A FRAMEWORK FOR UNDERSTANDING LOCAL LIVELIHOODS
de evaluaciones de los impactos y las consecuencias de políticas e iniciativas de desarrollo para el turismo basado en formas de vida local. Introduction This chapter focused on an understudied aspect of tourism and sustainability; how alternative forms of tourism fit with local livelihoods in rural regions. The following section introduces these concepts by sharing the story of Martin, a lifetime resident of the Aysén region of Chile, whose livelihood has been substantially affected by alternative forms of tourism. Martin has a glacier in his backyard - literally. His land backs up to one of the glaciers that form the Northern Patagonian Icefield. Martin’s dad got the land originally from the government, around 1935. One of the bosses at the cattle company told him about it – “far into one of the valleys and up against the ice but, if he could clear it and fill out the papers, he could own it, free and clear.” Now the ranch belongs to Martin. It is about 350 hectares and home to deciduous hardwood forests, marshes, high alpine valleys, rivers and lakes. It is bordered by the moraine and glaciers of the Northern Patagonian Icefields. When Martin was growing up, he was not allowed to go out on the ice. Often, he would walk up to the edge and peer across and wonder, but he knew that the glacier was to be feared. People had gone out on that ice and just “disappeared”, so Martin stopped at the edge. Growing up in the 1970s and 1980s in southern Chile, there was no such thing as a highway. News arrived weeks or months after it happened. There were no cities. There was no refrigerator. There was no electricity. Hot water meant a kettle and a wood stove and time and patience. Life centered on the land and the weather; it was a constant cycle of moving the cattle and sheep from the lower to the upper fields and back again, following the seasons. Twice a year, once he was old enough, Martin and the other men of the valley would move their herds across the mountains to the regional hub of Coyhaique, a town of 8,000 people, where the livestock and wool were bought and sold. Supplies could be found in Coyhaique, and there was a high school here. But, for Martin, school stopped after the primary grades. It was too far to travel and he was needed to help at home. Martin’s studies centered on learning all there was about raising livestock, the lay of his land, local traditions, ranch management, and the ever-changing patterns of weather. In 1979, Martin heard that much of the land that was around his farm had become a national reserve. This didn’t really mean much to him; the land had always been owned by the government. Most of it was way back up the valleys and the cattle could still graze on the land. In fact, nothing really changed. In the 1980s, the military dictator, Augusto Pinochet, connected Patagonian Chile with the rest of the world, via the Southern Highway. He wanted to “modernize” Chile. He said roads were the start. After the highway was built, the estancias could move their cattle to Coyhaique with trucks. Sometimes, Martin would ride
251