1. project
  2. 2020-2021

The Pewen Project

Context |

The Pewen, also known as Araucaria Araucana, is a tree descendant from Jurassic times. Under the right conditions in biodiversity hotspots these trees can grow up to 50 meters high and become approximately 1.500 years old.
In the non-human centered Indigenous culture of Pewenche people (People of the Pewen) the trees are sacred. They are the central axe of their spirituality and their main source of nutrition comes through the sustainable use of its chestnuts, the piñon.
However, from the early 19th century onwards the implementation of the Chilean State on Pewenche territory, has led to an indiscriminate exploitation of the Pewen. Together with climate change effects such as draughts, wildfires and environmental degradation, the Pewen has become an endangered species, now listed on the IUCN Red List. Pewenche people have defended the Pewen and its necessary biodiversity hotspots in different instances, from the beginning.

First results |

During the beginning of 2020, this project made its first important steps:
Establishing relationships with a variety of local, regional and national stakeholders;
Aligning the program with grassroots priorities of Pewenche communities, identifying potential pathways for on-the-ground conservation action;
Generating a vision about the role of arts in biocultural conservation;
And, identifying key opportunities, challenges and necessities for focused capacity building and fundraising.

Support |

The project is endorsed by the Kütralkura UNESCO Global Geopark and Embassy of the Earth. We are receiving support from the WWF-INNO fund.

The development of the research and bio-cultural conservation project ‘The Pewen Project; Ancestral Pewenche practices and land management for conservation of the Araucaria Araucana' has taken its first steps.
'The Pewen Project' aims to conserve the Pewen and its biodiversity hotspots through a process of cultural recognition and recuperation; a biocultural conservation project. It consists of socio-environmental research, artistic expression and on-the-ground conservation. The project was born out of several encounters between key Mapuche researches, Pewenche community leaders, artists and socio-environmental researcher Darko Lagunas, during the Valley of the Possible residency in 2019.
The project departs from the ancestral Pewenche cultural ways of life, knowledge, values and cultural practices. It seeks a progressive approach to conservation that recognizes and honors the intrinsic relationships between nature (the Pewen) and humanity (the Pewenche).
From the Valley of the Possible side, the project is coordinated by Dutch-Chilean environmental sociologist Darko Lagunas. Considering the many socio-cultural dimensions and historical colonial relationships that western society has set towards Indigenous communities, the project is in a continuous process of alignment with priorities from Pewenche communities.

STATUS
Due to the COVID-19 measures and the vulnerability of the Indigenous communities this project has been put on hold until further notice.