Musical bamboos : flute making, natural resources, and sustainability in the Bolivian Andes

In the Bolivian Andes, urban-dwelling highland flute makers from the specialised Aymara flute-making community of Walata Grande craft a variety of flutes from native woody bamboos collected in their natural habitats in tropical forests of the eastern Andean slopes. Over recent decades, sustainability issues surrounding their use and sourcing have come to the fore. The two main concerns mentioned by Walateño makers are: that bamboo habitats are being destroyed as the deforestation of the tropical forests accelerates, and that recognised bamboo collection sites are being overexploited. Understanding these issues calls for an interdisciplinary mixed methods research approach that involves studying both the flute making culture/economy and the ecology of musical bamboos. While the deforestation of tropical forests is a consequence of non-musical economic activities such as agriculture and cattle rearing, the overexploitation of collection sites is the result of shifting modes of highland flute making and bamboo sourcing. Highland flute making has always been dependent on bamboo species diversity and maturation/life cycles. However, as makers have become reliant on intermediaries, valuable sourcing knowledge is being lost, further challenging the viability of musical bamboos. Beyond the environmental degradation and destruction of bamboo habitats, a closer analysis reveals that shifting social and economic relations and knowledge transmission are also central to the sustainability of flute making and bamboo sourcing in the Bolivian Andes.