Background The Indigenous Kichwa Saraguro people of southern Ecuador have long relied on traditional burning to manage their environment. However, their traditional use of fire in one of the most important ecosystems in southern Ecuador, the herbaceous paramo, is not well known. This lack of knowledge does not allow for the improvement of local regulations related to integrated fire management, which is a shortcoming compared to other regulations applied in South America. In this context, and to understand the impacts of the Indigenous use of fire, a climatic analysis of the area was carried out, generating a historical climograph (period: years 1981–2021) and four annual climographs that were contrasted with a remote sensing study of fire severity over 4 years (years 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021). In addition, traditional fire use was determined through the application of semi‑structured interview questionnaires applied to 61 women and 89 men, whose data were analyzed with the level of information fidelity (LIF), informant consensus factor (ICF), and principal component analysis (PCA). Therefore, in this study, we argue that it is important to incorporate the concepts of (i) wildfire severity and (ii) cultural burning in wildfire policies and regulations in southern Ecuador. Results The results indicate that low‑severity fires occur within the Saraguro territory and that fire use knowledge is transmitted to new generations incorporating both how and where to perform traditional burning. They also know when to burn using the burning calendar that is generally applied during the climatic phenomenon known as “Veranillo del Niño” (VdN). Conclusions These results can help decision‑makers design policies, regulations, and proposals for the correct use of fire as a tool for the management of ecosystems in southern Ecuador affected by wildfires. In addition, the results can be used to improve the National Strategy for Integrated Fire Management 2021–2025 promoted by the Ministry of Environment, Water and Ecological Transition of Ecuador.
Kichwa Saraguro, Traditional use of fire, Wildfires
Antecedentes El pueblo indígena de los Kichwa-Saraguro del sur de Ecuador ha confiado en las quemas tradicionales para manejar su ambiente. Sin embargo, su uso tradicional en uno de los ecosistemas más importantes en el sur de Ecuador, el páramo herbáceo, no es bien conocido. Esta falta de conocimiento no permite el mejoramiento de las regulaciones locales relacionadas con el manejo integrado del fuego, lo cual significa una anormalidad comparada con otras regulaciones aplicadas en América del Sur. En este contexto y para entender los impactos del uso indígena
del fuego, un análisis climático del área fue llevado a cabo, generando un climograma histórico (desde 1981 a 2021) y cuatro climogramas anuales que fueron contrastados con un estudio de severidad del fuego mediante sensores remotos por cuatro años (2018, 2019, 2020 y 2021). Adicionalmente, el uso tradicional del fuego fue determinado mediante la aplicación de cuestionarios semiestructurados a 61 mujeres y 89 hombres, y cuyos datos fueron analizados
mediante la fidelidad del nivel de información (LIF), el factor de consenso del informante (ICF) y un análisis de componentes principales (PCA). Por lo tanto, argüimos que es importante incorporar los conceptos de i) severidad de los incendios y ii) quemas culturales, en las políticas y regulaciones del manejo de fuego en el sur de Ecuador.
Resultados Los resultados indican que los fuegos de baja severidad ocurren dentro del territorio del Saguaro y que el conocimiento sobre el uso del fuego es transmitido a nuevas generaciones incorporando tanto el cómo y el cuándo hacer las quemas tradicionales. Ellos saben también cuándo quemar mediante el uso del calendario de quemas, que es generalmente aplicado durante el fenómeno climático conocido como Veranillo del Niño (VdN).
Conclusiones Estos Resultados pueden ayudar a los decisores a diseñar políticas, regulaciones, y propuesta para el uso del fuego como herramienta de manejo de los ecosistemas del sur de Ecuador afectados por incendios. Adicionalmente, los resultados pueden usarse para mejorar la Estrategia Nacional para el Manejo Integrado del Fuego 2021-2025 promovido por el Ministerio de Ambiente, Agua y Transición Ecológica de Ecuador.
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