Knowledge, values, uses and management of the Araucaria araucana forest by the indigenous Mapuche Pewenche people: A basis for collaborative natural resource management in southern Chile

Abstract

One of the most important endemic tree species of Chile and at the same time one of the most endangered ones is Araucaria araucana (Mol.) C. Koch, the monkey‐puzzle tree. It grows in the Andes Mountains, homeland of the indigenous Mapuche Pewenche people who depend on this tree. This paper is based on field research that investigated the ecological knowledge, uses and management of the Araucaria araucana forest by indigenous Mapuche Pewenche people based on the socio‐cultural, spiritual and ecological relationships they have with the Araucaria forest, to find out how indigenous people and their knowledge could contribute to sustainable Araucaria forest management. A Mapuche Pewenche community located in the IX region of Chile contributed to this study. Based on the analyses this paper illustrates the nature of indigenous ecological knowledge of Araucaria araucana on the one hand, and its utility in native forest management on the other. The research shows that the Mapuche Pewenche hold ecological knowledge and conduct practices to manage their Araucaria forest in a balanced way. They conserve and use forest biodiversity at one and the same time. This paper provides recommendations for sustainable Araucaria forest management and conservation strategies ex‐situ and in‐situ incorporating indigenous knowledge and scientific knowledge and for promoting a collaborative natural resources management.

Landscapes with Araucaria in South America: evidence for a cultural dimension

“…Specific ethnic terms are used to describe it: "ngümitun" or "piñoneo," and it is distinguished linguistically from the gathering of other plants (Ladio 2011b). This practice generally takes place between February and April, when the mature piñones fall from the cones on the trees (Aagensen 1998, Herrmann 2005. At the present time, the piñoneo is not only carried out by the inhabitants of Araucaria forests, but also by Mapuche communities who live far from them.…”

“…The relationship between the Mapuche and A. araucana has been so close that the societies that used them called themselves, in their language (Mapuzungun), "Pehuenche," or people ("che") of the pehuén (A. araucana;Aagensen 1993, Ladio 2001, Herrmann 2005. In the Mapuche cosmology, the development and architecture of their trees is associated with the development of families within the community.…”

“…These Mapuche communities live in the more steppe-like areas to the east of the Andes and, therefore, have adapted their traditional livestock breeding practices (their main means of making a living) to a multiple use of the environment along with the piñoneo. Thus, families tend to move toward the forest in the summer to take better advantage of the grasslands, establishing semipermanent dwelling sites in the area, a tradition known as "veranada" or summer pasturing (Aagensen 1998, Ladio and Lozada 2000, Ladio 2001, Ladio and Lozada 2004b, Herrmann 2005. The families stay in the forests until autumn, when, after gathering the piñones, they return to their winter pastures for the rest of the year (Ladio and Lozada 2000).…”

“…Some of the piñones are consumed, toasted, or cooked during the summer pasturing, but a large proportion (>100 kg per journey) is taken to the winter dwelling site (Ladio and Lozada 2000). In other words, practices for the transport and storage of piñones have existed from prehistoric times to the present as a strategy to extend the period of use and the site of consumption (Aagensen 1993, Ladio and Lozada 2000, Ladio 2001, Herrmann 2005.…”

Fragmentation of Araucaria araucana forests in Chile: quantification and correlation with structural variables

“…K. Koch (henceforth: Araucaria) is a long-lived, slow-growing, relict conifer in South America's temperate forests with high cultural, social and economic importance (Aagesen 1998a, 1998b, Ladio 2001, Herrmann 2005. Araucaria is listed as "vulnerable" (IUCN 1996) and a "national monument of Chile" (Supreme Decree 43 and Native Forest Law); designations that consolidate both landscape protections and harvesting prohibition for the species.…”