The Protected Landscape Approach - Centre for Mediterranean ...

11. Cultural landscapes of the Andes: indigenous
and colono culture, traditional knowledge and
ethno-ecological heritage
Fausto O. Sarmiento, Guillermo Rodríguez and Alejandro Argumedo
Introduction
Intrinsic to the definition of culture – and, in many places, cherished as gods or demi-gods –
mountainous cultural landscapes have evolved in ways that produce a symbiotic relation
between nature and culture (von Droste et al., 1995). In the Andes mountains, identity and
ethnicity go hand-in-hand with mythical concepts of sacred hills, isolated volcanoes or specific
snow-capped summits. The so-called Apus (or mountain deities), acting as stewards of the
communities living under their protection, appear to have human-like characters. It has been
said that Apus are superior beings that know the fate of the people leaving in nearby valleys.
Andean landscapes, hence, are the result of intellectual and spiritual constructs that are
shaped by the traditional practices and the newer uses given to them by the diverse cultures that
inhabit them. As components of managing the broader cultural landscape, novel approaches for
the conservation of sacred sites offer insights into the importance of human influence as the
driver of global change, as well as the importance of maintaining and promoting local culture,
traditional knowledge and spiritual fulfilment in contemporary society (Forman, 1995). Using
Andean land-use management practices as models allows us to generalize notions that unify
nature and culture as an integrative whole within a protected landscape, as well as to link
biodiversity and human intervention as driving forces behind the nature-culture interactions
that produced the identities of Andean mountain societies at large (Brown and Mitchell, 1999;
Gade, 1999; Brown, Mitchell and Sarmiento, 2000).
The three main Andean regions along the continent-long cordillera (Northern Andes,
Central Andes and Southern Andes) differ according to their altitude, humidity and topo -
graphic features, being tropical evergreen in the north, dry and less vegetated in the centre, and
temperate deciduous in the south. A key ecological feature in the Andes is the existence of slope
and fragile lands, nested in young volcanic chains reaching several thousand metres in height.
Steep slopes are prone to erosion potential, which is exacerbated when forest cover is removed
by deforestation.
These mountainous lands are occupied by traditional cultures that have developed unique
strategies to solve their needs for resources and survival. One of us has argued that even the
name “Andes” provides a direct clue to understanding the cultural nature of Andean landscapes
(Sarmiento, 2002). The built terracing system impressed the first Europeans visiting the region,
who described the echelon-like construction along the sides of the mountains with Castilian
shorthand as andenes, from which the word Andes was popularized to describe the whole
cordillera.
In the Andes, culture and nature are interlocked in a closely knit fabric where the resulting
mosaics of land uses have provided diversity and stability to the ecology of mountain
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