Important cultural monuments of the prehistoric and colonial period are being neglected and destroyed. Well-meaning appropriate development and environmental conservation projects ignore or undermine indigenous self determination. Recent indigenous activism has benefitted the lowlands far more than the highlands. Ecuador may vanish within twenty years. Text Both natural and cultural landscapes are critical for cultural survival.
Dominant cultures destroy or take over landscape monuments of dominated cultures.
The growth of a global economy under conditions of late capitalism may encourage processes destructive to traditional cultures, such as the dispersion of traditional practices and modification of face to face locales. But its perceived utility for local groups is also a factor. These ideas are exemplified by the case of Ecuador, where an indigenous landscape is in danger of extinction, under the influence of an economy which no longer needs a dependent rural labor force of the old type and an indigenous leadership which so far has been less than effective in mobilizing ethnicity as a force for community reproduction. The highlands of Ecuador have long been the homeland of indigenous cultures. The cultural landscape serves as both an important record of their achievements and as a means of public reaffirmation of identity, community, and territory.