More broadly, the Pemón relationship to the tepui landscape embodies a form of long-term ecological knowledge — knowledge of patterns that operate over decades and centuries rather than over the short timescales of most formal scientific research.

This temporal dimension of Indigenous knowledge is increasingly recognized in ecology as a valuable resource for understanding long-term trends and changes that are invisible within the timeframes of typical research projects.

The Future Of The Sky Islands

The long-term future of the tepui highland ecosystems, including the summit of Roraima, is tied to two major and interacting processes: the ongoing erosion that is gradually reducing the tepui formations over geological time, and the accelerating changes in global climate that are modifying the conditions to which tepui summit species have adapted.

The geological future of Roraima involves the continuation of the erosional processes that have been operating for hundreds of millions of years.