Chile's Coastal Range
Road rerouted!
January 16, 2003
Good news for the temperate Valdivian rainforest
of southern Chile: on 11 January, the government of Chile signed an agreement
to redefine the routing of the Coastal Range Road and establish mechanisms
for the creation of protected areas along the country's Coastal Range -
home to the oldest and most diverse rainforest remaining in southern South
America.
The agreement was signed with the Coastal Range
Coalition, an NGO group spearheaded by WWF that includes more than 12 institutions,
ranging from indigenous groups to leading scientists, interested in the
conservation of the remaining temperate rainforest of the Coastal Range.
The Minister of Public Works, the Intendente of Region X (State Governor),
and the Directors of CONAMA (National Environmental Commission) and CONAF
(National Forestry Agency) signed the agreement on behalf of the Government
of Chile, and Francisco Solís signed on behalf of the Coastal Range
Coalition.
The Coastal Range Road was initiated to connect
the cities of Valdivia and Puerto Montt by way of the Pacific Coast. The
planned route passed along the western flanks of the Coastal Range, which
contains the oldest and most diverse rainforest remaining in southern South
America. One of only five temperate rainforests in the world, the
Valdivian rainforest is one of WWF's Global 200 ecosystems. The road would
have further fragmented this ancient rainforest and facilitated its conversion
to eucalypt and pine plantations.
The agreement represents an outstanding conservation
result. Twenty per cent of the 200-km road that is already under construction
will be changed from a logging penetration road (speed limit of 70 km/h)
to a minimal environmental impact road (speed limit of 40 km/h). Additionally,
the remaining 80 per cent of the road, currently under study, will be routed
outside forested areas (east of the range) and use existing minor roads.
Significantly, each segment will be subject to a full environmental assessment,
which is not required by law. Finally, the plan also considers the establishment
of protected areas, since less than five per cent of the Coastal Range
is currently under protection.
This agreement with the government of Chile is
unprecedented: only two years ago the project was moving at full speed
and no communication channels existed between the environmental community
and the regional or national governments. At the event, the Chilean government
recognized that the Coastal Range Coalition was a legitimate,
scientifically and technically sound NGO, capable of engaging in this and
other important environmental issues in the ecoregion.
The Coastal Range Coalition and WWF's Valdivian
Temperate Rainforest Ecoregional Programme will now work to implement the
agreement and ensure long lasting conservation results in this rare and
special ecoregion.
For further information:
Monica Echeverria
Director, Communications, WWF Latin America and Caribbean Programme
E-mail: Monica.Echeverria@WWFUS.ORG
Source: Copyright 2003 WWF
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