Browsing by Author "Petitpas, Robert"

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    A conflict between a threatened deer and indigenous agriculture: Tarukas (Hippocamelus antisensis D'Orbigny) and Aymara farmers in northern Chile
    (EDICIONES UNIV, CONCEPCION, 2021) Munoz, Alejandra E.; Petitpas, Robert; Marin, Juan C.; Bonacic, Cristian
    The taruka is one of the least known deer species of the world. Its range includes the northern Andean mountains in Chile, where their relationship with Aymara peasants is conflictive because of crop raiding. The aim of this study is to understand the nature of this conflict in Chile, and identify socio-ecological features that may explain it. Data of different sampling dates from 2003 to 2011 of night transects on roads, crop examination, interviews and direct sighting of tarukas were used to understand its ecology and relationship with local peasants. Peasants interviewed (n=47) cultivated mainly corn (85.1%) and alfalfa (74.5%) in small farms and 83% of them raise livestock. The conflict is widespread in Parinacota Province, where tarukas effectively consume crops, mainly abandoned alfalfa at night. The occurrence of crop raiding is not positively correlated with dry season as expected. However crop consumption is low (10.3% average of damaged plants in crop plots). In Del Tamarugal Province only 29.4% of peasants manifested conflict with tarukas but they did report conflict with other ungulates. Day sightings showed 78 tarukas in 34 encounters during 59 days. Night surveys yielded 11.6 +/- 7.4 tarukas/survey, sighted only in alfalfa plots. Aymara agriculture feeds tarukas and is declining because of rural-urban migration. The conflict must be considered in the conservation strategy of the species.
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    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
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    Becoming-With Pewen
    (2025) Petitpas, Robert
    Pewen (Araucaria araucana) and Pewenche (people of the pewen) have been affecting each other’s ecology and survival for centuries. Pewenche have been shaping pewen forest ecology by moving seeds, planting trees, protecting them from threats. In turn, pewen is fundamental in Pewenche economy, culture, and spirituality. The meaning of pewen for Pewenche people is related to their historical and reciprocal interactions, or living with pewen. In this article, I am going to argue that by living together, pewen and Pewenche have been making each other, or engaged in a process of becoming-with. Also, this interaction shapes how pewen conservation is understood. Pewen and Pewenche entanglements challenge conservation efforts rooted in a human–nature dichotomy. Ignoring this relationship reinforces social inequalities and reproduces colonialism through conservation.
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    Conservation Research Needs of Easter Island (Rapa Nui) Marine Turtles
    (2015) Alvarez-Varas, Rocio; Petitpas, Robert; Stowhas, Paulina; Fuentes-Hurtado, Marcelo
    Easter Island has experienced a marked increase in tourism during the past few decades; this has intensified the use of natural resources, which has in turn posed new threats to marine wildlife. To gather information on marine turtle species inhabiting Easter Island and research needs for their conservation, we conducted interviews with local communities and combined them with coastal and underwater surveys. Interviews indicated the presence of five marine turtle species and highlighted an important historical connection with the Rapa Nui culture; we identified several potential threats associated with growing tourism that should be taken as a research priority and integrated with environmental education programs in order to ensure the long-term conservation of marine turtles on this remote island in the Southeast Pacific.
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    Forest cover outside protected areas plays an important role in the conservation of the Vulnerable guina Leopardus guigna
    (2013) Galvez, Nicolas; Hernandez, Felipe; Laker, Jerry; Gilabert, Horacio; Petitpas, Robert; Bonacic Salas, Cristian; Gimona, Alessandro; Hester, Alison; Macdonald, David W.