Caring for Xate, caring for Xateros: NGO monitoring, livelihoods, and plant-human relations in Uaxactún, Guatemala

Abstract

In Uaxactún, a community forest concession inside Guatemala's Maya Biosphere Reserve, three species of xate palm, a non-timber forest product, are at the heart of quickly evolving webs of knowledge, identity, institutional alliances, and livelihoods. Xate palms are simultaneously the "daily beans" for the majority of Uaxactún residents, the object of intense study and regulation, a commodity marketable to international floral markets, a marker of local identity, and a ubiquitous part of the forest landscape. Now, as the result of a series of projects instituted by the conservation NGO, the Wildlife Conservation Society and other institutions, xate in Uaxactún is being transformed from a "natural", exploited part of the landscape to something to actively cuidar, or care for. NGO-driven dynamics of monitoring, study, and other external knowledge-making about the village are central to these ongoing shifts in xate-human relations, and to broader changes in local senses of place and identity. "Care" describes both material and affective relations, including practices and values that strive for a more liveable world without assuming an ultimate goal or a best solution. NGO projects that foster relations of care between villagers and xate palms are also a form of caring for villagers themselves, working as they do towards sustainable shared human/non-human futures. At the same time, however, these projects are "necessary but not sufficient" -caught in the problematic local scale, and failing to address deeper structural problems that keep Uaxactún residents dependent on precarious sources of income. Keywords: Guatemala, Maya Biosphere Reserve, NTFPs, NGOs, environmental knowledge, care RésuméEn Uaxactún, une concession forestière de communauté à l'intérieur de la Réserve de la biosphère maya du Guatemala, trois espèces de palmiers xate, un produit forestier non ligneux, sont au coeur de l'évolution rapide des connaissances, de l'identité, des alliances institutionnelles, et des moyens de subsistance. Les paumes xate sont simultanément les «haricots quotidiennes» pour la majorité des résidents Uaxactún, l'objet d'études approfondies et de la réglementation, un produit commercialisable sur les marchés internationaux floraux, un marqueur de l'identité locale, et une composante omniprésente du paysage forestier. Maintenant, à la suite d'une série de projets mis en place par l'ONG «Wildlife Conservation Society» et d'autres institutions, le xate d'Uaxactún se transforme à partir d'un partie du paysage exploitée mais «naturel», à quelque chose pour s'occuper activement. Conduit par les ONGs, surveillance et autres connaissances externes sur le villaje sont au coeur de ces changements en cours dans les relations xate-humain. Ils touchent aussi des changements plus larges sur des sens locaux de lieu et de l'identité. «Care» décrit les deux rapports matériels et affectifs, y compris les pratiques et les valeurs qui luttent pour un monde plus vivable, sans avoir l' objectif ultime ou une meilleure solution.Les projets d...

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