Vicuña conservation and poverty alleviation? Andean communities and international fibre markets

Abstract

Vicuna (Vicugna vicugna) fibre is produced by extremely low-income communities that inhabit the harsh environment of the Andes in Argentina, Chile, Peru and Bolivia. At the other end of the social scale, affluent consumers are willing to pay high prices for vicuna-made accessories and clothes. Vicuna management projects follow the logic of community-based wildlife management. The rationale for seeking to conserve vicuñas through sustainable use is that commercial utilization of the fibre (obtained from live-shorn animals) will generate sufficient economic benefits to outweigh the costs of conservation, and contribute to community development and poverty alleviation. However, although conservation efforts have been extremely successful with vicuñas having recovered from the brink of extinction, the socio-economic achievements have thus far proved modest. This paper explores multiple-objective projects that address vicuña conservation and poverty alleviation in Andean countries. In doing so, it analyses the tensions that exist between these objectives, as well as the factors that limit a more equitable distribution of benefits among stakeholders. Examples are drawn from vicuna management under common-property in Peru and Bolivia, and vicuna captive management under private property in Argentina. These case studies enable us to illustrate the complex relationship between local communities and the global market, and the importance of community enterprises and supportive government policy in managing a common pool resource.

Sustainable Luxury Natural Fibers—Production, Properties, and Prospects

“…The outer guard hairs are easily removed from the shorn fleece. The wool is very sensitive to chemical treatments therefore it is always left in its natural color, which is a rich golden honey [24,25].…”

Transnational governance in mountain regions: Progress and prospects

“…By 2000, it was largely dormant (Fall, 2006), but in application of Article 4 of the Framework Convention on the Protection and Sustainable Development of the Carpathians (Carpathian Convention), signed in 2003 (see Perrier and Levrat, 2014), a Carpathian Network of Protected Areas (CNPA) was established in 2006, following the model of ALPARC, described below. While, according to its terms of reference, it is a network for e n v i r o n m e n t a l s c i e n c e & p o l i c y 4 9 ( 2 0 1 5 ) 9 5 -1 0 5 cooperation of mountain protected areas in the Carpathians, the objectives identified in its medium-term strategy for 2010-2015(Carpathian Convention, 2010 are much wider, including the promotion of cooperation on protection, restoration of nature and sustainable use of natural resources, cultural heritage, sustainable livelihoods and sustainable development; and the implementation of provisions of the Protocol on Conservation and Sustainable Use of Biological and Landscape Diversity of the Carpathian Convention, and of decisions and recommendations of bodies established under the Convention and other international legal instruments.…”

International Trade in Endangered Plant Species in the Context of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora and the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation1

“…Captive breeding involves maintaining vicuñas or guanacos in fenced enclosures of various sizes where selective breeding may take place, while providing food, water and veterinary care. While wild management has the potential to create economic incentives for the conservation of species and habitat, the link between captive management and conservation is less obvious and the magnitude of economic returns much smaller (Lichtenstein 2010a).Wild management uses a capture and release system which has evolved from the Inca chaku tradition. In the case of vicuñas, large numbers of community members holding colourful flags chase the animals into a funnel from where they are taken to be shorn.…”

“…Italy is the final destination for most of the fibre (Lichtenstein 2010a). The same two trader companies operate in Argentina for vicuña and guanaco fibre.…”

“…The vicuña recovered from a global population of only 10,000 to about 421,500 individuals during the period 1965-2010 (Lichtenstein 2010a). CITES and the Vicuña Convention played a key role in halting the population decline.…”