Research explores the valuable connection between birds, memory, and territory in Chile

Black-necked swans, spot-flanked gallinules, Southern lapwings, Austral thrushes, and dozens of other bird species fly across the Río Cruces Wetland, carrying the biocultural memory of the territory. Both resident birds and species that migrate throughout the year bear witness to the many changes this landscape has undergone over time.

Located in Chile’s Los Ríos Region, this Nature Sanctuary is also the country’s first Ramsar Site. Here, the connection between people and birds runs deep. Residents of the rural communities surrounding the wetland have helped reconstruct the history of an ecosystem that has undergone profound transformations through their memories, knowledge, and experiences. The 1960 earthquake, pollution of the Cruces River, the decline of river navigation, and urban expansion are among the changes that have reshaped the relationship between communities and their territory.

A study led by Cristóbal Pizarro, a researcher at the Institute of Ecology and Biodiversity (IEB) and director of the Laboratory for Anthropocene Studies (LEA), sheds light on this context. Recently published in the journal Ecology & Society, the study brought together an interdisciplinary team that worked alongside residents of ten rural communities between 2019 and 2023 to explore the connections between biodiversity, memory, birds, and territory.

Sentinels of memory

The research sought to identify which birds act as sentinels of biocultural memory and landscape transformations, while documenting the places and events that form part of the collective memory of the wetland and sanctuary, which extends over more than 6,000 hectares.

“Birds hold the memory of the territory and allow people to recall events of profound significance, such as the environmental disaster caused by pollution of the Cruces River. In this case, the migration and mass die-off of black-necked swans had a very deep impact on the communities living in the surrounding area,” says Cristóbal Pizarro, who is also a researcher at the University of Concepción and holds a PhD in Social and Ecological Sustainability from the University of Waterloo in Canada.

The study found that participants recognized 87 bird species and helped identify 27 sites of particular biocultural significance, where the importance of biodiversity is intertwined with local knowledge, memories, experiences, and ways of inhabiting the territory. Through birds, community members were also able to identify less visible changes, such as species that had disappeared from certain areas and others that had become more frequent in particular parts of the sanctuary.

“People recognized 73% of the species recorded by the Nature Sanctuary. This empirical finding shows that communities possess in-depth knowledge of biodiversity and provides a foundation for developing nature-based solutions, community monitoring, and other ways of involving people both in generating information and in restoring ecosystems and species of conservation concern,” says the IEB researcher. The institute receives funding from Chile’s National Agency for Research and Development (ANID).

One of the most significant findings was that 93% of the identified sites are located outside the sanctuary’s boundaries, demonstrating that the communities’ biocultural memory extends beyond the formal limits of the protected area.

Research alongside the territory

Achieving these results required a shift away from traditional approaches to research. The study was conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic, prompting the team to adapt its strategies and move beyond the conventional researcher-led approach to working with local communities.

To this end, six residents from different communities were trained as local researchers, or biocultural monitors, and took on shared responsibility for the research, coordinating activities with families, schools, and other local residents. In this way, communities actively participated in generating, interpreting, and sharing information, giving rise to a knowledge co-production approach that brought scientific expertise together with local knowledge and memories accumulated over generations.

“What initially seemed like a difficulty ultimately became a strength,” Pizarro explains.

The research also helped identify those who keep this legacy alive. Around 54 people and families participated, and 19 individuals with particularly extensive knowledge of biodiversity and the transformations of the territory were identified. They ranged in age from 20 to 85, and most were women. Their role proved especially significant because of their prominent involvement in caring for the territory and preserving knowledge that forms part of the community’s collective memory.

“There are people in these territories who possess a vast body of knowledge and an invaluable memory of the land, yet they are passing away without being able to pass that knowledge on to future generations. At the same time, young people are returning to these territories and bringing about change in their own communities. Between these two ends of the spectrum are the guardians of memory,” Pizarro explains.

For the scientist, one of the most valuable aspects of this type of research is precisely the continued circulation of memory, along with the opportunity to strengthen intergenerational connections and recover knowledge that might otherwise be lost.

He also highlights the importance of the methodology, describing it as a valuable tool that can be adapted to other territories and crisis scenarios, such as floods, droughts, or situations where access is difficult.

Memories that flow through the wetland

To recover these memories, researchers and participants also traveled by boat and walked through sites of cultural significance identified during the mapping activities. These journeys brought to light traditional navigation practices along the Cruces River, which for decades had been essential for connecting rural communities.

Traveling by water made it possible to transport people and goods to local markets and Valdivia’s River Market. These journeys also provided spaces for gathering, exchanging goods and knowledge, and socializing. However, with the construction of roads and bridges, this way of moving through the territory gradually lost prominence, transforming relationships between communities in the process.

Other memories associated with the 27 biocultural memory sites involved cultural practices such as gathering mushrooms and medicinal plants, making handicrafts, and preparing beverages.

A fundamental part of the research process involved returning this knowledge to the communities themselves and creating spaces where these memories could circulate once again. This led to the documentary Voices of a Territory (Voces de un territorio), which features participants’ testimonies and experiences and was presented at the Gran Diálogo de la Memoria (Great Memory Dialogue). The gathering brought together residents from different communities, researchers, authorities, and other stakeholders connected to the territory. It provided an opportunity to share the stories recovered through the project and reconnect people and communities.

The research team’s work also resulted in the Manifesto for Dialogue on the Biocultural Memory of the Río Cruces Wetland Nature Sanctuary (Manifiesto del Diálogo para la Memoria Biocultural del Santuario de la Naturaleza Humedal Río Cruces). The document outlines seven principles aimed at conserving and restoring the wetland and its biocultural heritage, strengthening local communities, and passing this knowledge on to future generations.

Other initiatives have emerged from this work, including the annual Bird Festival, which has drawn strong participation from local communities.

“Caring for and protecting the wetland, together with recovering its memory, allows us to understand the relationship between humans and nature over long timescales. In a context marked by the erosion of memory and the loss of everyday experiences of biodiversity, this type of research not only helps recover the past, but also brings the future into the present. Conducting this kind of study also makes a significant contribution to the sustainability and conservation of landscapes from a biocultural and community-based perspective,” concludes the director of LEA.