MACIK formerly PINE TREE is a non-profit group promoting indigenous peoples' knowledge, skills and practices. It develops and implements sustainable conservation and safe livelihood practices in northern Luzon,Philippines. It is also a research, educational and information-generating, validating, storing and disseminating institution. It was organized as a non-profit, non-partisan, intellectual, technological, cultural and scientific foundation. The initial funds, networking and technical assistance were provided by the New York City-based Echoing Green Foundation (www.echoinggreen.org), an international institution advocating social entrepreneurship worldwide, when it chose Dr. Michael A. Bengwayan as one of its Fellows in 2000. Michael is the only Filipino to be selected as Echoing Green Foundation Fellow.
Michael belongs to the indigenous tribe Bontocs of the Philippines. He is an environmentalist, journalist and agriculturist. He is a Fellow of Ford Foundation International Fellowship Program (IFP), the European Union -Association of Southeast Asian Nations (EU-ASEAN) Educational Fellowship Program and the Swedish International Developmen Agency (SIDA).
The MISSION of MACIK is to provide appropriate information that enables indigenous peoples to implement and concretize culturally acceptable, ecologically sustainable, gender sensitive, and economically viable activities that promote equitable use, management, conservation and development of natural resources.
MACIK focuses on agroecology, conservation and indigenous knowledge because the three are inter-related and interdependent. While conservation is an old term, its approach is currently into a new context—that of recognizing the politicization of indigenous groups and indigenous rights movements. IK then takes a significant niche as it is viewed as an alternative collective wisdom relevant to a variety of matters at time when existing norms, values and laws are increasingly called into question as in the Geen Revolution Technology, natural resource management, inappropriate development interventions and top-down policies. Agroecology, of course, is a recent global phenomenon directed at ensuring ecological safety of biodiversity while aspiring for healthy agricultural production.
Why Is MACIK Relevant?
MACIK believes that information is a tool for knowledge and can empower marginalized and disenfranchised peoples directly dependent on natural resources. It adheres that empowerment is essential but is not the only means to achieve meaningful reforms. Indigenous peoples’ aspirations must eventually be adopted, articulated and implemented by development agencies. It also believes that , for a development agenda to be successful, especially a conservation or agricultural program, the rights and privileges of indigenous peoples should be recognized and protected without pre-conditions under recognized international, national, local and most important, traditional laws and statutes.
The laws include Art. 8j of the Convention of Biodiversity (CBD), the International Labor Organization statute (ILO) 69, the UN Draft Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, principles of the UN Permamnent Forum for Indigenous Peoples and the provisions of the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act (IPRA) of the Philippines, which require states to “respect and protect knowledge, innovations and practices of indigenous peoples and local communities”.
As most indigenous peoples are affected by biodiversity conservation and agriculturally-related programs, NL-ACIkC” opines that indigenous knowledge and traditional resource rights are important factors that should be considered because both immensely contribute to the formation of conventional and scientific know-how and environmental justice.
What It Does?
By providing proper information, the Center helps bridge the gap between informal articulation of the aspirations of indigenous peoples on one hand and; the formal, technical, and jargon-laced language of science and non-participatory research and technology-generating institutions and bureaucratic state organizations.
MACIK provides training and technical assistance, livelihood development, technological and educational support.
How?
To achieve it’s MISSION, the Center has two goals: conduct research on appropriate information on conservation, agroecology and indigenous knowledge that can educate and empower indigenous peoples to develop, manage, use, benefit from and conserve natural resources better, and; educate, inform, stimulate policy-advocacy and arouse public interest and debate among scientists, researchers, students, development workers and policy-makers.
Funders
MACIK has recieved funding from Echoing Green Foundation, World Wildlife Fund (WWF), UNDP-GEF, NCIV, Toyota Foundation, Wilde Ganzen; Conservation, Food and Health Foundation; ICCO, IDEX, Seed Tree Internat'l, Capt. Planet Foundation, the World Bank, Virginia Gildersleeve Foundation, Environmental Resource Management (ERM), Niwano Foundation, United Nations University, UNFAO 1% for Development, Echoing Green Foundation, Womankind, PACAP, AusAid and the foreign embassies of Canada, Finland, New Zealand, Australia, Germany, and Netherlands.
