Land Use and Livelihoods in the Bribri and Cabécar Indigenous Territories
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EDUCATION FOR DEVELOPMENT AND CONSERVATION PROGRAM GRADUATE SCHOOL READING THE TALAMANCA LANDSCAPE: Land use and Livelihoods in the Bribri and Cabécar Indigenous Territories Thesis submitted to the consideration of the Education for Development and Conservation Program of the Tropical Agriculture Research and Higher Education Center (CATIE) graduate school in partial fulfillment for the degree of: Magíster Scientiae in Tropical Agroecology By Matthew Philipp Whelan Turrialba, Costa Rica, November 2005 ¿Como hablar de nuestra historia mencionando solo al hombre, si en ella intervinieron también los elementos tales como el agua, el aire, las rocas, los bosques y los animales? How can we speak of our history only mentioning humans, when elements such as the water, the air, the rocks, the forests and the animals likewise intervened? —Remigio Rodriguez II DEDICATION To the Bribri and Cabécar of Talamanca who, despite catastrophes of history, welcomed me and offered the grace of trust—and to those who did not. I offer this to you and to those who work with you as a peace offering. IV ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This research was made possible with funding from the National Science Foundation (Grant 0114304) through the University of Idaho-CATIE Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship (IGERT) program, as well as by a Fellowship from the Organization of American States (OAS). I wish to express my deep gratitude: To friends and acquaintances—too numerous to mention by name—in the Bribri and Cabécar indigenous territories of Talamanca who trusted me with their stories; I hope that this project and what is done with it is worthy of that trust To Luis Alexis Morales, my field assistant, for carrying me on his shoulders and for offering the boots from his feet To Dietmar Stoian, my principal advisor, for his dedication to and interest in this project despite all that called his attention away from it (including a newborn son); to my committee of advisors: Eduardo Somarriba, Gabriela Soto, and Cornelius Prins for their participation and suggestions; and especially J.D. Wulfhorst, for his initiative, engagement, and insights. If I am someday a professor, I hope to be like him. To Eduardo Somarriba, Marilyn Villalobos, and CATIE’s ‘Carbon Sequestration and the Development of Environmental Markets Project’, for facilitating transportation and the use of the Home Creek office; and to Harold and Simi, whose occasional company made ‘the field experience’ considerably more enjoyable To the rest of the ‘Tala team’—Ruth Dahlquist, Leigh Winowiecki, Beth Polidoro, Chris Lorion, Jan Schipper, and Sandra Candela, for making me a member, and for sticking together even when integration posed its challenges To Celia Harvey and Carlos Borge for their kind collaboration and their willingness to meet and discuss this project To my parents and siblings for their love and support; and to Matt for being my brother and for reading parts of this, as he does all I send him, so carefully and intelligently; he is the best reader a writer could ask for And finally to John, whose willingness to talk through the implications of Bourdieu, Frei, and Jenkins on long bus rides and over the local brews, I’d like to believe, strengthened this project somewhat, even if it wasn’t ultimately possible to go in all the directions that might have been illuminating. At least the seeds are sown. May my mind prove to be fertile ground! V CONTENT Dedication........................................................................................................................IV Acknowledgements .......................................................................................................... V Content.............................................................................................................................VI Summary...................................................................................................................... VIII Resumen.......................................................................................................................... IX List of Tables ..................................................................................................................IX List of Figures................................................................................................................XII Acronyms......................................................................................................................XIV 1 INTRODUCTION........................................................................................................1 1.1 Problem Statement........................................................................................................1 1.2 Justification of the study...............................................................................................3 1.3 Objectives .....................................................................................................................4 1.3.1 General objective .......................................................................................................4 1.3.2 Specific objectives .....................................................................................................4 1.4 Guiding research questions...........................................................................................5 1.5 Hypothesis ....................................................................................................................5 1.6 Research area ................................................................................................................5 1.6.1 Historical context of land use ....................................................................................6 1.6.2 Biophysical conditions.............................................................................................12 1.6.3 Socioeconomic aspects ............................................................................................14 1.6.4 Current social and institutional context of land use.................................................15 2 CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK...........................................................................18 2.1 Livelihoods framework...............................................................................................18 2.2 Livelihoods, poverty, and the local environment .......................................................20 2.3 Sustainable rural livelihoods.......................................................................................21 2.4 Livelihoods in an indigenous territory........................................................................23 3 METHODOLOGY AND METHODS....................................................................25 3.1 Nature of the study......................................................................................................25 3.2 Methodology...............................................................................................................25 3.2.1 Sample design..........................................................................................................25 3.2.2 Research phases .......................................................................................................27 3.2.3 Analytical units of investigation: the household, the parcel....................................28 3.3 Methods ......................................................................................................................29 3.3.1 Immersion ................................................................................................................29 3.3.2 Semi-structured interviews with key informants and households ...........................29 3.3.3 Mapping and other participatory methods...............................................................30 3.3.4 Data analysis............................................................................................................30 VI 4 RESULTS..................................................................................................................32 4.1 Basic information on sample populations and communities ......................................32 4.2 Land use and management..........................................................................................35 4.2.1 San José Cabécar, High Cohen and Mojoncito, Orochico (Zone I) ........................36 4.2.2 Low Mojoncito, Sepeque I, Sepeque II (Zone II)....................................................39 4.2.3 Shiroles (Zone III) ...................................................................................................44 4.2.4 PIPs and land use change.........................................................................................48 4.3 Livelihoods .................................................................................................................50 4.3.1 Vulnerability context ...............................................................................................50 4.3.2 Livelihood assets......................................................................................................53 4.3.3 Livelihood activities ................................................................................................63 4.3.4 Livelihoods and power.............................................................................................68 5 DISCUSSION............................................................................................................69 5.1 ‘Insider’