The landscapes of Ecuador's “four worlds”, more than just a beautiful postcard

Quito, 25 Mar Whether it's a sunset on the beach, a majestic snowy summit that seems to kiss the sky or a waterfall that waters the Amazon rainforest, the landscapes that make up Ecuador's “four worlds” have been studied for the first time to know what they hide beyond composing a beautiful postcard. And, behind the visual beauty of each one, there are environmental, social and cultural ecosystems that degrade at different rates, according to the “Ecuador Landscape Charter” published after three years of study by the Private Technical University of Loja (UTPL) with the collaboration of the Central and Catholic universities. It is a manifesto that seeks to recognize, revalue and protect the landscape, with a focus on sustainable development. “A COMMON GOOD” Ecuador became the first country in the world in 2008 to recognize the rights of nature in its Constitution, but there are “many weaknesses” with regard to the knowledge of the concept of landscape and the proper management of this “common good,” Alexandra Moncayo Vega, leader of the study, told Efe Alexandra Moncayo Vega. He considered that most see the landscape only as “the image of something beautiful”, when in fact he understands a series of interactions in which man is the main actor. And so, one of the charts in the Charter shows the intense green of the jungle that is only broken by the passage of an immense river that winds through the Amazon, while in another, the asphalt city of Quito climbs the slopes of the Pichincha volcano. The landscape “is continually being degraded, especially as it faces two forces: extractivist economic power and the growth of the agricultural frontier and urbanization,” he noted. And although he pointed out that “it is good” that there are new landscapes, such as urban ones, he lamented that the new generations do not even have the possibility of remembering what some areas were, thus also losing several cultural records. FOUR WORLDS, COUNTLESS LANDSCAPES When drawing up the Charter, they found that “in many texts and laws of the different ministries they talk about landscape conservation, but they don't know how to preserve it,” he said. And so, they hope that the Charter will be Ecuador's first manifesto regarding landscape: “We need all those responsible for territorial and urban planning to start looking at the landscape as a resource and a common good that must be protected.” Divided into Coast, Andes, Amazon and Galapagos, Ecuador is known as “the country of the four worlds”, a diversity that multiplies landscape options, but shows varying levels of degradation. “This is a wake-up call, we still have time to preserve,” he warned, noting that, although the current Ministry of Environment “is strong”, laws are not always enforced and there is no exhaustive control. For this reason, it is essential that a “landscape conservation law” be issued, which defines the mechanisms of protection and strong sanctions for those who attack nature, which “is the canvas of the landscape,” he said. THE LANDSCAPE TRANSCENDS WHAT WE SEE “The concept of landscape is not the material aspect, but a mental construct created through culture. It is the view that describes the aesthetic experience obtained on a portion of nature that transforms it into a landscape, it is the sensitive perception, free of symbolism”, reads a text by Rocío López, from UNAM (Mexico), captured on a photo of the dry forest of southern Ecuador, one of the dozens of graphs compiled in the Charter. The idea of the Charter came about in 2019, from the development of the Landscape Days of Ecuador, one of the countries that has least researched landscape and lacks education on landscape architecture, Moncayo commented. When studying the landscape charts of Colombia, Peru, Chile, Venezuela and Mexico, they found that they were put together from a scientific perspective, so they decided to enrich that of Ecuador with different approaches. For this reason, they compiled ecological, historical-scientific, bio-geographical and historical-cultural arguments in the Charter, among others, to facilitate the protection of landscapes by those responsible for the different institutions. “The road is long, but we have to start with something,” said Moncayo, noting that the Charter realizes that it is possible to propose some strategies for actions to preserve “what we see and what is behind what we see.” Susana Wood