This article presents some relevant aspects that are considered basic to be able to interpret passages in the history of Latin America from an ecological dimension. In pre-Hispanic America there was knowledge based on the observation of the processes of nature. This was lost in the period of conquest and colony under the European premise that both the culture and technology of the subjugated peoples were inferior and that American resources were practically unlimited. Thus the destruction and elimination of pre-existing forms and systems was fully justified. After independence there is an effort to pour the advantages obtained from the possession of natural resources towards development, but the main modes of production continue to undermine the conservation of resources, accelerating processes of environmental deterioration.
Keywords:
Ecology, Latin America, Environment, Ecosystems, Pre-Columbian America
Author Biographies
Nicolo Gligo
Experto del proyecto CEPAL-PNDMA sobre Estilos de Desarrollo y Medio Ambiente en América Latina. Ex director del Instituto Nacional de Recursos Naturales de Chile.
Jorge Morello
Ecólogo. Consultor del proyecto CEPAL-PNUMA sobre Estilos de Desarrollo y Medio Ambiente en América Latina.
Gligo, N., & Morello, J. (1980). Notas sobre la historia ecológica de América Latina. Estudios Internacionales, 13(49), p. 112–148. https://doi.org/10.5354/0719-3769.1980.16622
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