Abstract

The development of Montology as the convergent science of mountains requires paradigm shifts. One such about-face of ecological theory relates to terminology usage in biodiversity conservation; the trend is identified with new understandings about biocultural diversity, driven by both intangible heritage maintained in the tropical Andes, and the remains of monumental architecture recently discovered as tangible heritage of mountain cultures that lived in the Andean Amazonian flank. My position is to allow noetic science and critical toponymy to influence our understanding of biocultural diversity conservation needs, and to respond to new decolonial scholarship that puts critical biogeography and political ecology as explanatory of the ecological legacy shown in contemporary, sentient mountainscapes.