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Publications (94)
In Canaima National Park (CNP), Venezuela, a protected area inhabited by the Pemón people, socio-cultural and demographic
changes have contributed to the apparent unsustainable use of fire, leading to forest and habitat loss. This over-use of fire,
together with increased forest vulnerability to fire as a result of global climate change, could put...
Although there is convincing scientific research for the role of Indigenous fire practices in sustainable land management, Indigenous peoples’ involvement in policy-making is limited. This paper presents findings from a fire management workshop where experiences and perspectives were shared among 60 academic, government, and Indigenous representati...
The purpose of the RIOCCADAPT report is to assess the climate change adaptation actions being carried out in the member countries of the Red Iberoamericana de Oficinas de Cambio Climático (Ibero-American Network of Climate Change Offices or RIOCC), i.e., Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking countries in the Americas, the Caribbean, and the Iberian Peni...
This chapter presents and analyzes comparatively for the first time data on the number, extent, severity and causes of wildfires affecting all countries in the RIOCC (Iberoamerican Network of Climate Change Offices, www.riocc.es) region, as well as on exposure and vulnerability of societies and ecosystems to these events, and the environmental and...
Fire plays an increasingly significant role in tropical forest and savanna ecosystems, contributing to greenhouse gas emissions and impacting on biodiversity. Emerging research shows the potential role of Indigenous land-use practices for controlling deforestation and reducing CO 2 emissions. Analysis of satellite imagery suggests that Indigenous l...
Altered fire regimes are a global challenge, increasingly exacerbated by climate change, which modifies fire weather and prolongs fire seasons. These changing conditions heighten the vulnerability of ecosystems and human populations to the impacts of wildfires on the environment, society, and the economy. The rapid pace of these changes exposes sig...
Deforestation (the complete removal of an area’s forest cover) and forest degradation (the significant loss of forest structure, functions, and processes) are the result of the interaction between various direct drivers, often operating together. By 2018, the Amazon forest had lost approximately 870,000 km² of its original cover, mainly due to expa...
The doctoral thesis explores the impact of different burning regimes on the soil and vegetation characteristics of natural savannas in the Biological Station of Los Llanos, Venezuela. The station hosts various types of savannas, dominated either by Hyparrhenia rufa (an African grass that invaded the station several years ago) or by native grass spe...
Land-based mitigation technologies and practices (LMTs) reduce GHG emissions associated with land use and/or enhance terrestrial GHG sinks. This article investigates capacity gaps to successfully facilitate LMT adoption and/or scaling in the regions of Latin America, Europe, North America, sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia. We look at LMTs such...
Land-based mitigation technologies and practices (LMTs) are critical for achieving the Paris Agreement’s aim of avoiding dangerous climate change by limiting the rise in average global surface temperatures. We developed a detailed two-level classification and analysis of barriers to the adoption and scaling up of LMTs. The review suggests that affo...
Indigenous cultural fire practitioners proactively revitalise their stewardship/custodianship of their traditional territories to generate diverse social, cultural, economic, self-determination, and ecological benefits. Government, researchers, and natural resource managers can overcome ongoing colonial legacies by enabling Indigenous leadership, p...
The Lagunas de Montebello National Park, Chiapas, Mexico, is one of the most important protected areas in terms of ecology and the provision of ecosystem services in the state of Chiapas; however, it lacks long-term climate information to support comprehensive plans for the conservation of endangered species and ecosystem restoration actions. The o...
En México el 71% de los territorios indígenas son regiones bioculturales. Se
trata de zonas con altos niveles de biodiversidad asociados a la diversidad
etnocultural, donde la gente busca una forma de vida que esté en armonía
con sus valores. Las prácticas culturales están afianzadas en la agricultura
e incorporan el fuego, como se observa en toda...
In Mexico, 71% of indigenous territories are biocultural regions. These are areas with high levels of biodiversity associated with ethnocultural diversity, where people seek a way of living that is in harmony with their values.
This article reports on the cultural management of fire by indigenous Antelá and Tziscao communities in and around Lagunas...
Climate change and governance conditions have made wildfires a critical issue that transcends academic and technical issues and enters socio-political arenas. In Latin America, indigenous peoples, peasant communities, peri-urban populations, firefighters, biodiversity and ecosystems are all vulnerable and threatened. This article describes the adva...
In 2020, intense wildfires affected 487,000 ha in the Paraná Delta. The government responded by reinforcing fire suppression and control policies and tightening regulations that criminalized the use of fire. This negatively affected local communities and small livestock producers, who depend on the use of fire for their subsistence activities. This...
This review summarizes findings from 25 articles published together in Tropical Forest Issues 61 (Pasiecznik and Goldammer 2022), including contributions from 100 co-authors. Following a call for abstracts reviewed by a seven-strong panel of experts, case studies were selected from 16 countries in tropical America, Asia and Africa, along with artic...
Communities in Chiapas are pioneers in fire management; for example, land users have to request burning permits from village organizations, following customary environmental management practices. This article reports on the cultural management of fire by indigenous Antelá and Tziscao communities in and around Lagunas de Montebello National Park, Ch...
This Report provides a comprehensive, objective, open, transparent, systematic, and rigorous scientific assessment of the state of the Amazon’s ecosystems, current trends, and their implications for the long-term well-being of the region, as well as opportunities and policy relevant options for conservation and sustainable development.
This Report provides a comprehensive, objective, open, transparent, systematic, and rigorous scientific assessment of the state of the Amazon’s ecosystems, current trends, and their implications for the long-term well-being of the region, as well as opportunities and policy relevant options for conservation and sustainable development.
Historical information on wildfires and dendrochronological studies offer meaningful clues about fire and climate regimes, factors that affect forest structure and dynamics. This study aimed to determine the effect of fire history on vegetation dynamics and successional pathways of areas under different fire management policies in the Lagunas de Mo...
Science Panel for the Amazon, Chapter 23. In: Amazon Assessment Report 2021
Historical information on wildfires and dendrochronological studies offer meaningful clues about fire and climate regimes, factors that affect forest structure and dynamics. This study aimed to determine the effect of fire history on vegetation dynamics and successional pathways of areas under different fire management policies in the Lagunas de Mo...
Deforestation, the complete removal of an area’s forest cover; and forest degradation, the significant loss of forest structure, functions, and processes; are the result of the interaction between various direct drivers, often operating in tandem. By 2018, the Amazon biome had lost approximately 870,000 km2 of its original forest cover, mainly due...
This chapter discusses the main drivers of deforestation and forest degradation in the Amazon, particularly agricultural expansion, road construction, mining, oil and gas development, forest fires, edge effects, logging, and hunting. It also examines these activities’ impacts and synergies between them.
Timely spatially explicit warning of areas with high fire occurrence probability is an important component of strategic plans to prevent and monitor fires within South American (SA) Protected Areas (PAs). In this study, we present a five-level alert system, which combines both climatological and anthropogenic factors, the two main drivers of fires...
The presence of a savanna-forest vegetation mosaic in the Gran Sabana, Canaima National Park (CNP), has been more than an academic controversy since the 1980s through to the 2010s in Venezuela. Scientists, Park administrators and officials from institutions devoted to protect the Caroní river basin within the limits of the Park, argued that the pre...
Os incêndios florestais e queimadas na América do Sul atingiram máximos de ocorrências entre fevereiro e junho, e também entre agosto e outubro de 2020, com esses oito meses sendo os valores mais altos já registrados desde 2011. Durante março, abril e maio de 2020, respectivamente, os focos de queimadas foram 21%, 49% e 10% maiores do que os picos...
This report identifies priority areas with a high probability of fire threat, in order to support decision making and planning strategies to mitigate the risk and impact of fires. The focus is on South American protected areas, Brazilian settlements and rural private properties in the Brazilian Amazon. These areas have an institutional structure or...
Este informe identifica las áreas prioritarias que presentan una alta probabilidad de amenaza de incendio, con el fin de apoyar la toma de decisiones y la planificación de estrategias para mitigar el riesgo y el impacto de los incendios. La atención se ha centrado en las zonas protegidas de América del Sur, los asentamientos brasileños y las propie...
El fuego es inherente a buena parte de los ecosistemas
terrestres, y sus impactos pueden ser positivos o negativos,
dependiendo de la acción humana. El fuego está asocia
do al uso del paisaje y sus sistemas productivos. Ciertos
ecosistemas precisan del fuego para su estabilidad (p. ej.,
sabanas, encinares o pinares de ciertas áreas de los paíse...
ABSTRACT – Canaima National Park (30.000 km2, CNP), inhabited by Pemón indigenous peoples, is considered an important protected area due to its biological and cultural uniqueness. High levels of fire incidence, along forest fire vulnerability represent a threat to both ecosystems and human wellbeing. The purpose of this research was to estimate spa...
Español/ Português
El Informe RIOCCADAPT, Adaptación frente a los riegos del cambio climático en los países de la Red Iberoamericana de Oficinas de Cambio Climático (RIOCC), conformada por los países de lengua española y portuguesa de América, islas del Caribe y la Península Ibérica, es una iniciativa pionera financiada por el Programa ARAUCLIMA d...
Spanish/ English
El Informe RIOCCADAPT, Adaptación frente a los riegos del cambio climático en los países iberoamericanos, financiado por el Programa ARAUCLIMA de la Cooperación Española, es una iniciativa pionera conformada por científicos de alto nivel, gestores y otros expertos para brindar información exhaustiva desde todas las áreas del conoc...
El Informe RIOCCADAPT tiene por objetivo evaluar las actuaciones
sobre adaptación al cambio climático que se están llevando a cabo en los países de la Red Iberoamericana de Oficinas de Cambio Climático (RIOCC), esto es, los países de lengua española y portuguesa de América, islas del Caribe y la Península Ibérica. El análisis de la adaptación se ha...
This Policy Brief results from a workshop held at Royal Holloway University of London and funded by PAGES, the Quaternary Research Association (QRA), and Chrono-environnement CNRS/Université de Franche-Comté. The workshop gathered 30 international participants from 15 countries to discuss ongoing challenges on biodiversity conservation and fire pol...
The Participatory and Intercultural Fire Management Network meeting in Scientific Station Parupa, CVG (Venezuelan Corporation of Guayana), Gran Sabana, Canaima National Park, Venezuela, was the first meeting of a project funded by the British Academy (UK research organisation) with the objective to:
“develop a ‘case’ for integrating Indigenous fir...
Wildfires continue to cause damage to property, livelihoods and environments around the world. Acknowledging that dealing with wildfires has to go beyond fire-fighting, governments in countries with fire-prone ecosystems have begun to recognize the multiple perspectives of landscape burning and the need to engage with local communities and their pr...
En la cuenca de La Mariposa se observan los relictos mejor conservados de bosques montanos originales del valle de Caracas. En la actualidad estos sistemas están inmersos en un complejo mosaico de urbanismos, áreas de cultivo y vegetación pirófila con diferentes grados de perturbación, que ponen en riesgo el patrimonio natural de estas áreas. A pes...
The objective of this briefing paper is to highlight the values, potential and needs as well as concerns and threats to the livelihoods of indigenous peoples 1 and local communities and their contributions to addressing the impacts of climate change and to reaching the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), in particular SDG targets 2.4, 13.1 and 15...
This chapter summarises pioneer experiences facilitating the integration of scientific knowledge, Institutional capabilities and traditional Indigenous knowledge and practices of Pemón people in Gran Sabana, Canaima National Park, Venezuela, for the development of an intercultural and participatory fire management policy beneficing restoration of f...
Este artículo examina el papel central que juega la revitalización cultural, sentando las bases para un diálogo de saberes simétrico respecto a temas ambientales contenciosos. Para ello, se discuten varias experiencias de investigación participativa llevadas a cabo en el Parque Nacional Canaima, Venezuela, entre 1999 y el presente, para facilitar e...
Fire is considered a major threat to forest conservation in the Neotropics. Palaeoecological studies are critical for understanding the long-term interactions of climate, fire, and human activities in the savanna–forest dynamic. Here, new data from palynological analyses conducted in sedimentary records from the northern edge of the Amazon Basin, t...
The lowland savannas (Llanos) of Colombia and Venezuela are covered by extensive aeolian landforms for which little chronological information exists. We present the first optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) age constraints for dunes in the Llanos Orientales of lowland Colombia and new ages for dunes in the Venezuelan Llanos. The sampled dunes a...
To test the hypothesis that the availability of soil inorganic nitrogen controls the nitrogen fixation per D. macrostachya plant, in this work the variation of biological nitrogen fixing by D. macrostachya was measured along the distance from the forest-savanna boundary to the forest inside, in a gradient of soil inorganic nitrogen, at two riverine...
The concept of reflexive governance has to a large extent emerged from an
increasing recognition of the need to consider different meanings of nature in the environmental
policy-making process. Yet, so far, little attention has been paid to creating conditions
for reflexive governance among different actors in intercultural settings,
particularly i...
Savannas constitute the most fire-prone vegetation type on earth and are a significant source of greenhouse gas emissions. Most savanna fires are lit by people for a variety of livelihood applications. ‘Savanna burning’ is an accountable activity under the Kyoto Protocol, but only Australia, as a developed economy, accounts for emissions from this...
El manejo del fuego ha sido uno de los retos más importantes en la gestión del Parque Nacional Canaima (PNC), debido a la alta incidencia de incendios, y a las dificultades en integrar los aspectos ecológicos, culturales como institucionales, generalmente en conflicto, así como diversos actores, con opiniones encontradas sobre las estrategias a seg...
MANUAL PARA USO DIDACTICO QUE INDICA PASOS Y ESPECIES RESTAURANDO LOS BOSQUES RIBEREÑOS DEL ALTO RIO APONWAO
The main results of a study of pollen representation in surface soils from different plant communities in the upland sa-vannas of Guayana were presented. The representation of savanna herb pollen mainly belonging to the Poaceae and Cy-peraceae was high in open communities such as fernlands, grasslands and Mauritia palm swamps, but decreased as vege...
Re-significando el fuego: gobernabilidad reflexiva y transformación de conflictos en territorios indígenas culturalmente frágiles A pesar de que hoy día existe una mayor aceptación del uso del fuego en ecosistemas de bosques y sabanas por parte de pueblos indígena que la que había hace dos décadas, esta sigue siendo una práctica local altamente con...
Despite the fact that there is much more acceptance today to the use of fire by indigenous people in forests and savannas ecosystems than there was two decades ago, it still remains a highly controversial and questioned local practice, to the point that reducing green house emissions from tropical forest and savanna fires is top in the Global Chang...
La predominancia de un mosaico de los biomas sabana y bosque en los espacios del sector oriental del Parque Nacional Canaima – PNC en Venezuela, conocido como La Gran Sabana ha sido reportada por numerosos autores. Ellos coinciden en que el fuego ha constituido el factor determinante en la regulación de la superficie de estos dos biomas. Además, la...
The National Park of Canaima is located in south-east Venezuela and forms part of the ancient geological Guyana-shield formation. It is currently the most habituated natural park in Venezuela, as more than three quarters of the population of the indigenous Pemón live inside the borders of the national park. As the traditional inhabitants and main b...
Las sabanas constituyen uno de los ecosistemas tropicales con menores contenidos de carbono orgánico en los suelos (COS). La baja productividad de biomasa compuesta por gramíneas y ciperáceas, y la alta frecuencia de fuegos que remueven la cobertura de plantas por combustión, son considerados los principales factores que determinan la baja acumulac...
La agricultura itinerante del pueblo indígena Pemón basada en la tala y quema desarrollada en áreas de bosques (conucos), está siendo amenazada por la mayor demanda de recursos naturales asociados a los cambios socio-culturales de su población. Debido a la alta pobreza de los suelos en la zona, los ecosistemas podrían ser vulnerables a estos cambio...
During the last decade, progress in the understanding of terrestrial
nitrogen cycle stress the challenge of rethinking our conceptual model
of global nitrogen cycle in a changing world. Our current N cycle
paradigms postulate: 1) inorganic soil N as the main source of plant N,
since the plant ability to take up organic N is uncommon in nature, 2)
a...
Descriptions and photomicrographs of pollen grains from 245 angiosperm species commonly found in contemporary plant communities of the upland savannas of Guayana, Venezuela are presented. Most of the species are frequent in woody communities as shrublands, evergreen montane and gallery forest of the premontane altitudinal belt (400–1800 m above sea...
Se presenta el análisis palinológico de un registro sedimentario de los Llanos de Venezuela,
que resume la historia de la vegetación y el fuego durante los últimos 2220 cal. años
AP (años calibrados antes del presente). Entre los 2220-1100 cal. años AP se evidencia el desarrollo
de un morichal abierto bajo condiciones de humedad similares a las act...
La Gran Sabana, Parque Nacional Canaima, Venezuela, presenta un mosaico de vegetación conformado por sabanas y bosques tropicales siempreverdes. La existencia de grandes extensiones de sabana bajo un clima tropical lluvioso, ha sido asociado históricamente a un proceso regional de sabanización promovido por la alta incidencia de incendios y la gran...
A palynological analysis of an organic paleosol found at 150-125 cm depth in a Mauritia swamp from the Eastern Orinoco Llanos is presented. The 25 cm pollen record summarizes the vegetation history during the Early Holocene, from 10,225 to 7,800 calendar yr BP. The vegetation was characterized by a Poaceae marsh, where Asteraceae, Melastomataceae,...
In his comment in this issue “On the use of paleoecologicalevidence to assess the roleofhumans intheoriginoftheGranSabana (Venezuela),” Valenti Rull ( 2009) suggests that recentstudies that have attempted to determine Pemon perspectiveson the use of fire and clarify the causes of a long-standingdisagreement on the use of fire in this area, have poo...
Background/Question/Methods
In Gran Sabana the high incidence of fires has been considered the main factor causing forest loss. However, this hypothesis is supported by few empirical data. Furthermore, only two paleoecological studies considering the role of fire on late Holocene vegetation have been conducted in such a large area (18.000 Km2); bo...
Background/Question/Methods
In Canaima National Park (CNP), a protected area inhabited by Pemn Amerindians, social, demographic and cultural changes, have led to an unsustainable practice of fire use, resulting in forest reduction and habitat loss. Fire, mostly originated in savannas, is considered a threat because of its impacts upon ecosystems, t...
The frequent occurrence of fires in Canaima National Park, Venezuelan Guayana, is of great concern in the region. Fire, mostly
originating on savannas, is considered a threat because of its impacts upon ecosystems, triggering a process of forest substitution
by treeless savannas. In addition, the fires affect the well-being of Pemón indigenous comm...
El desarrollo de herramientas para la gestión ambiental en la perspectiva de alcanzar el desarrollo sostenible de un sistema socio-ecológico complejo implica examinar los conflictos de intereses de los distintos actores sociales relacionados con el uso y gestión de los recursos naturales, así como la percepción social del riesgo y los regimenes de...
Fire is very common and has been considered a key factor in the process of substitution of forests for savannas and the expansion of these ecosystems in the Gran Sabana, Canaima National Park. The stabilization and increase of the native Amerindian population in towns and villages has intensified fire frequency and magnitude. Many of these fires ar...
En la Gran Sabana, Parque Nacional Canaima, Venezuela, existe una alta ocurrencia de incendios, la mayoría de los cuales se originan en áreas de sabana. Debido a que estas áreas son severamente afec-tadas, se planteó el objetivo de evaluar el efecto del fuego en la composición florística y abundancia de especies en estas áreas. Las sabanas de estud...
Mecanografiado Informe de Pasantía (Ing. Forestal).-- Universidad de Los Andes, Facultad de Ciencias Forestales y Ambientales, Escuela de Ingeniería Forestal, Mérida, 2001 Incluye bibliografía
This study was to evaluate the applicability of a colorimetric method in measuring the nitrogen (N) concentration in samples of vegetable origin. In order to do this, the same samples were analyzed with a colorimetric, and macro‐ and microKjeldahl methods. The colorimetric method has been used successfully in the determination of N in nutritional s...
African grasses, introduced into Neotropical savannas to improve forage quality, have spread successfully and displaced native
plants. To understand their competitive relationships, we compared biomass production and allocation, plant architecture and
phenology, net photosynthesis (Pn), water relations, and nutrient content under fire and simulated...
The main determinants of tropical savannas are plant available moisture (PAM) and plant available nutrients (PAN). Fire (F) and herbivory (H) are secondary determinants in a hierarchy of factors which produce the characteristics of any particular savanna (Solbrig 1991). While the biodiversity of a savanna area will be influenced by the biogeographi...
Analyses the species composition and soil physico-chemical properties of eleven Trachypogon-savanna sites in Venezuela, compares the nutrient content of legume and grasses, and evaluates the N2 -fixing capacity and the presence of mycorrhizal associations in selected legume species. Results are compared with experimental results dealing with the re...
Abstract. Frequency and density of introduced African grass species in disturbed neotropical ecosystems reveal their adaptability and competitive capacity compared to the native savanna grass species. A nutritional hypothesis has been advanced to explain the success of these species. Deforested areas provide periods of short duration of high nutrie...
The germination percentage of seeds of Panicum maximum cv. Likoni, Makueni, SIH-127, Australian, a local ecotype of P. maximum, Cenchrus ciliaris cv. Biloela, Chloris gayana cv. Callide and Sorghum bicolor, stored under ambient conditions, was measured at 2 month intervals for a year. All P. maximum cv. had different reactions to storage. SIH-127 a...
