Mountain Myths: Explaining Critical Biogeography through Biocultural Heritage

When scholars take mountains as a research subject, they often rely on generalizing conceptualizations of Western thought nested on reductionist science.  Mountains are seen as the scenario where biophysical phenomena happen because of certain physical laws related to topography and climate alone.   In this presentation, I argue for an alternative comprehension of mountain theory, one that takes into account the praxis of mountain culture and the affirmation of biocultural heritage. Central to this approach is the incorporation of onomastics and place naming, as well as tenets from traditional ecological knowledge, cosmological vision and holistic thinking.  I use examples of plants and animals from the Andes to deconstruct current biogeographical rules and to reconstruct local understandings of montology that help explain the symbiotic relationship of biocultural heritage as driver of the cognition of mountain environments.  Through novel approaches of critical biogeography, this study will engage debate on wilderness and cultural landscapes to find a workable meeting point between discourses of nature and culture in prospective biodiversity conservation initiatives, incorporating Andean identity markers, mountain metaphors and mountain spirituality as part of the toolbox of conservationists who seek to derive meaning from mountains.