Regional Coalition for the Conservation of the Coastal Range
X Región-Chile
July 4th, 2000
After an organizational meeting carried out in Osorno, Chile, the REGIONAL COALITION FOR THE CONSERVATION OF THE COASTAL RANGE has been formally constituted. This organization gathers a wide variety of NGOs, ranging from scientific to environmental, social, and indigenous people, bringing them under a common purpose of conservation and valorization of the unique and fragile ecosystems and cultural heritage of Chile's southern coastal range.
Consideration of the limited atmospheric and geologic nutrient inputs to coastal forest ecosystems suggest that these forests are extremely fragile, and strongly dependent on biological mechanisms of nutrient uptake and storage. Large clearcuts may cause enormous damage to these ecosystems, through major losses of nutrients due to the harvest of biomass, soil erosion, and disruption of nutrient retention mechanisms. Similar effects can be attributed to the replacement of natural forest by pine plantations.(Armesto, Juan. 1977 Ecología de los Bosques Nativos de Chile)
The Coalition actions will focus on an area known for its high biodiversity, which has been a natural shelter for thousands of years, since the Terciary Age, when forests in Chile were restricted to small coastal areas of favorable climate. Nowadays, most of this region is threatened by both the risk of being eliminated or degraded by a new road already under construction; the placing in the region of Boise Cascade Corporations Chilean plant; and the economic pressure of the timber/pulp industry, that strongly encourages the substitution of native forests by plantations of exotic species such a eucalyptus and pine trees, causing ecosystem fragmentation and biodiversity loss.
The rate of destruction of native forests is one of the major conservation problems in Chile. The main causes of this process are the conversion of native forests to pine plantations and logging for the production of woodchips, firewood, sawn wood, and veneers. Other causes include human-set forest fires and conversion to agricultural land. An additional problem is that important ecosystems and species are absent from, or are poorly represented in. The National System of Protected Areas (SNASPE). Therefore, urgent changes in forest conservation and management policies are required. These changes should promote a balanced development of forestry based both on tree plantations and managed native forests. (Armesto, Juan 1977 Ecología de los Bosques Nativos de Chile)
The above process will also have repercussions on local communities, causing problems such as emigration to urban areas and pressures on local indigenous people as a result of land rights conflicts. Thus, there is a need to have studies that evaluate major projects in the area, such as the coastal road, from the environmental perspective, ensuring that local communities and different social actors involved are heard and considered in the proposal of development strategies.
The Coalition For The Conservation Of The Coastal Range has a variety of proposals aimed at reducing the environmental and social impacts of native forest destruction , and improving the quality of life of the local population. Considering the fact that this area has high biodiversity of forest species and a concentration of narrow-range endemics, some of the proposals include the design of land use zones, through the creation of new ecologically-representative protected areas, including Areas de Desarrollo Indígena (Indigenous People Development Areas), promoting the sustainable management of native forests and stimulating sustainable development in the region.
For further information please contact us at
coalicioncc@terra.cl
or visit our web site:
http://members.xoom.com/coalicioncc
Coalición Conservación Cordillera
de la Costa
Vicente Pérez Rosales 787 2º Piso
Valdivia / Chile
fono/fax (56)-(0)- (63)- 257673
Programa Hueyelhue
Corporación Río Contaco
Fundación Senda Darwin
Junta de Caciques de la Butahuillimapu
WWF (Fondo Mundial para la Naturaleza)
CEA (Centro de Estudios Agrarios y Ambientales)
CODEFF (Comité Pro Defensa de la Flora y Fauna)
Red de Productos Forestales No Madereros de Chile
Agrupación de Ingenieros Forestales por el Bosque Nativo