The Protected Landscape Approach - Centre for Mediterranean ...

11. Cultural landscapes of the Andes
increasingly exposed to the influences of the dominant culture, they are losing their traditional
values. These factors include colonization of lands, the influence of evangelical churches on
traditional religious practices, and integration into the cash economy, which is changing
traditional power structures and encouraging many people to think of land as a commodity,
leaving behind spiritual values.
To achieve its mission, the FPSN promotes appropriate dissemination of information to all
stakeholders. Based on participation, an open dialogue and increasing awareness of the
problems of the Sierra, the FPSN seeks to find social, cultural and environmentally feasible
solutions to stop deterioration of this region. By focusing on water conservation as a common
theme, the FPSN aims to overcome interests in conflict, limited understanding and resistance to
change in the Sierra to reach required actions for its conservation with commitment and
collaboration from the different sectors. In this context the FPSN promotes and stimulates the
establishment of what we call the Conservation-Recuperation-Production Systems with the
objective of involving small farmer communities in initiatives that include improvement of
their quality of life, and environmental conservation respecting indigenous territories, customs
and practices.
The indigenous communities of this region sustain a world-view and practices that naturally
protect resources, regulating consumptive land use and thereby allowing natural re-vegetation
to occur. Their “history” remains what the “ancient people” knew as “the sacred laws” they had
established, and which continue to serve as guidelines for the communities’ present-day
management of resources. These cultural norms are based on the belief that every action is
significant, because every action surges from a natural force that comes from those ancient
beings who are present in each element of nature: the god of a particular stone, a river, a
mountain, a tree, those who provide the energy necessary for life to follow its natural course.
The indigenous people believe this force or motion is reflected in what they call “tradition”
which, far from being static in time, moves along and reaffirms itself within the needs and
opportunities that time brings. This traditional worldview selects its elements, comprehends a
totality, and indicates the best paths to choose. As the indigenous community has become more
open to “Western” ways, the project has opened the door for learning and exchange about the
role of the indigenous communities in what we understand as conservation and sustainable use
(Rodríguez, 2002).
The indigenous management offers an alternative attitude towards the environment, and
although it has changed from its original one, it is still being re-created and should be shared.
“Recovering a watershed, is recovering life, heart, and people and it is through history that we
can first do this recovery, (following Argumedo, 2001), by recovering history, laws and
norms,” hopefully with plasticity to integrate the overall regulatory framework of the country.
The FPSN believes in this priority and its relevance for territorial conservation. For the local
population, its history should not be forgotten by the young indigenous people and should be
shared and understood by western society, or “the little brothers”, 3 so that their management
practices might serve as an example for other regions. In this way, a closer relationship with
indigenous thinking could be established. Maybe for most of us the most important product of
establishing a Protected Landscape will be the conserved and recovered forest; however, for
3
The indigenous communities of this region view themselves as the elder brothers, since they were the
area’s first inhabitants.
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