Chile Nature Reserve Threatened by Mining Interests
12/21/98
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Title: Chile Nature Reserve Threatened by Mining Interests
Source: InterPress Service
Status: Copyrighted, contact source to reprint
Date: 12/21/98
Byline: Gustavo Gonzalez
SANTIAGO, Dec 21 (IPS) - The Lauca National Park, the largest
nature reserve in northern Chile, could shrink by one-third due to
mining interests, environmentalists, social activists and
indigenous people protested Monday.
A group of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) urged
President Eduardo Frei not to sign a decree that would remove
43,361 hectares from the park under the argument that the area is
not inhabited by ''significant'' flora and fauna.
The Latin American Observatory of Environmental Conflicts, a
Santiago-based NGO, stressed that the reserve will lose one-third
of its territory if the decree is signed into effect.
Other NGOs that are protesting the government decision are the
'Corporacion Norte Grande', Peace and Justice Service, Foundation
for Development and Aymara Association of the city of Arica, 2,050
kms north of Santiago.
The Lauca National Park, which takes its name from the Lauca
river, is located in the province of Parinacota, which borders
both Peru and Bolivia at the northern tip of Chile, some 2,000 kms
north of Santiago. The park's main attraction is lake Chungara.
Located at 4,000 metres above sea level, Chungara is one of the
world's highest lakes, home to a rich variety of flamingos, Andean
seagulls and other birds, as well as a range of species of fish
and amphibians.
Chile's largest population of vicunas is also found in the
park, along with related ruminants typical of the Andean mountain
region, like llamas, guanacos and alpacas. Also found in the
park's highlands and mountains are chinchillas, a soft-coated
rodent in danger of extinction in the wild, foxes, nandus (a large
South American bird related to the ostrich) and condors.
The decision to remove part of the land from park jurisdiction
will favour mining companies interested in exploiting resources in
an area where they would also have access to water, which is hard
to come by in northern Chile.
Mining is one of the main attractions for foreign investors in
Chile's three northern regions, which are rich in copper,
molybdenum, gold, silver, sulphates, iodine, and natural
saltpetre.
The NGOs said the argument that the area in question lacked
signficant flora and fauna was unfounded. ''A scientific study is
currently being carried out, precisely with the aim of providing
the information needed in order to redefine the protected wild
areas of the province of Parinacota on an objective basis,'' said
Lucio Cuenca, with the Latin American Observatory of Environmental
Conflicts.
The NGOs said the University of Chile was commissioned in
September by the National Forestry Corporation (Conaf) - in charge
of Chile's national parks - to carry out the study, the results of
which will be released next March.
The decision to conduct the study was the fruit of an agreement
between Conaf and the government of the northernmost region of
Tarapaca to tackle problems arising from the use of the region's
territory for productive purposes.
''The government, however, utterly disregarding the accord and
taking into account only mining interests, has already decided
that part of the park's territory should be removed,'' said
Cuenca.
''We think that this way of proceeding hinders the striking of
a balance between the development of economic activities and the
indispensable preservation of the basis for any development: our
environment,'' the NGOs declared in their public statement.
''This is not the first time that the government has adopted
this kind of decision, behind closed-doors, ignoring the very
public and citizen entities that should pronounce themselves, and
keeping in mind only the benefit of certain economic interests.
''We are still in time to prevent a new attack against the
environmental heritage of current and future generations,'' said
the activists who urged Frei not to sign the controversial decree.