Throughout Latin America, indigenous peoples are demanding that development must address local
priorities, including ethnic identity. Simultaneously, sustainability scientists need to conduct place-based
research on the interaction between environment and society that will have global relevance.
This book reports on a 6 year interdisciplinary research project on natural resource management in
Cotacachi, Ecuador, where scientists and indigenous groups learnt to seek common ground. The book
discusses how local people and the environment have engaged each other over time to create
contemporary Andean landscapes. It also explores human-environment interaction in relation to
biodiversity, soils and water, and equitable development. This book will be of significant interest to
sociologists, anthropologists, economists and sustainability scientists researching environment and
agriculture in rural communities.
Researchers and policy makers in rural and sustainable development, sociology, economics and anthropology.