The development of this web map was through an iterative group process that considered what elements would be most useful for Human Rights Watch as they plan greater involvement in the Amazon, a region with many existing humanitarian and environmental justice projects. We decided to develop a list of a variety of types of existing environmental justice projects and community actions against destructive forms of the extractive industry in order to inspire and collect group information.
Human Rights Watch will now have access to a summary of aspects of the existing situation on the ground and names of organizations already hard at work on environmental justice in the Amazon. Learning from and getting involved in current projects is a great way to enter the field and develop an understanding of the type of work that is most effective. That can help HRW learn how to adapt their current development project cycle to a new region and type of humanitarian work.
The map was created using Mapbox GL JS and Google Sheets due to their flexibility and low cost. The development process requires introductory to intermediate JavaScript/HTML/CSS skills, and the resulting map can be quickly edited and updated with even less skill using the linked Google Sheet. This makes it possible to adjust the map for future use. For example, HRW could edit the sheet to hold information about organizations they are actively in contact with or projects with which they are most interested in becoming involved.