Vicuna conservation and poverty alleviation: trying to link the two ends of the social scale

LICHTENSTEIN, G.

Cheltenham, Reino Unido

Congreso; The 12th biennial conference of the Internacional Association for the Study of Commons.; 2008

Association for the Study of the Commons, University of Gloucestershire

Vicunas (Vicugna vicguna) are South American Camelids, commercial exploitation of which has untapped poverty alleviation potential. Vicuna fibre is produced by extremely low income communities that inhabit the harsh environment of the high Andes in Argentina, Chile, Peru and Bolivia. Vicunas are captured, shorn and later released into the wild (or corrals). At the other end of the world (and social scale) affluent consumers from Europe and Japan are willing to pay high prices for apparel made of vicuna fibre (more than USD 50,000 for a coat or around USD 1000 for a scarf). Vicuna management projects developed in the Andes follow the logic of community-based conservation The rationale behind vicuna conservation through sustainable use is that commercial utilization of the fibre (obtained from live-shorn animals) will generate sufficient benefits to outweigh the burden of conservation, and contribute to community development and poverty alleviation, thus encouraging local people to become partners in conservation. However, although conservation efforts have been extremely successful, and vicunas have recovered from the brink of extinction, the socio-economic achievements of the programmes have thus far proved modest. This paper explores the link between vicuna management and poverty alleviation in Andean countries, and analyses the factors that limit a more equitable distribution of benefits among stakeholders