Sustainable conservation of vicuñas (Vicugna vicugna) in Argentina

Summary

Jujuy, the most northwestern province of Argentina, has the largest percentage of mountainous landscape (over 93%) in Argentina. This includes a wide range of ecosystems. The Puna or Altiplano is a dry, cold, high-elevation (3500 m above sea level) Andean ecosystem, with a semi-desert vegetation community that consists mainly of shrub–steppe, with tussocks and short grasses. Peatlands, locally known as vegas, develop in restricted areas where groundwater is near the surface.

Vicuñas and other camelids can contribute to building resilience to climate change – particularly in mountains and arid and semi-arid lands. South American camelids have specific anatomical and physiological adaptations to high altitude and can live at 4800 m.a.s.l., which allows for greater adaptive strategies in the face of fluctuating scenarios with severe droughts. In addition to the intrinsic adaptive capabilities of camelids, all the local herding knowledge, much of it rooted in deep ancestral indigenous wisdom, allows for better chances of adaptation and resilience to a changing climate.

Santa Catalina is a small traditional town located in the mountain range of Rinconada. The main economic activity of the inhabitants of this area is livestock breeding, with sheep and llamas, for the production of fiber, skins and meat. This solution focuses on the sustainable conservation of vicuñas, such as “Chaku” – a traditional practice of capturing, shearing and releasing wild vicuñas – that supports sustainable and local value chains.

This solution is based on the work of the VICAM group – Vicuñas, camelids, and environment – which consists of researchers from Argentina’s national science and technology system, particularly Dr. Vilá B., Dr Arzamendia Y., Baldo J., Rojo V., and Yacobaccio H.

Overview

Location:

• Argentina

Implementation sites:

• Single country
• Single location

Mountain region:

• Rinconada, Andes

Province:

• Santa Catalina

Site locations:

• Jujuy

Solution scale:

• Global
• Sub-national / Regional

Ecosystem type(s):

• Desert
• Grassland

Solution type(s):

• Education and awareness
• Land use practice
• Research

Sector(s):

• Ecosystems Biodiversity

Climate impact(s) addressed:

• Drought

Other climate impact(s) addressed:

• Wind and low temperatures with a possibility of frost all year round

Climate impact time-scale(s):

• Rapid Onset

Main benefit associated with the solution:

• Environmental benefits (e.g. biodiversity preservation, water security, food security)

Co-benefit(s) associated with the solution implementation:

• Social benefits (e.g. poverty reduction, inclusiveness and equity, health and well-being)

Implementation timeline:

• 2000 - 2030

Sendai targets:

SDGs:

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Solution details

Main beneficiaries & outcomes

The main beneficiaries are Indigenous people and local Communities (IPLC). They are the co-creators and co-developers of many of the ideas and activities. The Santa Catalina Community Council brings together the three indigenous communities: Aucarpina Chambi, Athu Saphis, Morritos and Peñas Coloradas. They are primarily herders of llamas and sheep and decide most of their issues in assemblies open to council members. The solution empowers the community council of Santa Catalina, and the communities of the town of Barrancas, recognizing their role as custodians and guardians of the camelids and the pastoral way of life and beneficiaries of the products (CNP) derived from the camelids. The local communities, especially women, are trained in spinning and weaving with vicuñas fibre. As a result, the ‘chaku’ fosters community identity and autonomy, and provides income for local communities.

Other beneficiaries include academic and educational and school communities. VICAM members are also members of the teaching staff at the public Universities of Lujan and Jujuy, which helps enable the involvement of those institutions and students. In fact, the collaborative project between the National University of Jujuy (UNJu) and VICAM, “Learning Sustainability with Vicuñas in the Andes,” was selected as a finalist for the United Nations Environment Programme’s International Green Gown Awards in the “Student Engagement” category and received the “Highly Commended” award. Training courses are frequently conducted for teachers in highland schools. These are intensive courses with content on Andean landscape, camelids, their role as part of the cultural heritage, and sustainability. The schools’ students belong to indigenous groups. Some of them are Quechua speakers, and several define themselves as “Coyas”. The main language used in the school is Spanish, Argentina’s official language, although they have Quechua lessons. Some texts can be done in Quechua and Spanish.

The ‘chaku’ practice is also considered environmentally friendly by discouraging the poaching and hunting of vicuñas. When managed with high animal welfare standards – minimising the impact of the capture – it helps preserve biodiversity. Additionally, it supports sustainable development by offering communities an alternative source of income based on local value chains.

Planning and implementation

The Andean altiplano landscape is a high-altitude semi-desert socio-ecological productive landscape (SEPL) inhabited by indigenous and local communities that breed endemic llamas (Lama glama) and introduced livestock, mainly sheep (Ovis aries). These animals share grazing areas with wild vicuñas (Vicugna vicugna), recovered from extinction, and suris (Rhea pennata garleppi), a non-flying bird in population decline.

The VICAM research group analyzed 14 indicators (regulating, material, and non-material) of the IPBES’s categories of nature’s contributions to people (NCP), and found that several indicators have decreasing trends, except the non-material ones (Arzamendia et al. 2021). The main drivers identified were youth migration to cities, mining activities, pastoralist knowledge erosion, land use change, overgrazing, vicuñas poaching, and exploitation of suris eggs and feathers. The group have also analysed the processes, times, and costs involved in weaving a vicuña garment (Vilá & Arzamendia, 2022), since trading vicuña fiber as a commodity for international textile companies does not generate the desired income for local communities.

In addition to carrying out basic studies and analysing trends, the VICAM research team dedicates much of its energy to supporting community demands via a bottom-up approach. Together, they have built a participatory environmental calendar through dialogues on critical issues, such as carrying capacity, sustainable markets for llama fibre, handicrafts, wild vicuña chaku (capture, shearing, and release back to nature), among others. Action is being taken to support community claims to land rights and access to resources. An annual spinning contest, the Pushkaj Runakuna, engages young people, empowers women and girls, and demonstrates the importance of sustainable value chains and youth engagement. A training course on vicuñas fiber spinning was also developed with a master artisanal teacher from Catamarca province.

Finance

Funding from CONICET (National Research Council from Argentina) and the National University Lujan and Jujuy covered staff cost.

The project was also supported by several National Science “Proyectos de Investigación Científica y Tecnológica” PICT awards, a European Union INCO-DEV Shared Cost RTD grant, and Satoyama Development Mechanisms (IPSI), a seed-funding program that supports bottom-up projects in Socio-Ecological Production Landscapes and Seascapes (SEPLS).

Innovation

With the support of an INCO-DEV MACs project funded by the European Union, the project developed the first chakus – a sustainable Indigenous technique for capturing, shearing, and releasing wild vicuñas – in Argentina between the years 2003-2005.  The chakus were restarted in 2012 at a request from local communities, and continue to the present day. These approaches permit the regular capture, shearing, and release of wild vicuñas, thus generating income for otherwise economically deprived indigenous communities.

Other innovating aspects of the project include the environmental education courses specifically for altiplano schools, with numerous environmental education courses for teachers and professors, and the promotion of celebratory activities in the community. For example, at the Ashka Llama fair, VICAM collaborate with local authorities and the llama fiber spinning competitions to keep alive a practice highly susceptible to the erosion of traditional knowledge.

Capacities for design and implementation

Knowledge

VICAM focuses on local rangelands’ socio-ecological production and conservation practices that include the role of animals in the Andean cosmovision and spiritual beliefs. The implementation of conservation measures integrated both traditional knowledge of indigenous communities and modern science, including ecology, ethology, and animal welfare. The project also focused on co-creating strategies for valuing local products, sustaining livelihoods, and helping to create a sense of belonging among the youth.

Additionally, local stakeholders are trained in the “chaku” practice. For example, two years ago, at the request of the Lauca MAB Reserve, VICAM trained and participated in a collaborative project between mountain MAB reserves, training Chilean technicians and residents in vicuña capture.

Political / Legal

The solution has informed and supported the development of policies that further enable its implementation, upscaling and replication. For example, a book “Guidelines for a Conservation and Sustainable Use Plan for Vicuñas in Jujuy, Argentina” was published at the request of the biodiversity authorities of the province of Jujuy. The book became the scientific roadmap that gave real substance to the application of Law No. 5634 through the regulations sanctioned as Decree 5175 in 2014.

Institutional

The VICAM research team is affiliated with state science and technology institutions, specifically the National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET) and the public universities of Luján and Jujuy. This enables the involvement of these institutions and their students in sustainable conservation of vicuñas. Additionally, these institutions support the VICAM group by funding staff time and providing the necessary infrastructure for data analysis.

Socio-cultural

The VICAM research group bridges scientific conservation with indigenous rights, ancestral knowledge, and local development. As a group that integrates biologists, veterinarians, archaeologists, and social scientists, it allows an analysis of the vicuña not just as a biological resource, but as a cultural symbol deeply tied to the Buen Vivir (Good Living) philosophy of the Puna.

The initiative has brought together local stakeholders in Santa Catalina, including the Cooperative of Santa Catalina Livestock Producers, Community Council (e.g., Indigenous communities of Aucapiña Chambi, Atu Saphis, Peña Colorada), local schools and authorities, and researchers linked to scientific institutions (e.g., VICAM research group, CONICET, National Universities of Jujuy and Lujan), as well as donors (e.g., Midori Prize, Satoyama Initiative, Williams Foundation). The project co-designs conservation plans through participatory workshops, fostering local ownership.

Outlook & Scalability

Barriers and adverse effects

Pastoralism on the Altiplano of Jujuy faces the same challenges as other pastoral systems around the world. It is vulnerable to climate change, land tenure regimes, pressures on pastoralists to become sedentary, difficulties in interacting with market-based economies, and youth emigration from the area. VICAM understands that these problems are long-term and that working towards sustainability in this socio-ecosystem is a challenge that requires transdisciplinary work with the co-production of activities based on scientific and local knowledge.

Additionally, vicuñas and conservation efforts are threatened by poaching and illegal trade. The market for this luxury fiber (approximately $500 per kilogram) is monopsonistic, resulting in significant price fluctuations. A very small elite of textile corporations controls the market, leaving local communities with limited bargaining power and unpredictable profits.

Potential for upscaling and replication

The ‘chaku’ practice – centred on the sustainable use of vicuñas – has spread to other locations, including other institutions, and is benefiting numerous indigenous communities in the altiplano. Chakus also exist across the Andes, in Chile, Peru and Bolivia. Upscaling and replication is further promoted through trainings and systematized management techniques, freely available in a written manual: Manual manejo de vicuñas.

However, to further upscale and improve the outcomes of the project:

• The traceability of legal vicuña fiber (obtained through traditional roundups) must be guaranteed.
• A national census of vicuñas must be conducted, as the number of animals in the provinces is unknown.
• The health conditions of wild vicuña populations must be monitored regularly.
• Training should be provided to enable the fiber to be offered with added value, if possible, through spun or woven garments.
• An International Ethical Certification could be created: “100% Community and Cruelty-Free Fiber” labels could be established to demand premium prices directly from luxury brands.
• Wetlands must be protected, including grasslands and wetlands, from extractive activities and land-use change due to mining.
• Local youth and children should be involved in participatory science research.