Decolonizing wildfire risk management: indigenous responses to fire criminalization policies and increasingly flammable forest landscapes in Lomerío, Bolivia

Rodriguez Fernandez, Iokine, Inturias, Mirna, Masay, Elmar and Peña, Anacleto (2023) Decolonizing wildfire risk management: indigenous responses to fire criminalization policies and increasingly flammable forest landscapes in Lomerío, Bolivia. Environmental Science & Policy. ISSN 1462-9011 (In Press)

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Abstract

Drawing on decolonial thought, this article provides a perspective on local indigenous knowledge and governance systems as a resource for informing wildfire risk policy approaches and collaborative environmental security. In 2019, the Indigenous Territory of Lomerío in Bolivia was heavily affected by wildfires, due to a combination of fires that penetrated the territory from outside and others that spread from inside. As result, the Bolivian Forest Management Agency (ABT) started threatening indigenous people with criminal action for using fire in their livelihood practices. In response, in 2020 and with the support of several institutions, the Union of Indigenous Communities of Lomerío (CICOL) initiated a series of activities to ensure local control of wildfire risk management in the territory. These include a written burning protocol, a fire monitoring programme, water basin and forest conservation policies, participatory research conducted by indigenous researchers about the use of fire in Lomerío and cultural revitalization strategies. The article presents the results of these different strategies and their contributions to creating awareness of appropriate regulations for wildfire risk management by national authorities from the perspective of the Monkoxɨ indigenous people.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	wildfire risk management,bolivia,decolonial thought,cognitive justice,indigenous people,sdg 16 - peace, justice and strong institutions,4* ,/dk/atira/pure/sustainabledevelopmentgoals/peace_justice_and_strong_institutions
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Social Sciences > School of International Development University of East Anglia Research Groups/Centres > Theme - ClimateUEA
Depositing User:	LivePure Connector
Date Deposited:	18 May 2023 15:32
Last Modified:	22 May 2023 01:58
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/92101
DOI:

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