Ethnobiological approach to the invasion of the wild boar (Sus scrofa) in the north of Córdoba Mountains, Argentina

Abstract

The wild boar is an invasive species that increases its dispersion alarmingly in Argentina, and in Córdoba province in particular. We intend to evaluate from an ethnobiological perspective the impacts of this species on biocultural diversity in the northern Córdoba. We worked with 16 collaborators, participant observation, field trips and semi-structured interviews were carried out from which narratives were compiled. With this information, their notions regarding different aspects of the wild boar invasion were evaluated: a) entry and expansion, b) characteristics and associated knowledge, c) impacts on cultivation and planting, d) changes in diversity biocultural, and e) hunting and control actions. We worked with different social actors: small, medium and large producers, technicians, facilitators and hunters. This methodological approach contributes to the understanding of the complex operation of biocultural systems, and biological invasions with a multiactoral perspective. The introduction and expansion of the wild boar in the northern of Córdoba has generated profound impacts on the sustainability of biocultural diversity. These include the impossibility of growing corn (Zea maysL.), loss of seeds of ancestral varieties and associated management practices; displacement of other native species; decrease in the coverage of the herbaceous layer; changes in hunting and management practices, and in ecological knowledge associated with “passing the drought”, among others. With the local ecological knowledge of the multiple social actors approached in dialogue with scientific knowledge, management strategies could be designed to face this environmental problem.