Browsing by Author "Orrego, Gabriel"

Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
  • No Thumbnail Available
    Item
    Becoming tree, reconstructing memory: biocultural networks in pewen (Araucaria araucana) landscapes of the southern Andes
    (2024) Ibarra, Jose Tomas; Cortes, Josefina; Petitpas, Robert; Barreau, Antonia; Caviedes, Julian; Orrego, Gabriel; Riquelme-Maulen, Wladimir; Altamirano, Tomas A.
    Relationships between people and trees are continually unfolding in the contexts of si-tuated social-ecological systems. In current studies on social-ecological systems linked with trees, we commonly find two approaches: the first focuses on 'biological entities', examining the ecological dynamics of tree species and associated biodiversity. The se-cond approach focuses on people, analyzing 'human agency' along with historical and contemporary political or other forces shaping human-tree relationships. In this paper, we explore social-ecological systems associated with the Pewen (Araucaria araucana), one of the most iconic and sacred trees from the southern Andes. We first describe some of our own research findings on Pewen for both approaches described above. We then develop a third perspective, that we call 'relational', which highlights biocultural rela-tions and has the potential to overcome both the 'ecological/social' and the 'biological entity/human agency' dichotomies. Our relational approach allows a closer enquiry on how actors (e.g. trees and their seeds, wildlife, and people, among others) interact in complex and sympoietic biocultural networks, recognizing the biocultural memory of the system that emerges as an on-going complex of dynamics relations that must be enacted and performed on a daily basis. Furthermore, it stresses that people-pewen networks are continuously built and rebuilt in open systems subjected to historical and contemporary drivers of change
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    While clearing the forests: The social–ecological memory of trees in the Anthropocene
    (2024) Ibarra Eliessetch, José Tomás; Riquelme Maulén, Wladimir Esteban; Bañales Seguel, Camila; Orrego, Gabriel; Salazar Preece, Gonzalo; CEDEUS (Chile)
    The Anthropocene concept raises awareness of human-induced planetary changes but is criticized for being ‘too global’. We examined the social–ecological memory that emerges from people-tree relationships in South American temperate territories, Chile. We integrated dendrochronology (analysis of tree rings of 35 memorial trees; 17 species) with dendrography (participant observation complemented with semi-structured and goalong interviews with 14 interviewees; six women, eight men). We found that assemblages of people–tree relationships reflect marked historical changes in the territory, associated with the historical clearing of forests, which may be imprinted in both tree growth rings and in the social meanings and practices associated with memorial trees. In devastated territories, practices of tree care emphasize interconnectedness, multispecies collaborations, and the blurring of boundaries between humans and otherthan-humans. We discuss some of the interdisciplinary and relational insights of our study, which may prove valuable for future research, political agendas, and educational programs in South America and beyond.