Indigenous Knowledge and Development Monitor, March 1999

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Networks, international organizations

Terralingua: Partnerships for linguistic and biological diversity

Terralingua (TL) is an international non-governmental organization (NGO) dedicated to:
- supporting the perpetuation and continued development of the world's linguistic diversity;
- exploring the connections between linguistic, cultural and biological diversity.

It does this through a programme of research, information, applied work and advocacy. TL was incorporated as a non-profit organization in the USA in 1996. Its board of directors and its advisory panel are interdisciplinary and ethnically diverse, and its activities span all continents. TL operation so far has been based on volunteer work and a small budget from membership dues.
The basic ideas that led to the creation of TL and guide its work are:
- that the diversity of languages and their variant forms is a vital part of the world's cultural diversity;
- that the continued loss of linguistic, cultural and biological diversity will have dangerous consequences for humans and the Earth.

Therefore, the fate of the lands, languages and cultures of indigenous peoples is decisive for the maintenance of biodiversity and linguistic and cultural diversity.
TL research has revealed strong correlations between areas of great biological diversity and areas of great linguistic diversity, represented mostly by indigenous languages. An international working conference, Endangered languages, endangered knowledge, endangered environments (Berkeley, California, 25-27 October 1996), sparked much of the current attention for the role of language in biocultural diversity conservation (see report in IK&DM 5(1)). A book on the subject is being prepared. TL work is also being published by UNEP and UNESCO.
Information is disseminated via TL's website and electronic newsletter Langscape, and through conference participation and interaction with a growing network of members and other correspondents.
TL is currently developing its applied work, which includes the organization of community workshops and teach-ins. The first of these, titled Supporting cultural and environmental diversity through indigenous language development and protection of linguistic human rights, was held at a Maori center for higher learning in Aotearoa, New Zealand, in November 1998, on the occasion of the sixth International Congress of Ethnobiology.
Advocacy activities include writing letters in defense of indigenous and minority peoples' linguistic human rights and their right to linguistic self-determination. An official TL document Indigenous peoples: education and language was submitted to the UN Centre for Human Rights' Working Group on Indigenous Populations (WGIP), on the occasion of the 16 th annual session of WGIP, held in Geneva in July 1998.
TL is conceived as both a membership and a partnership organization. Members are committed to supporting the aims and activities of TL (by contributing money and/or effort). Partners are like-minded individuals and organizations who choose to work with Terralingua and its members on projects of common interest and mutual benefit, on the basis of an equitable agreement. TL already has several such partnerships with local, national, and international organizations throughout the world, and more are being sought. Additional members and volunteers are also always welcome.
For more information on TL's activities, please contact: Dr Luisa Maffi, president, Terralingua, P.O. Box 122, Hancock, MI 49930-0122, USA.
E-mail: maffi@nwu.edu
or visit our web site: http://cougar.ucdavis.edu/nas.terralin/home.html

SOTEC, Society for the Development of Appropriate Technology

SOTEC was established in 1985 with support from the American company CTI (Compatible Technology Inc.). SOTEC operates in Africa, Nepal and India, mainly in Uttar Pradesh. Uttar Pradesh, where SOTEC has its headquarters, is India's largest potato-producing state.
SOTEC helps local small farmers earn a sustainable livelihood. Potato prices are lowest at harvest time (mid-February to mid-March), but small potato farmers are forced to sell then since they either need the money immediately or cannot afford to put their potatoes in costly cold storage. Working with local farmers, SOTEC between 1985 and 1990 developed a potato-processing technology that adds value to the product, brings additional income to the growers, and provides employment in the rural communities, especially for women. Early experiments with marketing through cooperative-like organizations have developed into an entire system that includes storage at the village level, dehydration of the product, grading, packaging, and marketing. The process makes use of appropriate technology, and some 25 units are now operating in Uttar Pradesh.
Units based on the same model have now been set up in other Indian states as well as in Nepal and Cameroon. Other activities of SOTEC include training for fish-farming at the community level, literacy programmes, and the introduction of a water saver. Designed by CTI, the water saver has proven very successful in projects to provide low-cost drinking water at village and municipal levels.
For more information, please contact: Mr P.S. Chowlin, Secretary and Chief Executive Officer of SOTEC, 182 Civil Lines, Jail Road, Bareilly 243 -001 U.P., India.
Tel.: +91-581-572 138.
E-mail: sotec@unv.ernet.in

Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies places its catalogue on the Internet

Mura, the institute's catalogue of printed and archival materials, was placed on the World Wide Web on 12 February 1999. You will find it at http://www. aiatsis.gov.au/library/lib_abt.htm. The catalogue lists details of some 180 collections of pictures, 4400 films and videos, 100 collections of recorded sound, 4700 manuscripts, 1400 rare books, 21,000 books, 7600 serial analytics, 2000 language items and 12,000 pamphlets. A special feature of the catalogue is the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Biographical Index, which contains some 36,000 references to published materials held in the library.
The system was given the name 'Mura', a Ngunnawal word meaning 'pathway' . Its proprietary name is Unicorn, which is a library management system produced by Sirsi Pty Ltd. This state-of-the-art software makes it possible to consult the catalogue from anywhere in the world, and to gain electronic access to documents at other sites.
The website offers information on how to use the library as well as forms for requesting information and specific documents. The library staff welcomes comments from Monitor readers and hopes that you will find the catalogue a useful resource for exploring Australian indigenous studies. The mission of the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies is 'to promote knowledge and understanding of Australian Indigenous cultures, past and present.'
For more information, please contact: Barbara Lewincamp, Library Director, GPO Box 553, Canberra ACT 2601, Australia.
Tel.: +2-6246 1111.
Fax: +2-6249 7310.

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