Upper Mazaruni District Council  is the representative body of the Akawaio Indigenous people. Communities in the Upper Mazaruni are engaged in a legal case to secure collective title for the full extent of their territory at Guyana’s High Court since 1998, while the government continues to issue mining rights to outside miners over untitled traditional lands subject to the case, without their Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC). RFUS has assisted the UMDC in monitoring and analysis of the extent of mining operations in the region.