Condors, Water, and Mining: Heeding Voices from Andean Communities

Abstract

This paper addresses the relationship between scholarship and activism, considering the obligations that ethnobiologists have to the communities we work with. I begin by describing the cultural meaning of Andean condors (Vultur gryphus) in Peru through their connections to mountains and water in various forms, and the condor's role as guardian and protector. My research on condors led me to Indigenous beliefs and practices regarding sacred mountains and water, and from this to the threats against the environment posed by international mining operations. This discussion highlights questions concerning the scholar's role in situations of environmental destruction and political conflict in relation to structural violence, the mass media, and climate change. At a time when those who protect the land and water are endangered around the globe, the decisions we make while conducting research carry responsibilities for the consequences of our actions, even as these consequences ripple out beyond our specific locality and our original intentions.

Emerging Patterns in Cultural Ecosystem Services as Incentives and Obstacles for Raptor Conservation

“…Despite the often-intangible nature of cultural services, which are specific to cultures and subcultures, including demographics within societies, political and social groups, educational level and even specific genders [34,[44][45][46][47][48][49][50], attempts have been made to estimate the values (henceforth value estimates) of these services in monetary terms. As an initial step towards value estimation, the cultural services derived from a species can be placed into one or more categories: these include the physical and experiential uses of the species, the intellectual and educational uses of the species or the spiritual and symbolic roles of the species [51][52][53].…”

“…Furthermore, representative-symbolic uses of wildlife might best be valued in terms of their proportional contributions or key placements in aspects of culture-including the nature of their roles in governing emotions, or in nurturing a sense of identity or a sense of nationhood. The value estimates of cultural services might therefore be more qualitative than quantitative [8,34,62]. Documenting and recording such cultural services is, nevertheless, an important exercise because cultural services can ultimately determine the nature of human individual and community interactions with raptors, and whether such interactions are likely to be beneficial or prejudicial to the raptors [47,62,63].…”

“…Among some adherents of the Hindu faith, vultures are associated with Jatayu-the vulture saint [80]. In South America, condors hold strong cultural and spiritual connections with people in the Andes, as well as significant national emblematic value [30,34,55], and in parts of the USA, Ospreys (Pandion haliaetus) are so admired that platforms are erected to encourage their nesting, thereby resulting in often unexpected benefits, such as deterring the predators of livestock [82]. Indeed, there are clear links between raptor-based ecotourism or other cultural services and a potential restoration of ecosystem functions through the encouragement or establishment of birds of prey [61,[83][84][85][86].…”

“…These provisioning services are also closely related to raptor cultural services for collectors, and owners or falconers. Furthermore, many raptors are appreciated for their elegance or beauty by bird watchers, artists and photographers, are commonly used as national and regional emblems and are often prominent in folklore and story-telling [30,34,35]. Some raptors, particularly owls, are frequent antagonists in legends, mythologies and cultural narratives, often arousing fear or suspicion within target cultures [32,36,37].…”

Mediating mind-sets: the Cerro Khapía Landscape Reserve in the Peruvian Andes

“…García did not contemplate the possibility that the main demands of those opposing the mining company's operations included not just the total retraction of the concessions but also the demand to cancel the rights of another company, Patagonia SA, in the Cerro Khapía area (Quiñones 2013;Pinto Herrera 2013). Anti-mining positions usually underline the risk of environmental impacts, such as water and soil contamination, endangering the habitability of the site for people, plants and animals (Salas Carreño 2017;Sault 2018). Yet, to Aymara people the destruction of the mountain means not only the destruction of nature, but a complex and painful destruction of an ontological world.…”