El vínculo entre los bosques de Polylepis y la comunidad aborigen de Quebraleña, Jujuy - Argentina

Abstract

This work presents the local assessment of an aboriginal community of the Kolla People on the forests of Queuñas (Polylepis tomentella). Our objective is to highlight the central role for its conservation of communal participation and dialogue of knowledge, evidencing the existing links between the aboriginal community and the Polylepis forests, belonging to the nature of Quebraleña. The methodology used included interviews, oral history recording, participant observation, and participatory workshops with the community. From the ancestral knowledge of the inhabitants of the aboriginal community of Quebraleña, a very close link between the forests and the life cycles of people is described, from birth to after death. The knowledge about the Queuñas is transmitted generationally and is part of the biocultural heritage of the population. There is a positive assessment by the community about the importance of these trees, showing a broad commitment to conserve them and great concern about the dangers that threaten them. Forests and people show a close association, which is endangered when ecosystems are threatened. The aboriginal community of Quebraleña recognizes the forests of Queuñas as components in the development of their own identity. The contributions of different perspectives that provide different worldviews, interests and values, such as indigenous knowledge, are very important contributions that add to the classic ecology of a forest. This complementarity of knowledge, between Western science and ancestral knowledge are useful and effective for the preservation of cultural biodiversity, local environmental heritage and promote the sustainable use of nature.