The omitted variable: musical bamboos, environmental sustainability, and the ecological implications of an intangible cultural heritage in the Bolivian Andes

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article examines the heritagization process of the highland flute-making community of Walata Grande, focusing on the environmental sustainability of native woody bamboos used in flute making in the Bolivian Andes. It explores how Aymara flute makers’ involvement in national cultural heritage politics intersects with broader ecological issues of resource use and environmental sustainability from an ecomusicological perspective. Through ethnographic fieldwork among flute makers, bamboo traders, and cultural heritage state officials, I analyse how Walateño flute makers view their cultural heritage as a means of decolonisation, economic protectionism, and tourist promotion. Simultaneously, they avoid discussions about musical bamboos due to concerns over losing autonomy in the management of an essential resource. I conclude that the intangible cultural heritage initiative in highland flute making offers only a limited solution to the challenges of sustaining musical bamboos. Although UNESCO’s Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) advocates for the constant recreation of ICH by heritage communities, it is crucial to consider the material economic structures in which these cultural recreations are embedded and their ecological and environmental implications, especially given the current context of musical bamboo unsustainability.