Postwildfire Landscape Identity in Mediterranean Ecosystems: Three Study Cases from the Coastal Range of Central Chile

Abstract

Mediterranean ecosystems have been more frequently exposed to wildfires in recent decades. Those wildfires are caused by changes in land use and land cover that enable extensive forestry and farming. This qualitative research investigates a changing landscape identity related to a subjective perception after cyclical and seasonal wildfires (2012–2017). In this regard, we conducted twelve semistructured interviews among inhabitants from Quillón, Florida, and Yumbel (Mediterranean central Chile). The questions considered elements of the visual landscape, perception, identity, and management policies regarding landscape. Consequently, the core results of the research are the following: (1) Loss of traditional livelihood becomes more important than the damage of physical characteristics of a landscape (land cover, vegetation, and aesthetic features); (2) the relationship between the individual’s perception of the landscape and the identity of the landscape changed drastically, especially before and after 2017 where wildfires followed patterns that were predicted by inhabitants; and (3) the community’s expectations concerning reconstruction aid from the government were turned into frustration and feelings of helplessness. Considering this information, we suggest that a landscape identity is a holistic approach that helps us to understand the changes generated by fire disturbance in biophysical, social, and economic aspects.

近几十年来，地中海生态系统更频繁地暴露在野火中。土地利用和土地覆盖的变化引起了这些野火，而土地的变化则带来了森林和农业的广泛发展。本文定性地研究了周期性和季节性野火之后（2012-2017），对景观特征的动态主观感知。我们对智利吉雍、佛罗里达和尤贝尔（地中海智利中部）的居民，开展了12 个半结构化采访。采访的问题考虑了视觉景观、感知、特征和景观管理政策等因素。研究的主要结果如下：（1）传统谋生手段的丧失，比景观物理特征（土地覆盖、植被和美学特征）的破坏更为重要，（2）个人景观感知与景观特征的关系发生了巨大变化，特别是在野火遵循了居民预测模式的2017 年前后，（3）社区对政府重建援助的期望，变成懊恼和无助感。考虑到这些结果，我们认为，景观特征是一种全面方法，能帮助我们了解火灾干扰在生物物理、社会和经济方面带来的变化。

Con mucha frecuencia, en décadas recientes los ecosistemas mediterráneos han estado expuestos a incendios naturales. Estos incendios son causados por cambios en el uso del suelo y en la cobertura de la tierra los cuales hacen posible la silvicultura extensiva y la agricultura. Esta investigación cualitativa explora una transformación en la identidad del paisaje relacionada con percepción subjetiva posterior a incendios naturales cíclicos y estacionales (2012–2017). Al respecto, nosotras administramos doce entrevistas semiestructuradas entre habitantes de Quillón, Florida, y Yumbel (Chile central mediterráneo). Las preguntas se refirieron a elementos del paisaje visual, percepción, identidad y políticas de manejo en relación con el paisaje. Consecuentemente, los siguientes son los resultados principales de la investigación: (1) La pérdida del sustento tradicional se convierte en algo más importante que el daño a las característica físicas del paisaje (cobertura de la tierra, vegetación y rasgos estéticos); (2) la relación entre la percepción del paisaje por el individuo y la identidad del paisaje cambió de manera drástica, especialmente antes y después de 2017 dondequiera los incendios forestales siguieron patrones que habían sido pronosticados por los habitantes; y (3) las expectativas de la comunidad en lo que concierne a ayudas gubernamentales para la reconstrucción se convirtieron en frustración y sentimientos de impotencia. Al tomar en cuenta esta información, sugerimos que una identidad del paisaje es un enfoque holístico que nos ayude a entender los cambios generados por la perturbación originada en el fuego en aspectos biofísicos, sociales y económicos.

Key Words:

• Chile
• landscape
• landscape identity
• Mediterranean ecosystems
• postdisaster recovery
• wildfires

关键词:

• 智利
• 景观
• 景观特征
• 地中海生态系统
• 灾后恢复
• 野火

Palabras clave:

• Chile
• ecosistemas mediterráneos
• identidad del paisaje
• paisaje
• recuperación posdesastre
• incendios naturales

Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful for the comments of J. Prada, K. Ojeda, R. Navarro, C. Cornejo, and the anonymous reviewers. We also acknowledge the interview work by Valeska Córdoba and the map made by César Muñoz.

Supplemental Material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/24694452.2020.1850228

Notes

1 Those small farms have “Peumo, Arrayán, Aromos, and cherry trees” (Interview 11) or “onions, beans, potatoes …” (Interview 3).

2 “All that it was green, it burned”; “Native wood, bramble, liter, boldo, maqui, fencing trees … were burned completely” (Interviews 5 and 8).

3 “All the vegetation that sprouts now, because there was nothing left, it burned completely” (Interview 3).

4 “The hill represents a tremendous touristic opportunity but since everything is held by private interests, there are not well-structured activities because it is difficult for them to offer tours, viewpoints are nonexistent” (Interview 1).

5 “The large expanses of green territory, many trees and nature” (Interview 6).

6 As we see in the interviews: “It is a town where people still talk to each other” (Interview 1), or “One was raised in the field, and today I am a farmer” (Interview 11).

7 “One has to see the future of their children in the city, because they are going to have to continue studying” (Interview 5).

8 “I think we have to separate the phases of the fire, in the first phase there was a state of constitutional exception, therefore the mandate was to get people out and many of them opposed. There are people who stayed anyway, hiding in the woods and some others managed to save their houses. At first many horses, cows, birds were burned since animals usually escape or die trying to save their lives” (Interview 1). “During the fire one feels frustration, one gets depressed because all the effort of life has been burned, I looked at my parents and I felt devastated but still want to keep on fighting” (Interview 11).

9 “You see the effort of four or five years burned to the ground” (Interview 11), or “We went on with the cherry trees, that’s the only thing we had left” (Interview 12).

10 “Without realizing that here at my face I had sparks; my shirt was on fire” (Interview 11).

11 “Here there is discrimination because I am a veterinarian and they do not give you any help and they hold you in contempt when you ask for something, just to get into Prodesal [Program of Production and Development], which could not offer any help because I am not poor enough regarding the fire” (Interview 7).

12 “We were not prepared, we did not collect water and this side of the town had never been burned, the first time the complete hill was burned, about fifty years ago they say that there was a fire” (Interview 11).

13 “Ministry of Economy came with a survey, then came Agriculture [Ministry] with another survey, then CONAF with another survey, then SAG [Livestock and Agriculture Service] with another record, then ONEMI [Emergency and Disaster's National Office from Homeland Ministry] with another, they had turned six forms, and when there are devastated areas, believe me, to look for that person who was affected and ask things is not easy or comfortable, you ask once and you get an answer the second, too, but the rest of the time … and it is annoying, the second answer is that the survey is not binding but it generates expectations” (Interview 1).

14 Except the “natural causes” that CONAF classifies as lightning and volcanic eruption (0.1 percent).

Additional information

Funding

This research was sponsored by FONDECYT 1171065 (EJC) and Beca de Doctorado Nacional ANID folio 21200455 (CO).

Notes on contributors

Carolina G. Ojeda

CAROLINA G. OJEDA is a PhD Student in Architecture and Urban Studies, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Lo Contador 1970, Providencia, Chile. E-mail: [email protected]. Her research interests include landscapes, sustainability, and socionatural hazards, such as wildfires.

Edilia Jaque Castillo

EDILIA JAQUE CASTILLO is an Associate Professor in the Department of Geography at Universidad de Concepción, Chile, Edmundo Larenas s/n, Barrio Universitario, Concepción, Chile. E-mail: [email protected]. Her research interests are physical landscapes, soil erosion, and socionatural hazards, such as wildfires.

Sandra Fernández Castillo

SANDRA FERNÁNDEZ CASTILLO is an Associate Professor in the Department of Geography at Universidad de Concepción, Chile, Edmundo Larenas s/n, Barrio Universitario, Concepción, Chile. E-mail: [email protected]. Her research interests include rural development, feminism, and qualitative studies in social sciences.