Perceptions of Rangeland Degradation in the Peruvian Altiplano Dry Puna and Implications

Perceptions of Rangeland Degradation in the Peruvian Altiplano Dry Puna and Implications

The Peruvian altiplano’s dry puna is the main feed source for specialized alpaca pastoralist systems. Experts argue that rangelands are severely degraded and have formulated policies and programs to address this. However, these programs have had little success. This paper presents a qualitative case study of the perceptions of rangeland degradation held in three Aymara communities, by range scientists of academia, personnel of NGOs operating in the region and by government officers. We found that each of these groups had distinct views of the level and causes of degradation in the region. Differences in perceptions undermined cooperation and trust between pastoralists and professional range management experts. Range scientists and government officials tended to judge rangelands based on species composition, pastoralists based theirs on productivity of key rangeland resources (peat bogs) and local NGO’s tended to have an intermediate position.