On August 9, 2025, the world marked the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples under the theme: “Indigenous Peoples and Artificial Intelligence: Defending Rights, Sustaining the Future.” It’s a powerful invitation to ask how emerging tools like AI can empower Indigenous Peoples, rather than marginalise them.

Before we answer how, we need to be clear on who we are talking about and what they face in Cameroon and across the Congo Basin.

Who are Indigenous Peoples in Cameroon?

Cameroon is home to several Indigenous Peoples and communities, including groups often called forest peoples (such as the Baka, Bagyeli, Bedzang) as well as the Mbororo pastoralists and communities commonly referred to as Kirdi. There is no single universal definition of “Indigenous Peoples,” but the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (2007) places self-determination at the centre of identification.

The realities: living on the margins

• Land grabbing and loss of forests. Forests are the supermarket, pharmacy, culture and identity of Indigenous communities in the Congo Basin. Yet illegal and abusive logging, land acquisitions and agroforestry projects without proper consultation put their well-being at risk.
• Chiefdoms without recognition. The lack of official recognition of Indigenous chiefdoms weakens participation in decision-making and jeopardises their future.
• No specific national law. Cameroon still lacks a specific legal instrument on Indigenous rights. Reliance on international norms alone doesn’t reflect the local context and leaves gaps in protection.
• Limited access to education and health. Many Indigenous children lack birth certificates, which blocks school enrolment and access to basic services.

I believe the future can be different: one where Indigenous autonomy is respected, traditional knowledge is valued, and well-being is guaranteed.

So where does AI fit in, and what can youth do?

AI isn’t a silver bullet; however, in the hands of informed, organised youth it can accelerate participatory advocacy, surface evidence, and protect community rights. 

First, AI-assisted mapping, with consent, can document traditional territories, sacred sites, and resource use, turning them into community-owned evidence for authorities and companies. 

Moreover, small AI models can preserve language and knowledge: oral histories, songs, medicinal plants, place names under community data sovereignty, with Indigenous Peoples retaining exclusive rights. 

Meanwhile, simple chatbots or workflows offer legal triage (from birth-certificate requests to land-grievance tracking and administrative appeals). 

Likewise, crowdsourced reports plus AI enable early-warning and accountability on suspicious logging, new roads, or fires, which young monitors can visualise and escalate to community leaders, media, and allies. 

Finally, youth pre-bunk/de-bunk teams can counter misinformation with community-approved information. Above all, use of AI must follow Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC), strong privacy safeguards, and real community control of data.

My commitment as a young activist

As an activist, and with a background in law, I want to keep building projects that put Indigenous Peoples at the centre of decisions. AI can help: it enables faster, structured, participatory advocacy and supports a community-owned database of solutions and traditional knowledge, with exclusive rights for Indigenous communities over any derivative products. My legal training helps me work at the intersection of Indigenous rights, AI, and forest/biodiversity protection.

A call to action

The 2025 theme is more than a slogan; it’s a call to act so that technology serves justice, not exclusion. In Cameroon, where Indigenous Peoples are still fighting for legal recognition, AI must be wielded as a tool of solidarity. With support from allies like Greenpeace Africa and the creativity of youth, a future rooted in dignity and sustainability is within reach.

MACHE NGASSING Darcise Dolorès,  Climate activist

By James Panichi ( September 16, 2025, 06:44 GMT | Insight) — Australia intends to regulate artificial intelligence “as much as necessary and as little as possible” in a way that doesn’t hinder the growth of a local AI sector, according to the country’s digital minister. Speaking in Sydney, Digital Economy Minister Andrew Charlton also said that while government policy should support AI development, this needed to be done in a way that protects people from “risks and hazards that are associated with any change of this magnitude.”Australia intends to regulate artificial intelligence “as much as necessary and as little as possible” in a way that doesn’t hinder the growth of a local AI sector, according to the country’s digital minister….

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