Since the dawn of humanity, biodiversity – that is, the variety of species that inhabit the planet, including their genes and the ecosystems that they make up – has been a source of development, well-being and identity for different types of communities. Throughout our evolution, human beings have depended on biological diversity both to satisfy our material and spiritual needs, taking advantage of the multiplicity of benefits that the natural environment provides us. These benefits, commonly known as “ecosystem services”, comprise the goods and services on which the population depends, such as provision services, that is, the contribution of species in terms of medicines, food and raw materials; regulating, for example, flood control, crop pollination and maintenance of air quality; support, which refers to the consequences of the interactions of many species that collaborate in the formation of the soil and the cycling of nutrients; and cultural services, which include, among others, the spiritual, aesthetic and educational value of species and ecosystems. Cultural services then refer to the intangible benefits that we as individuals or society receive from biodiversity.
Perhaps due to the fact of being intangible, many times the cultural value of biodiversity is forgotten or postponed by society when making decisions, and this has led to a progressive decrease in the knowledge that we have as human beings about the relevance that different things have. species for the construction of our own identity and well-being. However, this forgetfulness can be overcome with the small gesture of looking again at what surrounds us: the intimate relationship that has always existed between societies and nature.
The book «A little bird told me. Species of Magellan and its relationship with culture ”is an invitation to approach nature from another perspective, which directly links our way of life and that of our ancestors to the environmental heritage that surrounds us. In its pages we can (re) discover a wide range of cultural stories and more than 60 photographs of native species, where the fauna and flora of Magellan are protagonists and show that they have been and are part of the cultural heritage of the region.
The book is a project by Gabriela Simonetti-Grez, Executive Director of Kauyeken (author) and Gregor Stipicic, member of the organization (photographer), and is an Environmental initiative financed with resources from the Regional Government of Magallanes and Chilean Antarctica with the approval of the Regional Council.
The book can be downloaded for free here