Linking Culture and the Environment

164 Community Perspectives in Sustainable Tourism
negative effects. In addition, conservation of both the natural and/or cultural
environment is an important priority, as well as planning or organizational
efforts to increase widespread economic benefits from tourism.
Taquile Island
Taquile Island lies on Lake Titicaca in the extreme south-east end of Peru,
about 25 km or 3–4 h by motor boat from Puno (regional capital with approximately
100,000 inhabitants). The total surface area of the island is 754 ha, with
65% of the area being cultivated (Valencia Blanco, 1989). Taquile’s estimated
population of 1850 (in 2005 estimated to be 1900 in Zorn and Farthing, 2007)
primarily Quechua-speaking people are highly industrious in agriculture,
fishing and weaving. Island administration is based on unique sociogeographical
divisions which combine traditional with modern political
systems (Healy and Zorn, 1983).
Foreign tourists began arriving on the dock at Puno in the mid-1970s and
local private boat owners soon added the island to their tourist run on the
lake. Groups of 30–40 families formed Taquile Island sailboat cooperatives in
early 1978 (Healy and Zorn, 1983). By 1982, the number of boat cooperatives
had expanded to 13 with 435 Taquile residents sharing boat ownership and
management responsibilities (Healy and Zorn, 1983). The islanders proved to
be competitive with boat owners from Puno and eventually displaced them
by obtaining an officially sanctioned monopoly. Protection of islandercontrolled
tourist transport ended during the early 1990s with the advent of
then-President Fujimori’s privatization and anti-monopolization policies. In
late 2005, several Puno-based tour operators acquired new, faster boats that
make the trip in half the usual time including a brief visit to Taquile as part of
a multi-island tour (Zorn and Farthing, 2007). A neoliberal economic policy of
not forcing Puno-based agencies to pay local fees to Taquile for the right to
take tourists to the island continues to this day (Zorn and Farthing, 2007).
One major attraction for many tourists to Taquile is its extraordinary
weavings, skilfully woven from sheep and alpaca wool. Weavings are sold in
a large community-run artisan store (Manco Capac Cooperative), and prices
based on workmanship quality and labour (Healy and Zorn, 1983). Prices are
also fixed by all members to avoid harmful competition, with a small percentage
(5%) retained for cooperative maintenance. Community law in keeping
with islander traditions of equality prohibits private sales, although in
reality they occur on a discreet basis. By 1990, Taquile controlled all stages of
its textile manufacture and marketing, and most tourism services (Prochaska,
1990). In November 2005, Taquile and its textile arts were named by UNESCO
as one of 43 new Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritages of
Humanity, providing a ‘moral recognition’ that may assist Taquileans in
pressing their claims for a greater share of the market (UNESCO Press, 2005,
cited in Zorn and Farthing, 2007, p. 683).
When tourists arrive on Taquile, a reception committee greets and registers
them by age, duration of stay and nationality. New arrivals are assigned