Abstract

The vicuna (the wild camelid Vicugna vicugna) has a successful history of population recovery. The Vicuna Convention and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Wild Species of Flora and Fauna (CITES) promotes sustainable use of the species focused on fibre production for the benefit of Andean communities, such as those inhabiting the Argentinean altiplano. This study describes and analyses the design, implementation and results of the Management of the Vicuna Conservation and Sustainable Use project executed between 2002 and 2015 in the Catamarca province of Argentina in relation to (1) the scope and objectives of the applied legal regulations; (2) the control of poaching and illegal fibre; and (3) the distribution of benefits from free-range shearing populations and the Fiber Redistribution Program (FRP). The availability of legal fibre has helped to maintain the region's textile traditions. The project financed local communities' development of their own free-ranging shears, but the low human population density in the Catamarca puna and the land's propriety have resulted in a mixed model with the participation of private, including large private international, companies. This management model among international and local government agencies, communities and private companies with corporate responsibility has led to the promotion of regulations for the sustainability of this iconic species.