Wetland spirits and indigenous knowledge: Implications for the conservation of wetlands in the Peruvian Amazon

Globally, the importance of indigenous and local knowledge systems for science, policy, environmental conservation and the cultural heritage of indigenous peoples is increasingly being recognised. The Amazon region in particular is home to many indigenous peoples who have conserved their cultural tr...

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Autores principales:	Emanuele Fabiano, Christopher Schulz, Manuel Martín Brañas
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Elsevier 2021
Materias:	Amazon Cosmovision Indigenous knowledge Spirits Urarina Wetland conservation Environmental sciences GE1-350 Environmental protection TD169-171.8
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/d330eb1712084622a13df48228d23484
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:d330eb1712084622a13df48228d234842021-11-26T04:40:17ZWetland spirits and indigenous knowledge: Implications for the conservation of wetlands in the Peruvian Amazon2666-049010.1016/j.crsust.2021.100107https://doaj.org/article/d330eb1712084622a13df48228d234842021-01-01T00:00:00Zhttp://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666049021000839https://doaj.org/toc/2666-0490Globally, the importance of indigenous and local knowledge systems for science, policy, environmental conservation and the cultural heritage of indigenous peoples is increasingly being recognised. The Amazon region in particular is home to many indigenous peoples who have conserved their cultural traditions and knowledge, despite growing threats to the environment and traditional lifestyles and cultures. Based on insights from ethnographic research in three indigenous communities, here we present a case study on the indigenous knowledge of the Urarina people of the Chambira Basin in the Peruvian Amazon and its implications for conservation. We describe, for the first time, a series of anthropomorphic and territorial “wetland spirits”, who are associated with particular wetland ecosystems and range in character from the benign to outright aggressive. Their presence may indirectly benefit conservation of wetlands, as humans fear or respect these wetland spirits and adapt their behaviour accordingly. While benign spirits may be seen as positive models to follow, aggressive spirits may deter unsustainable harvesting of resources through fear of disease or death. However, their cultural status is not adequately captured by such rational-scientific explanations. Wetland spirits are important characters within the indigenous cosmos of humans and non-humans, which is built on a relational, rather than extractive model of connecting humans and nature. We discuss our findings in the context of wider conceptual debates on recognising relational ontologies in environmental policy and conservation, the paradigm of biocultural conservation, as well as their implications for land titling, and incorporating indigenous perspectives in local education.Emanuele FabianoChristopher SchulzManuel Martín BrañasElsevierarticleAmazonCosmovisionIndigenous knowledgeSpiritsUrarinaWetland conservationEnvironmental sciencesGE1-350Environmental protectionTD169-171.8ENCurrent Research in Environmental Sustainability, Vol 3, Iss , Pp 100107- (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Amazon Cosmovision Indigenous knowledge Spirits Urarina Wetland conservation Environmental sciences GE1-350 Environmental protection TD169-171.8
spellingShingle	Amazon Cosmovision Indigenous knowledge Spirits Urarina Wetland conservation Environmental sciences GE1-350 Environmental protection TD169-171.8 Emanuele Fabiano Christopher Schulz Manuel Martín Brañas Wetland spirits and indigenous knowledge: Implications for the conservation of wetlands in the Peruvian Amazon
description	Globally, the importance of indigenous and local knowledge systems for science, policy, environmental conservation and the cultural heritage of indigenous peoples is increasingly being recognised. The Amazon region in particular is home to many indigenous peoples who have conserved their cultural traditions and knowledge, despite growing threats to the environment and traditional lifestyles and cultures. Based on insights from ethnographic research in three indigenous communities, here we present a case study on the indigenous knowledge of the Urarina people of the Chambira Basin in the Peruvian Amazon and its implications for conservation. We describe, for the first time, a series of anthropomorphic and territorial “wetland spirits”, who are associated with particular wetland ecosystems and range in character from the benign to outright aggressive. Their presence may indirectly benefit conservation of wetlands, as humans fear or respect these wetland spirits and adapt their behaviour accordingly. While benign spirits may be seen as positive models to follow, aggressive spirits may deter unsustainable harvesting of resources through fear of disease or death. However, their cultural status is not adequately captured by such rational-scientific explanations. Wetland spirits are important characters within the indigenous cosmos of humans and non-humans, which is built on a relational, rather than extractive model of connecting humans and nature. We discuss our findings in the context of wider conceptual debates on recognising relational ontologies in environmental policy and conservation, the paradigm of biocultural conservation, as well as their implications for land titling, and incorporating indigenous perspectives in local education.
format	article
author	Emanuele Fabiano Christopher Schulz Manuel Martín Brañas
author_facet	Emanuele Fabiano Christopher Schulz Manuel Martín Brañas
author_sort	Emanuele Fabiano
title	Wetland spirits and indigenous knowledge: Implications for the conservation of wetlands in the Peruvian Amazon
title_short	Wetland spirits and indigenous knowledge: Implications for the conservation of wetlands in the Peruvian Amazon
title_full	Wetland spirits and indigenous knowledge: Implications for the conservation of wetlands in the Peruvian Amazon
title_fullStr	Wetland spirits and indigenous knowledge: Implications for the conservation of wetlands in the Peruvian Amazon
title_full_unstemmed	Wetland spirits and indigenous knowledge: Implications for the conservation of wetlands in the Peruvian Amazon
title_sort	wetland spirits and indigenous knowledge: implications for the conservation of wetlands in the peruvian amazon
publisher	Elsevier
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/d330eb1712084622a13df48228d23484
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Wetland spirits and indigenous knowledge: Implications for the conservation of wetlands in the Peruvian Amazon

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