On June 4th, Cadasta proudly launched its new webinar series Mapping Change: Local Voices of Land Rights and Resilience, with a powerful opening session: Bridging Worlds: How Tradition Meets Technology in the Fight for Land Rights.

At a time when Indigenous Peoples and local communities face mounting threats from land grabs, deforestation, and climate displacement while the global funding landscape shrinks, this series aims to provide a platform for those at the frontlines to share their own stories and strategies based on their lived experiences. 

Moderated by Karol Boudreaux of Landesa, the inaugural conversation featured presentations by Nana Ama Yirrah, founder of COLANDEF in Ghana, and Donisio Shol, Project Manager at the Julian Cho Society in Belize. Their reflections affirmed a shared truth: land is not just a resource. It is the foundation of identity, governance, and survival. 

Missed the webinar? Watch the recording here. 

Blending Customary Practices with Digital Innovation

In Ghana, Nana Ama discussed her collaboration with traditional leaders and customary landowners to digitize land information, while preserving local control and enhancing women’s participation in land administration. “We have to be intentional,” she emphasized, “about ensuring both equity and legitimacy in systems that blend the customary and the formal.”

Similarly, in Belize, Donisio shared how Maya communities are combining ancestral knowledge with digital mapping tools and training provided by Cadasta to safeguard sacred areas, reaffirm their territorial boundaries, and fulfill the promise of the 2015 Caribbean Court of Justice ruling, which recognized Maya customary land rights. 

Both speakers noted how Cadasta’s tools have helped their communities systematically collect evidence of land use, stewardship, and occupation, creating powerful, verifiable data that can be presented to governments and other institutions. These efforts are not only changing public perception, they are shifting power dynamics. 

As Donisio explained, “Technology has brought us a long way.” What once existed only in oral tradition or lived experience is now being captured in digital form “so that the future generation still has it.” Nana Ama added that having a clear record of rights and responsibilities enables communities to negotiate more effectively in the face of extractive or external pressures. 

In both cases, these tools have increased visibility and credibility, helping community leaders engage with governments as critical resource stewards. In Belize, this has meant contributing to and influencing national climate policy. 

Intergenerational Leadership

Throughout their presentations, both speakers emphasized the importance of engaging youth and elders together in land documentation. 

“It allows for a generational transfer of critical information,” said Donisio, explaining that the involvement of youth facilitates intergenerational dialogue that allows youth to take more ownership. Nana Ama echoed this, noting that while elders in Ghana traditionally serve as custodians of land, youth bring current knowledge and technical skills that enhance the process. 

What Technology Can and Can’t Do

In the second half of the session, Raymond Samndong of the Tenure Facility offered thoughtful commentary on the risks communities face, including political marginalization, land dispossession, and the commodification of natural resources. While geospatial platforms, like Cadasta’s, help make land claims more visible and credible, he noted, “the goal isn’t the tools, the goal is justice.” 

This perspective was echoed by all three speakers: Technology can support the movement for land rights, but only when communities lead the process. It must be grounded in local priorities, cultural systems, and long-term commitment, and not imposed from the outside or used as a quick fix. 

Scaling What Works

With successful pilots now complete, the speakers expressed readiness to scale. 

“We have everything laid out, and the ground is fertile for us to scale this up,” said Nana Ama. Similarly, Donisio added, “Now everyone wants to be involved and scale the approach.”

The combination of community leadership, legal strategy, and digital tools is proving to be a powerful, replicable model in both Belize and Ghana. 

A Call to Action

The conversation closed with a clear call to action for donors, governments, and technical allies to move beyond short-term projects and invest in sustained, community-led processes that uphold rights, protect local knowledge systems, and build long-term resilience. 

For Cadasta, this was more than a webinar; it was a reminder of our core mission. Our tools and training are only powerful when they serve the vision and voice of communities on the ground. We are honored to support Maya leaders in Belize, traditional authorities in Ghana, and many others who are navigating the path between tradition and innovation, bridging customary knowledge and practices with modern technology to secure their resources and futures. 

Click here to watch the recording here. 

Stay tuned: Our next webinar will be announced soon!