“In Bolivia, vicuñas wild management regime is community-led”

Edith Mollo is a project coordinator at Vicuñas Villazón in the Regional Association of Managing Communities of Vicuña Villazón.

Humber Alberto is an expert from Greater Madidi-Tambopata Landscape Conservation Programme, Wildlife Conservation Society Bolivia (WCS-Bolivia), La Paz, Bolivia.

Vicuña is a wild camelid native to the Andes region and the smallest of all. It inhabits the Puna ecoregion, 3200 meters above sea level, characterized by a cold climate and low rainfall. Vicuña feeds on low grasses and needs to consume water daily, thus prefers to be near rivers and high-altitude wetlands. Once listed as an endangered species, efforts for its conservation and sustainable management have increased its numbers significantly.  

Edith Mollo and Humber Alberto, experts on vicuñas, share their perspectives on the sustainable management of this wild camelid in Bolivia.

How have vicuñas traditionally played a vital role in Andean communities, and what specific roles do they serve within these societies, especially in regions facing environmental and economic challenges?  

Edith: The vicuña has played an important role in Andean communities throughout different times, representing rituality, the link between Mother Earth and people, where both the animal and its fibre fabrics are considered sacred. During the Inca empire, vicuña fibre was used to dress the Inca and the nobility.  Its fibre is the finest in the world and has a high market value due to its softness, calorific value and comfort. During the Spanish colony, the trafficking of fiber and leather to the global market endangered the species. Hunting is currently prohibited in Bolivia and vicuña fibre from sustainable management generates additional income for peasant communities. In addition, its soft legs and light weight do not generate negative impacts on soils and highland ecosystems. 

What key challenges do you see in the conservation and sustainable management of vicuñas? 

Edith and Humber: One challenge is climate change that influences the movement of vicuña populations, which adapt and change territory due to habitat loss. Additionally, the migration of communities from rural areas to the city, makes it even more difficult for them to participate in the conservation and management of vicuñas. Other challenges include human activities such as poaching, mining, and urbanization. Finally, promoting fair trade, and improving the quality of vicuña fiber remains a challenge. 

How do indigenous communities in Bolivia incorporate traditional knowledge and practices into the conservation and management of vicuñas? 

Humber: The management of the vicuña has revalued and rescued traditions such as community work (everyone participates in the shearing) and sharing lunch together (community meal known as apthapi). In addition, the prevalence of scabies in vicuñas is less than 2%, and traditional medicine is being revalued for controlling diseases in vicuñas, including the use of traditional plants to treat scabies. 

 What initiatives or projects have you been involved in that focus on sustainable vicuña management practices and what were the results of these efforts? 

Edith: For almost 20 years I have supported the conservation, management and use of the vicuña at the national level, carrying out my work in NGOs, community organizations and in recent years in government institutions. For example, the Project “Management and use of the Vicuña in the Communities of Sausalito and Sarcarí, Municipality of Villazón” resulted in the consolidation of vicuña management communities and a significant increase in the vicuña population from 800 to 10,919 individuals between 2008 and 2018. The project also involved water harvesting, conservation, and management practices of native grasslands to preserve the habitat of these species. and, generated additional income for the beneficiary families. 

Humber: Since 2008, I’ve participated in projects to support the creation and organization of regional associations of vicuña management in the Andean region of Bolivia. I was also involved  in the  VALE project or Programme for the Valorization of the Peasant Economy to strengthen technical capacities for vicuña management at regional and national levels. Since 2019 as part of Wildlife Conservation Society Bolivia, I provide technical support to the Regional Association of the Apolobamba Protected Area. In 2023, this work scaled to all the regional vicuña management associations in Bolivia. 

Given your experience, what are the emerging trends or innovations in vicuña research and management that you find particularly promising or impactful? 

Edith: One innovation is implementing smart mobile fences to reduce labour when herding and capturing vicuñas. Another is mechanical shearing to improve the quality of the fibre. However, these innovations depend on the capacity of the operators, therefore, any innovation must include people and their commitment to improving sustainable vicuña management. 

Humber: Training women in the management and pre-dehairing of the fibre, has added value to the fiber, increasing the sale price. 

The reappraisal and use of traditional medicine (use of natural plants) for treating and preventing scabies in our camelids has been a great achievement for our communities. 

What are the roles that women typically face in the conservation and sustainable management of vicuña fiber? 

Edith and Humber: Vicuña management under the community system implements the concept of complementary roles of men and women to achieve the expected results. Tasks are distributed according to abilities and strengths. Women play a leading role, they oversee cleaning the fleece, ensuring the fibre’s quality, while men manage the selection, transport and shearing.  Everyone participates in the population census before shearing. 

How are decision-making processes structured within vicuña conservation and management and what measures are taken to ensure women’s participation in leadership and community decision-making roles? 

Edith: In Bolivia, the vicuña is managed by consensus between handlers and the State. Women’s participation in leadership and community decision-making roles is not guaranteed, despite some regulations considering equal participation. This is not seen as male representation is higher in practice.  

How do land tenure regimes affect the ability of indigenous communities to sustainably manage and benefit from vicuña fibre production, and are there efforts to address land tenure issues within these communities?

Edith: The distribution of vicuña populations is in communal areas where land tenure allows for community management and use. Some communities have land use plans that delimit the areas for the management and use of the vicuña, especially in the established Vicuña Management Communities. 

How do the sustainable practices of indigenous peoples of Andean communities with respect to vicuña fiber production align with broader global efforts towards ethical and environmentally friendly production methods?

Edith: The management and use of the vicuña implemented in Bolivia is a successful model of sustainable biodiversity integrated management. It is regulated  through the “National Program for the Conservation and Sustainable Use of the Vicuña” with communities playing leading role and benefiting from species in the wild. 

The State provides regulations to ensure that animal welfare standards are respected during herding, capture, and shearing activities, including   the shearing of live animals for vicuña fibre harvest.