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Local Territorial Practices Inform Co-Production of a Rewilding Project in the Chilean Andes

Author

Listed:
  • Matías Guerrero-Gatica

    (Departamento de Geografía, Universidad de Chile, Santiago 8331051, Chile
    Instituto de Ecología y Biodiversidad (IEB), Barrio Universitario, Concepción 4070374, Chile
    ONG Kintu, Ñuñoa, Santiago 7800004, Chile)

  • Tamara Escobar Reyes

    (ONG Kintu, Ñuñoa, Santiago 7800004, Chile
    Social Sciences Faculty, Universidad de Chile, Ñuñoa 7800020, Chile)

  • Benjamín Silva Rochefort

    (ONG Kintu, Ñuñoa, Santiago 7800004, Chile
    Department of Biological Sciences, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago 8331150, Chile)

  • Josefina Fernández

    (ONG Kintu, Ñuñoa, Santiago 7800004, Chile
    Department of Biological Sciences, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago 8331150, Chile)

  • Andoni Elorrieta

    (ONG Kintu, Ñuñoa, Santiago 7800004, Chile
    Department of Biological Sciences, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago 8331150, Chile)

  • Meredith Root-Bernstein

    (Instituto de Ecología y Biodiversidad (IEB), Barrio Universitario, Concepción 4070374, Chile
    ONG Kintu, Ñuñoa, Santiago 7800004, Chile
    UMR Centre d’Écologie et Sciences de la Conservation, CNRS, Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, 75005 Paris, France
    Center of Applied Ecology and Sustainability CAPES-UC, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago 8331150, Chile)

Abstract

Co-production of conservation projects is favored by incorporating local ecological knowledge into project design and implementation. Using a mixed method approach, we asked how the territorial practices and knowledge of cowboys and livestock farmers inform their attitudes to this proposed project. We predicted that cowboy territorial practices would be reduced in diversity compared to the past, and that this may be associated with a reduction in coping or adaptation capacity in the face of environmental challenges. We further predicted that due to growing environmental and social pressures reducing traditional livelihood opportunities for this group, they are likely to see the guanaco reintroduction project in a conflictual and negative light. We additionally predicted that they would perceive local carnivorous species in a conflictual and negative way. We found that territorial practices among the sample had indeed decreased in diversity. The sample coped with changing socio-ecological conditions by taking up other jobs. However, we also found that they had majority favorable views on the guanaco reintroduction project. Yet their knowledge of current guanaco behavior led them to believe that the project would fail. However, they also observed that pumas and condors changed their behaviors. We suggest that there are opportunities to co-produce knowledge about the possibility of flexible and adaptive guanaco behavior, which may lead to restoration and create more sustainable future scenarios, by engaging with the territorial practices and local ecological knowledge of cowboys and livestock farmers.

Suggested Citation

  • Matías Guerrero-Gatica & Tamara Escobar Reyes & Benjamín Silva Rochefort & Josefina Fernández & Andoni Elorrieta & Meredith Root-Bernstein, 2023. "Local Territorial Practices Inform Co-Production of a Rewilding Project in the Chilean Andes," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(7), pages 1-20, March.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:7:p:5966-:d:1111205
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