Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Beyond Verticality: Fuelscape Politics and Practices in the Andes

  • Published:
Human Ecology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This paper analyzes the material, discursive, and biophysical dimensions of fuelscapes, or energy landscapes. Ethnographic and ecological fieldwork was conducted in the Machu Picchu Historic Sanctuary, Peru. Andean land use studies have focused on agricultural patterns such as vertical production zones. Fuelscapes are an important, energy-based means of producing and representing landscape. They show how uncultivated lands fit into livelihood strategies and reflect historic sedimentation of landscape. Fuelscapes are shaped by ecological characteristics, historic settlement patterns and property rights, gendered and intergenerational divisions in household labor, and state conservation policies. Conservation policies delimit fuelscapes to privilege live trees, but the resultant denudation of dead wood may carry implications for ecosystem health. This study elucidates how official policies intersect with household and communal resource use strategies to produce Andean fuelscapes. It provides insight into how uncultivated ecosystems fit into land use politics, practices, and representation.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. Percentages are not exclusive in survey responses.

References

  • Agarwal, B. (1986). Cold Hearths and Barren Slopes: the Woodfuel Crisis in the Third World. Zed Books, London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Allen, C. J. (1988). The Hold Life Has: Coca and Cultural Identity in an Andean Community. Smithsonian Institutional Press, USA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ansión, J. (1986). El Arbol y el Bosque en la Sociedad Andina. Ministerio de Agricultura, FAO, Lima.

    Google Scholar 

  • Arnold, J. E., Kohlin, G., and Persson, R. (2006). Woodfuels, Livelihoods, and Policy Interventions: Changing Perspectives. World Development 34: 596–611.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bentley, J., and Valencia, J. (2003). Learning about trees in a Quechua-speaking Andean community in Bolivia. In Van Mele, P. (ed.), Way Out of the Woods: Learning How to Manage Trees and Forests. CPL Press, Newbury, pp. 69–134.

    Google Scholar 

  • Broadhead, J., Bahdon, J., and Whiteman, A. (2001). Past Trends and Future Prospects for the Utilization of Wood for Energy. FAO, Rome.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brush, S. B. (1976). Man's use of an Andean ecosystem. Human Ecology 4: 147–166.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brush, S. B. (1977). Mountain, Field, and Family: the Economy and Human Ecology of an Andean Valley. U. Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia.

    Google Scholar 

  • Byers, A. C. (2000). Contemporary Landscape Change in the Huascaran National Park and Buffer Zone, Cordillera Blanca, Peru. Mountain Research and Development 20: 52–63.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chepstow-Lusty, A., and Winfield, M. (2000). Inca Agroforestry: Lessons from the Past. Ambio 29: 322–328.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cline-Cole, R. (1998). Knowledge Claims and Landscape: Alternative Views of the Fuelwood-Degradation Nexus in Northern Nigeria. Environment and Planning D-Society & Space 16: 311–346.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • de Montelambert, M. R., and Clement, J. (1983). Fuelwood Supplies in Developing Countries. FAO, Rome.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dewees, P. A. (1989). The Woodfuel Crisis Reconsidered - Observations on the Dynamics of Abundance and Scarcity. World Development 17: 1159–1172.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dollfus, O. (1982). Development of Land-Use Patterns in the Central Andes. Mountain Research and Development 2: 39–48.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eckholm, E. (1975). The Other Energy Crisis, Firewood. Worldwatch Institute, Washington, DC.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fioravanti-Molinie, A. (1982). Multi-levelled Andean society and market exchange: the case of Yucay (Peru). In Lehmann, D. (ed.), Ecology and Exchange in the Andes. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 211–230.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Flores Ochoa, J. L. (1985). Interaction and complementarity in three zones of Cuzco. In Masuda, S., Shimada, J., and Morris, C. (eds.), Andean Ecology and Civilization: An Interdisciplinary Perspective on Andean Ecological Complementarity. University of Tokyo Press, Tokyo, pp. 251–276.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fortmann, L. (1985). The Tree Tenure Factor in Agroforestry with Particular Reference to Africa. Agroforestry Systems 2: 229–251.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Franquemont, C. R. (1988). Chinchero Plant Categories: an Andean Logic of Observation. Cornell University.

  • Gade, D. (1967). Plant Use and Folk Agriculture in the Vilcanota Valley of Peru: a Cultural-Historical Geography of Plant Resources. University of Wisconsin.

  • Gelles, P. (1999). Water and Power in Highland Peru. Rutgers University Press, New Brunswick.

    Google Scholar 

  • Godoy, R. A. (1984). Ecological Degradation and Agricultural Intensification in the Andean Highlands. Human Ecology 12: 359–383.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gross, D. R. (1984). Time allocation: a tool for the study of cultural behavior. Annual Review of Anthropology 13: 519–558.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Guillet, D. W. (1981). Land Tenure, Agricultural Regime, and Ecological Zone in the Central Andes. American Ethnologist 8: 139–158.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Haenn, N. (2005). Fields of Power, Forests of Discontent: Culture, Conservation, and the State in Mexico. University of Arizona Press, Tucson.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harris, O. (1985). Ecological duality and the role of the center: Northern Potosí. In Masuda, S., Shimada, I., and Morris, C. (eds.), Andean Ecology and Civilization: an Interdisciplinary Perspective on Andean Ecological Complementarity. University of Tokyo Press, Tokyo, pp. 311–336.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hastorf, C. A., Whitehead, W. T., and Johannessen, S. (2005). Late Prehistoric Wood use in an Andean Valley. Economic Botany 59: 337–355.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Holdridge, L. R. (1967). Life Zone Ecology. Tropical Science Center, San Jose. Costa Rica.

    Google Scholar 

  • INRENA. (1998). Plan Maestro del Manejo del Sanctuario Histórico de Machu Picchu. INRENA, INC.

  • International Energy Agency (2002). World Energy Outlook 2002. OECD, Paris.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Isbell, B. J. (1977). To Defend Ourselves: Ecology and Ritual in an Andean Village. University of Texas at Austin, Austin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jameson, J. S., and Ramsay, P. M. (2007). Changes in High-Altitude Polylepis Forest Cover and Quality in the Cordillera de Vilcanota, Perú, 1956–2005. Biological Conservation 138: 38–46.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Johannessen, S., and Hastorf, C. A. (1990). A History of Fuel Management (A.D. 500 to the Present) in the Mantaro Valley, Peru. Journal of Ethnobiology 10: 61–90.

    Google Scholar 

  • Johnson, A. (1975). Time allocation in a Machiguenga Community. Ethnology 14: 310–321.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jokisch, B. D., and Lair, B. M. (2003). One Last Stand? Forests and Change on Ecuador’s Eastern Cordillera. Geographical Review 92: 235–256.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kintz, D. B., Young, K. R., and Crews-Meyer, K. A. (2006). Implications of Land Use/Land Cover Change in the Buffer Zone of a National Park in the Tropical Andes. Environmental Management 38: 238–252.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Larme, A. (1993). Work, Reproduction and Health in two Andean Communities (Department of Puno, Peru). Production, Storage, and Exchange (PSE) in a Terraced Environment on the Eastern Andean Escarpment. Retrieved from <http://www.anthro.ucdavis.edu/winterweb/html/research/andean/larmeWRH/title.htm>.

  • Leatherman, T. L. (1996). A biocultural Perspective on Health and Household Economy in Southern Peru. Medical Anthropology Quarterly 10: 476–495.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mathews, A. S. (2008). State Making, Knowledge, and Ignorance: Translation and Concealment in Mexican Forestry Institutions. American Anthropologist 110: 484–494.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Maxwell, K. (2011). Hearth and Household Economy in an Andean Rural Village. Human Organization 70: Forthcoming.

  • Mayer, E. (2002). The Articulated Peasant: Household Economies in the Andes. Westview Press, Boulder.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mitchell, W. (1991). Peasants on the Edge: Crop, Culture, and Crisis in the Andes. University of Texas Press, Austin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Murra, J. V. (2002 (1972)). El ‘control vertical’ de un máximo de pisos ecológicos en la economía de las sociedades andinas. In El Mundo Andino: Población, Medio Ambiente y Economía. Instituto de Estudios Peruanos, Lima, pp. 85–126.

  • Orlove, B. S. (1977). Integration Through Production: the Use of Zonation in Espinar. American Ethnologist 4: 84–101.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Orlove, B. S., and Godoy, R. (1986). Sectoral Fallow Systems in the Central Andes. Journal of Ethnobiology 6: 169–204.

    Google Scholar 

  • Paulson, S. (2003). Gendered Practices and Landscapes in the Andes: the Shape of Asymmetrical Exchanges. Human Organization 62: 242–254.

    Google Scholar 

  • Platt, T. (1982). The role of the Andean ayllu in the reproduction of petty commodity regime in Northern Potosí (Bolivia). In Lehmann, D. (ed.), Ecology and Exchange in the Andes. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 27–69.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Postigo, J., Young, K. R., and Crews, K. (2008). Change and Continuity in a Pastoralist Community in the High Peruvian Andes. Human Ecology 36: 535–551.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schmida, A. (1984). Whittaker’s Plant Diversity Sampling Method. Israel Journal of Botany 33: 41–46.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sherbondy, J. (1986). Mallki: Ancestros y Cultivo de Arboles en los Andes. Documento de Trabajo #5, Proyecto FAO/ Holanda/INFOR.

  • Skar, S. L., N. Samanex, and S. Cotarma. (1982). Fuel Availability, Nutrition and Women’s Work in Highland Peru. ILO. Retrieved from < http://www.odi.org.uk/fecc/resources/greyliterature/fuelwood/skar/index.html>.

  • Stern, M. J. (1995). An inter-Andean Forest Relict - Vegetation Change on Pasochoa Volcano, Ecuador. Mountain Research and Development 15: 339–348.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stohlgren, T. J., Falkner, M. B., and Schell, L. D. (1995). A Modified-Whittaker Nested Vegetation Sampling Method. Plant Ecology 117: 113–121.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tosi, J. A. (1960). Zonas de Vida Natural en el Perú. Instituto Interamericano de Ciencias Agricolas de la OEA, Peru.

    Google Scholar 

  • Valencia, N. (1992). Western slope cloud forests. In Young, K. R., and Valencia, N. (eds.), Biogeografía, Ecología y Conservación del Bosque Montano en el Perú. UNMSM, Lima, pp. 155–170.

    Google Scholar 

  • Van Buren, M. (1996). Rethinking the Vertical Archipelago. American Anthropology 98: 338–351.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Webster, S. (1971). An Indigenous Quechua Community in Exploitation of Multiple Ecological Zones. Revista del Museo Nacional 37: 174–183.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weismantel, M. J. (1988). Food, Gender, and Poverty in the Ecuadorian Andes. Waveland Press, Prospect Heights.

    Google Scholar 

  • West, T. L. (1987). The burning bush: exploitation of native shrubs for fuel in Bolivia. In Browman, D. L. (ed.), Arid Land Use Strategies and Risk Management in the Andes. Westview Press, Boulder, pp. 151–167.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wiegers, E. S., Hijmans, R. J., Herve, D., and Fresco, L. O. (1999). Land use intensification and disintensification in the Upper Cañete Valley, Peru. Human Ecology 27: 319–339.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Winterhalder, B., Larsen, R., and Thomas, R. B. (1974). Dung as an Essential Resource in a Highland Community. Human Ecology 2: 89–104.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wisner, B. (1989). Power and Need in Africa. Africa World Press, Trenton.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wisner, B., Gilgen, H., Antille, N., Sulzer, P., and Steiner, D. (1987). A matrix-flow approach to rural domestic energy: a Kenyan case study. In Cocklin, C., Smit, B., and Johnston, T. (eds.), Demands on Rural Lands: Planning for Resource Use. Westview Press, Boulder, pp. 211–238.

    Google Scholar 

  • Young, K. R. (1993). Tropical Timberlines—Changes in Forest Structure and Regeneration Between two Peruvian Timberline Margins. Arctic and Alpine Research 25: 167–174.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Young, K. R. (2009). Andean Land use and Biodiversity: Humanized Landscapes in a Time of Change. Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden 96: 492–507.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Young, K. R., and Keating, P. L. (2001). Remnant forests of Volcan Cotacachi, Northern Ecuador. Arctic Antarctic and Alpine Research 33: 165–172.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zimmerer, K. S. (1996). Changing Fortunes: Biodiversity and Peasant Livelihood in the Peruvian Andes. University of California Press, Berkeley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zimmerer, K. S. (1999). Overlapping Patchworks of Mountain Agriculture in Peru and Bolivia: Toward a Regional-Global Landscape Model. Human Ecology 27: 135–165.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zimmerer, K. S. (2010). Woodlands and Agrobiodiversity in Irrigation Landscapes Amidst Global Change: Bolivia, 1990–2002. The Professional Geographer 62: 335–356.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

Research for this article was funded by the National Science Foundation, Yale Center for International and Area Studies, Program in Agrarian Studies, and Tropical Resources Institute. I would like to thank the many institutions in Peru that supported my fieldwork, in particular the Machu Picchu Program, Natural Resources Institute, National Cultural Institute, and Machu Picchu Management Authority. I am particularly indebted to the Rayanpateños with whom I worked, especially the families who participated in household studies. I am extremely grateful for the helpful comments and suggestions given by Michael Billig, Enrique Mayer, and three anonymous reviewers on previous drafts of this article. Franklin and Marshall students Karina Bongaarts and Jessica Schwartz spent many hours organizing data. Mike Rahnis aided with figure-making and general support. I hope that I have accurately represented fuel practices in Rayanpata; any errors are mine.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Franklin and Marshall College, Lancaster, PA, 17604–3003, USA

    Keely Maxwell

Authors
  1. Keely Maxwell
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Keely Maxwell.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Maxwell, K. Beyond Verticality: Fuelscape Politics and Practices in the Andes. Hum Ecol 39, 465–478 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10745-011-9393-z

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10745-011-9393-z

Keywords

Search

Navigation