Oso, Osito ¿A Qué Venís? Andean Bear Conflict, Conservation, and Campesinos in the Colombian Páramos

Ana María Garrido Corredor, Hanne Cottyn, Santiago Martínez-Medina, Christopher J. Wheatley, Adriana Sanchez, Joshua Kirshner, Helen Cowie, Julia Touza-Montero and Piran C. L. White
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Ana María Garrido Corredor: Programa de Ciencias Sociales y Saberes de la Biodiversidad, Instituto de Investigación de Recursos Biológicos Alexander von Humboldt, Bogotá 110321, Colombia
Hanne Cottyn: Department of History, University of York, York YO10 5DD, UK
Santiago Martínez-Medina: Programa de Ciencias Sociales y Saberes de la Biodiversidad, Instituto de Investigación de Recursos Biológicos Alexander von Humboldt, Bogotá 110321, Colombia
Christopher J. Wheatley: Leverhulme Centre for Anthropocene Biodiversity, Department of Biology, University of York, Heslington, York YO10 5DD, UK
Adriana Sanchez: Programa de Biología, Facultad de Ciencias Naturales, Universidad del Rosario, Bogotá 111221, Colombia
Joshua Kirshner: Interdisciplinary Global Development Centre, University of York, York YO10 5DD, UK
Helen Cowie: Department of History, University of York, York YO10 5DD, UK
Julia Touza-Montero: Interdisciplinary Global Development Centre, University of York, York YO10 5DD, UK
Piran C. L. White: Interdisciplinary Global Development Centre, University of York, York YO10 5DD, UK

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 19, 1-18

Abstract: This article proposes a historical, multispecies, and ontological approach to human–wildlife conflict (HWC) in the Colombian páramos. Focusing on the páramos surrounding the capital city of Bogotá, we reconstruct the historically changing relationship between cattle-farming campesino communities and the Andean bear, Tremarctos ornatus . Using ethnographic and historical research methods, we conceptualise this relationship as embedded in localised landscapes and multispecies assemblages, in which scientists, conservation practitioners, water infrastructures, public environmental agencies, and cows participate as well. This article demonstrates that insufficient attention to the practices and relationships of historically marginalised humans and non-humans in the management of HWCs contributes to new dynamics of exclusion and friction, and can reduce the effectiveness of conservation programmes. We conclude that opening up conservation to the interests and knowledges of local communities is imperative in moving towards more historically informed, pluralistic and effective conservation strategies.

Keywords: human–wildlife conflicts; Andean bear; conservation; campesinos; cattle; páramo; Colombia; multispecies; ontology; history (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
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