New strategies for sustainable economic development in an Argentinean dryland.

CARMANCHAHI, PABLO1; LICHTENSTEIN, GABRIELA2; GREGORIO, PABLO1; PANEBIANCO, ANTONELLA1; MAROZZI, ANTONELA1; OVEJERO, RAMIRO1, 3; TARABORELLI, PAULA1,3; SCHROEDER, NATALIA1, 5; MORENO, PABLO1, 4

Congreso; Drylands, Deserts and Desertification; 2014

The guanaco (Lama guanicoe) is the most representative wild ungulate of arid environments in Argentina. Its populations suffered a drastic decline due to forage competition with sheep, indiscriminate hunting and negative perception by rural residents. This species is included in the Appendix 2 of the CITES and the Argentine legislation only enables fiber commercialization obtained from live shorn individuals. Here, we describe an innovating model for guanaco sustainable management, under high animal welfare standards, developed in La Payunia Reserve (Mendoza province, Argentina) by a local Cooperative in collaboration with scientists, which led to a multiple-objective project. Since 2005, the Payún Matrú Cooperative, composed by local goat herders with a subsistence economy from La Salinilla village, has developed methodologies to capture, shear and release guanacos to process and commercialize its valuable fiber. From the beginning, the Cooperative has received technical and financial assistance by different governmental institutions. To determine the activity impact, the effect on behavioral, physiological and population parameters was evaluated. Management efficiency, using indicators such as retention time and number of shorn animals per hour, was also estimated. From 2005-2010, 569 animals were shorn, obtaining 208.5 kilos of fiber. Difficulties in marketing and distribution channels, high costs in the handmade processing, absence of formal markets, limited access to prices information and unfavorable trading conditions have been the main problems that the Cooperative had to solve. To sort these difficulties, in 2013, the National Ministry of Science and Technology supported a project submitted by a partnership of public institutions and the Cooperative which aims to generate technological innovations applied to the guanaco management and develop the fiber productive chain at a local level. Through this project, a fiber processing mill will be installed, and the development of blends with other natural fibers and new product designs will be done. Moreover, this project includes the installation of electricity and communication in La Salinilla, resulting in a substantial change in the community life quality. This activity complements livestock production, increases the tolerance towards guanacos and promotes the wildlife and habitat conservation. The productive chain establishment, based on the value added at local level, community empowerment and equitable benefits distribution has the potential to generate a model of great importance in the region. Guanaco management under these conditions provides a great opportunity to join the wildlife conservation with poverty alleviation in areas with few productive alternatives.