Depopulation and rural shrinkage in Subantarctic Biosphere Reserves: envisioning re-territorialization by young people

Abstract

Landscape-scale conservation at the regional level is an important challenge for Biosphere Reserves (BRs), especially those located in areas suffering from depopulationand rural shrinkage. This is the case of the BRs of the southernmost part ofChile, in the Magallanes region. An analysis of the implications of deterritorialization(the radical reduction or disappearance of inhabitants, their traditional ecologicalpractices, and their material and affective links with the territory) is lackingin the literature, particularly in relation to the migration of young people towardsother human settlements. This is a critical situation for BRs because there is a tightlink between depopulation and the sustainability of socio-ecological systems. Herewe discuss, on the one hand, the limitations and negative impacts of repopulationattempts by extractive industries and, on the other, the possibilities of involving ruralyouth in initiatives that encourage the re-territorialization of ecological practices andknowledge that have been developed by generations of local inhabitants, as a wayof promoting bioculturally sustainable modes of re-inhabiting these territories