Local conflicts and international compromises: The sustainable use of vicuña in Argentina

MCNEILL, D., Y G. LICHTENSTEIN.

Journal of International Wildlife Law and Policy

Taylor and Francis

Lugar: Londres; Año: 2003 vol. 6 p. 233 - 253

1388-0292

The vicu?na Vicugna vicugna is a wild South American camelid with a fiber so highly valued that the species was hunted almost to extinction. Strict conservation regulations and international treaties have been successful in causing vicu?na populations to recover to a level where it is now possible to develop ?sustainable use? programs. In Chile, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, and Argentina, vicu?na management plans have been developed, with differing biological and socioeconomic implications. The major issue is whether vicu?na are managed in the wild or in captivity. The aim of this paper is to examine the forces that have, in recent years, shaped policies concerning vicu?na management, and especially the underlying conflict between economic growth and conservation. The analysis draws largely on primary data from Argentina and a report written by the U.S. Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service concerning the reclassification of vicu?na from endangered to threatened. This report is important both directly (because FWS is the key advisory body to the U.S. government and the United States is a major potential market for the fiber), and indirectly, because the views of the United States and its advisers will in turn have a major influence on other actors.