7.5Conclusions

The results obtained after identification and quantification of the terraced surface area of La Gomera Island are a clear reflection of what can easily be observed from the presence of these agricultural landscapes, namely the enormous human effort that has been carried out over five centuries, especially during the first half of the twentieth century.

The removal of stones and of tons of soil to level the land, the construction of stone walls of differing size, and the type of farming according to different environmental conditions have brought about a clear diversity in terrace landscape typology.

The wild character of the topography (hillsides with marked and deep ravines) makes access to many of these spaces difficult and increases the risk of erosion (mass movements) due to their instability.

Terrace loss affects up to 73.4% of the land of this island. The risk of erosion is very high and the danger posed by fires increases on a yearly basis. Both are processes that destroy landscapes which are part of the island’s idiosyncrasy and uniqueness. With a view to ensuring their protection, further work is therefore needed to continue with the characterization, typology, and cataloguing of these terraced slopes, as well as their present state of conservation.

Acknowledgements The authors would like to acknowledge the help of José Mangas Viñuela (Chair in Geology, member of the “Geología Aplicada y Regional” research group (ULPGC)). Thanks are also due to Carolina Peña Alonso for her participation in the making of the cartography of the La Gomera basin slopes and, finally, to Juan Carlos Hernández Marrero, archeologist and head of the Archaeological Museum of La Gomera for sharing his knowledge, such as the history and heritage of the island, and for providing some of the photographic material.

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Chapter 8

Terraced Landscapes in Perù: Terraces

and Social Water Management

Lianet Camara and Mourik Bueno de Mesquita

Abstract Challenged by the area’s imposing verticality, the societies inhabiting the Andes Mountains made constant effort to profitably exploit the slopes and develop the territory for supporting agriculture, which gave rise to characteristic terraced landscapes. Many studies on this terracing date back to the 1980s and 1990s, years when terrace use and recovery were given great importance. In 2010, institutions began renewing interest in the loss of productive land, current climate changes, and terrace abandonment, seeking to reduce adverse effects created on the terraced slopes, on rural economies, and on the population’s socio-culture. This article intends to examine the geographical knowledge of Peruvian terracing, considering the Rural Agricultural Productive Development Program (AgroRural), located in Lima, Peru, and discussing the relevant results of AgroRural’s inventory and characterization of terraces in areas with a high terracing density. The article will also highlight some issues, debated in recent years, which have raised the rural population’s concerns over their territory and economy—specifically climate change and the abandonment and degradation of terracing. Water management, which is an integral part of the terraced structure, will be discussed as well. The second International Terraces Meeting, held in Cusco in 2014, animated the debate among scholars, institutions, and the rural population concerning problems affecting terraced areas and how to apply traditional knowledge to counteract them.

Lianet Camara is due to the drafting of Sects. 8.1, 8.2, 8.3 and Mourik Bueno de Mesquita of Sect. 8.4 and to the joint work of Sect. 8.5.

L. Camara (&)

University of Verona, Verona, Italy e-mail: camara.lianet@gmail.com

M. B. de Mesquita (&)

Centro Bartolomé de Las Casas, Cusco, Peru e-mail: mourik@casadelcorregidor.pe

M. Varotto et al. (eds.), World Terraced Landscapes: History, Environment, Quality of Life, Environmental History 9, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-96815-5_8