Mountain Social-Ecological Futures Workshop. © Mountain Research Iniciative (MRI)
Boana seeks to create and strengthen links between the local community and the international community. In order to promote exchanges between scientific knowledge and participatory management of protected areas, Boana participates in events and working groups to identify innovative tools for results-based management.
Objectives of the Mountain Socio-Ecological Working Group
On June 21, 2024, Marie Anière Martinez participated as co-founder of Boana in an event on post-glacial ecosystem research organized by the Mountain Social-Ecological Futures working group. This event was held within the framework of the 3rd World Biodiversity Forum, whose central theme was moving from “Science to Action”.
The working group brings together researchers working on defining a global research agenda with local knowledge applicable to these emerging spaces. The working group is part of the MRI, the Mountain Research Initiative. The knowledge production allows the identification of emerging knowledge on monitoring systems for areas undergoing deglaciation. In addition, it takes an innovative approach to the renewal of deglaciation narratives.
In this framework, the working group invited 18 participants from 13 countries in Davos, Switzerland, to exchange land and water use experiences in deglaciation contexts, as well as scientific knowledge useful for decision making.
Futures Studies and mountain ecosystems
During the event, perspectives on futures studies and their potential application to the management of emerging spaces were exchanged. Futures studies are “the systematic study of possible, probable and preferred futures, including the worldviews and myths that underlie each future”.
Futures studies do not rely solely on the analysis and projection of current and observed trends. Researchers pay attention to fundamental trends (socioeconomic, political) and to fragile, fragmented and emerging signals. In addition, futures studies highlight the possibilities offered for each territory according to changes in trajectory. “Instead of reinforcing the spirit of despair and surrendering to the already known and pre-determined future, they encourage people and organizations towards a systematic and cooperative awareness and networking to achieve their ideals and realize their visions that indicate their desired future”.
The creation of scenarios and the identification of desirable futures for mountain communities is essential to avoid generating adaptation gaps and deepening inequalities between territories. In addition, the results of futures studies can provide useful knowledge for the visualization of local development trajectories.
New challenges for the characterization of the Outstanding Universal Value of the site
In El Chaltén, Boana identifies as a priority measure the implementation of a global assessment at the site scale to identify the main interactions with climatic and non-climatic vulnerabilities. This measure implies the synthesis of currently available local scientific knowledge as a prerequisite for the identification of current information gaps. In addition, we highlight the need for participatory identification of scientific research questions, in order to embed the adaptation process within local management issues.
Locally, the transition to post-glacial ecosystems implies (1) the change in the description of the Outstanding Universal Site Value (2) the emergence of new ecosystems and the need to monitor them, both in terms of risk management and analysis of new climatic shelters, (3) the creation of water governance mechanisms and the investment in participatory monitoring systems (4) and the need for legal reconceptualization of the new cycle of human-induced ice melt, in relation with protected areas categories, and mobilizing Source-to-Sea principles.
Encourage exchanges between science, public policy and the community.
The development of protected area management scenarios and development trajectories are also priorities for understanding the long-term impacts of decision making in the present. In order to conserve the ecosystems of Southern Patagonia, Boana will continue to develop cooperative research and identify assessment methodologies to understand the challenges and opportunities of protected area management. The exchange of experiences between mountain communities around the world allows us to find shared strategies and avoid deepening the adaptation gap between territories.
The MRI highlights that “the primary outcome of these efforts will be the formation of an informed community focused on mountain futures. This community will engage in a variety of activities, including synthesizing current knowledge about mountain futures, exchanging approaches and methods to address these challenges, and promoting initiatives to anticipate changes in mountains and enhance the adaptability of local communities.”
Boana is grateful to MRI for organizing the event and for the possibility of integrating El Chaltén's management challenges into a global research agenda on post-glacial ecosystems.
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