In the green-fringed inlet of Bahía Málaga, tucked along Colombia’s Pacific coast in the department of Valle del Cauca, Marlin Valencia’s melodic voice drifts among the tangled roots of the mangrove trees. As she sings, she crouches down and swirls her glove-covered hand in the soft mud, searching for piangüa (Anadara tuberculosa), a small black-shelled clam that her ancestors have harvested for centuries.
“We have to search much harder to find piangüa than we did before,” she says, briefly pausing mid-song and pulling her empty, mud-covered hand from the thick, brown, salty sludge. “Now other people come here, too, and take so many of them,” Valencia adds woefully.
Piangüa, which is found roughly between the Pacific coasts of Mexico and Peru, provides an income for more than 11,000 women in Colombia’s Pacific region. The Afro-Colombian communities scattered around Bahía Málaga, which is home to nearly 1,400 plant and animal species, call it their “black gold.” For generations, piangüa has been their livelihood, a nutrient-rich food source and an important symbol of cultural heritage.
But in recent years, the piangüeras, primarily women who harvest piangüa, have witnessed its population dwindle. Commercialization and overharvesting, particularly driven by exports to Ecuador, where about 80% of Colombian piangüa ends up, started to put a significant strain on piangüa numbers, as well as on the local ancestral traditions tied to it.
Realizing they could do little to mitigate these threats individually, the piangüeras decided to unite, drawing on their ancestral knowledge of sustainably harvesting the mollusk. Created in 2019, Raíces Piangüeras: Community Association of Women Piangüeras of Bahía Málaga, is made up of 28 women from four communities: La Plata, La Sierpe, Miramar and Mangaña.
“Being an organized group has allowed us to develop initiatives dedicated to the conservation of the piangüa and the mangroves and make others want to maintain this cultural heritage that is so beautiful and important,” says Matilde Mosquera, Raíces Piangüeras legal representative.
Diversifying the economic opportunities of piangüeras without turning away from piangüa is now a key conservation strategy. One approach involves boosting recognition of their cultural heritage at the national level by showcasing their unique gastronomy and linking the piangüeras with environmentally responsible commercial partners, such as restaurants. This is done under EcoGourmet, a program supported by Conservation International, which emphasizes environmentally responsible supply chains. Raíces Piangüeras also created the “Piangüa Route,” where visitors can learn about the mollusk and collect a few themselves before trying some home-cooked piangüa dishes.
“The best thing is that we have been able to achieve tourism, but also that we have been able to organize it,” Valencia says, explaining that the women take turns leading the tours, and that tourists also benefit the wider community through purchases in shops and stays in guesthouses.
While conserving the mangroves, piangüa and her cultural heritage isn’t easy, when Valencia is immersed in the mud and the roots and surrounded by nature, she feels proud and knows it’s all worthwhile.
“We sing throughout the mangroves, and when we find an area with many piangüa, it’s exciting just to know they’re there,” she says. “Then when we go to bed, we dream about piangüa.”