers and heritage workers. IPED functions now as a Community Heritage Centre, Resources Centre, Community Museum, and is inspiring other provinces to create their own.

The Ifugao Rice Terraces are maintained by families, not merely as production areas for a staple crop but also for the sentimental reason that these properties have been passed down from their ancestors. The maintenance of the rice terraces reflects primarily a cooperative approach of the whole community which is based on detailed knowledge of the rich biodiversity existing in the Ifugao agro-ecosystem, a finely tuned annual system respecting the lunar cycle, zoning and planning, extensive soil and water conservation, mastery of the complex pest control regime based on the processing of a variety of herbs, accompanied by religious rituals. Yet, this knowledge is under threat due to socio-cultural changes and the lack of involvement of the youth, which is attracted by the urban globalized way of life. In order to conserve the terraces, the Ifugao culture needs to be recognized and the Ifugao Indigenous Knowledge passed down to the next generation. The sustainable strategy proposed by SITMo is to integrate culture and heritage in the official curriculum so the Ifugao culture can be safeguarded.

The parties of the Laponia Process envisioned to create a new management plan for the property using the values within three areas: the natural environment and its high values; the living Sámi culture and reindeer industry; and the historical heritage arising from previous usage of the land. This participatory management plan is based on a shared understanding of the World Heritage property by all stakeholders involved in the process and the implementation of the plan. Besides the governing institutions (municipalities, county, governmental agencies in charge of heritage conservation), important stakeholders to be considered and integrated in this participatory process are the Sámi villages which are organizations responsible for the reindeer husbandry within a specific area. It is a legal entity and they are organized through village meetings.

The Laponia Process was an approach to dialogue created and developed by a diversity of stakeholders in the Laponian Area World Heritage property. Since Laponia is a large area which consists of several protected areas, to establish a coordinated management system as a whole has been very challenging since its inscription in the World Heritage List. The County Administrative Board of Norbotten and the Sámi communities and municipalities of Jokkmokk and Gällivare started originally to prepare their conservation programs independently. The Laponia Process started by the initiative of the Governor of Norrbotten in 2005 including all stakeholders in a process of dialogue based on a set of common values, which would lead the parties to agree in crucial issues and the terms in which the Laponian Area should be managed. All decisions were determined to be taken by consensus, and new regulations for the national parks and nature reserves were requested. In 2006, the parties signed a common agreement which they sent to the Government, which contained:

• A set of common basic values
• Common intentions for a number of efforts
• The establishment of a temporary Laponia delegation
• Preparations for the start of a World Heritage management group with a Sámi majority on the committee.

La gestión financiera del área fue llevada a cabo en forma descentralizada, lo que otorgó mayor transparencia al uso de los recursos.

Se ha controlado financieramente todo el proceso de acuerdo a la legislación que apoya el proyecto y el presupuesto destinado al mismo.

Las decisiones tomadas para el destino de los recursos han pasado la aprobación de la Junta Financiera de la Secretaría Municipal de Medio Ambiente, el CONDEMA y de la junta financiera del Municipio, dependiendo de la procedencia de los recursos.

Another important related activity was the identification of the location of artificial reefs, in order to increase fish biomass by using the reef effect.

The seagrass map later produced by the MPA proved particularly useful to select seagrass-free areas to place these artificial reefs.

In each neighborhood of Joal-Fadiouth, awareness raising activities were conducted. Short films including underwater footage showing fishermen diving in search for seagrass were shown to the broader community of fishermen. The films were projected at night, followed by debates with the MPA management team.  While the fishermen were targeted through specific meetings or by listening to the numerous interventions of the MPA team at the local radio, these films and debates were the opportunity to touch the other members of the family and of the neighborhood.

The fishermen used a bathymetric map of the MPA combined with GPS devices. Each GPS location marked corresponded to a 50m2 investigated area, in which the presence of seagrass was confirmed or not. The exact seagrasses species (primarily Cymodocea) were indexed for each site in a dedicated notebook. In total, around 1500 samples were collected within the MPA. A color code was then assigned to the different findings – seagrass, sands, or rocks – which were then transcribed onto a paper map thanks to the collected GPS coordinates. In addition, twenty surveys – acknowledging the seasonal bias – were conducted randomly over the course of one year with the aim of noting again the presence or absence of seagrass. The protocol for the surveys was inspired by examples provided by the Seagrass-Watch field guides. The paper map and GPS coordinates were later transformed into a digital map by Mr. Paul Tendeng, GIS technician from the Regional Network of Marine Protected Areas in West Africa (RAMPAO).