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Conservation and community-based development through ecotourism in the temperate rainforest of southern Chile

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Abstract

General assessments of ecotourism and community-led development offer conflicting views of these strategies’ potential. Appraisals of successful projects add to the available knowledge that policy makers can use to improve decision-making. The Mapu Lahual Network of Indigenous Parks (RML), an ecotourism development and conservation project in the 10th Region of southern Chile, covers 45,000 ha within the territories of eight indigenous communities, in a part of southern Chile that national and international conservation organizations consider a high priority for ecological conservation. Elected leaders of the indigenous communities established the RML in 2000 with technical assistance from public agencies and financial assistance from national and environmental organizations. The RML’s primary purpose is to increase and diversify per-capita incomes in a way that preserves the area’s environment and culture by establishing tourism based on a system of parks, trails, campgrounds, and local services. This paper appraises the RML with respect to the common interest of the relevant local, national, and international communities. The policy sciences provide a contextual basis for practical recommendations that will help participants build on the project’s strengths and correct its weaknesses. The RML initiative provides a model of a development process that has been constructively supported by members of public agencies and conservation organizations. The strategies employed in the RML could be diffused and adapted in other contexts.

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Notes

  1. The acronym RML is derived from the project’s name in Spanish, la Red de Parques Indígenas Mapu Lahual.

  2. The acronym AML is derived from the organization’s name in Spanish, la Asociación Indígena Mapu Lahual.

  3. For more background and examples related to harvesting experience, see Brunner et al. (2002).

  4. In 1760, the Huilliche territory stretched from North of Valdivia, to the East where Osorno is located, to the South where the island of Chiloe is located, with the Valdivia and Rahue Rivers and Chacao Channel representing the boundaries of the territory (Correa et al. 2002). The extent of Huilliche territory has decreased since 1860: currently Huilliche people live primarily along the coast between the River Bueno (40° S) and the island of Chiloe (42°50′ S).

  5. This estimate uses the production volumes authorized in management plans for extraction of dead alerce in the coastal areas of Osorno and the average annual incomes as provided by the country government of Rio Negro, where the indigenous communities of Condor, Hueyelhue, and Nirehue are located.

  6. Armesto et al. (2001) concluded that Huilliche communities in the native forests from 39° S to 42° S use more than 40 different species of trees for woodcrafts and firewood, more than 17 species of fleshy fruited trees and shrubs for food, and 104 species of vascular plants for medicinal purposes.

  7. Upon its formation in 1810, the Chilean Republic initially respected Huilliche land rights by granting Huilliche families commissary titles from 1821 to 1827. In 1931, the government created the Law of Southern Property, which mandated that titles needed to be measured and rewritten. The Law of Southern Property resulted in the transfer of legal land title, but not physical occupation, to non-indigenous parties. Under the Pinochet dictatorship, the Chilean government implemented Decree-Law 2568 in 1979 with the explicit purpose of dividing communal land. Decree-Law 2568 allowed the division of indigenous lands, but didn’t provide sufficient resources to help people secure land titles (Faron 1986).

  8. Programa Hueyelhue (2002). A consultant to CONADI determined the area of influence of each community by mapping the area traditionally used by the communities for habitation, animal husbandry, forestry, and subsistence gathering or farming. The communities that have land titles hold them both communally and individually among their members.

  9. The RML contains the endangered olivillo tree (Aextoxicon punctatum), forests categorized as siempreverde, which contains associations of Nothofagus glauca, N. alessandrii, Gomortega keule, and Pitavia punctata, and forests with alerce (Fitzroya cupressoides) in association with siempreverde species. Only small patches of N. glauca remain. Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species lists alerce as a threatened species (Veblen et al. 1995).

  10. Maicolpi had become a summer tourist destination because of its beach and location 65 kilometers from the city of Osorno. Community leaders had noticed that tourists were coming to Maicolpi’s beach without paying so they decided to start charging for camping and beach access. With financing and other support from public agencies, Maicolpi built a campground with fire pits and open-air covered shelters, cabanas, and bathrooms. Maicolpi’s leaders implemented a system that distributed the income from the campground and cabanas to community members: a percentage for each family, a percentage as wages to young people who worked in the operation of the facilities during the summer, and a percentage for maintenance of the facilities. Every year, the community members chose different young people to work in the campground. After the summer season, Maicolpi’s financial oversight committee presented the finances from the campground and beach in a community meeting.

  11. FBT staff visited Maicolpi to appraise the pilot project on November 13th and 14th, 2000 (Bello 2000).

  12. The funds came from the Initiative for the Americas. The participating communities committed an additional 7,752,750 Chilean pesos in materials and labor for the construction of centers and other infrastructure. CONAF contributed 4,683,380 Chilean pesos in human and material resources, including the participation of Raul Soto, Luis Cárdenas, and Alejandro Escobar at one-quarter time each. CONADI participated in project meetings and conducted training sessions on management of project finances. Chile’s Servicio Naçional de Turismo (SERNATUR), the government agency for tourism development, contributed 1,577,392 Chilean pesos in human and material resources. The prescription for the RML organizes activities by sectors of the area within the territory of either one or two participating indigenous communities. Hueyelhue and Nirehue were historically one community and participated jointly in the RML until 2003.

  13. The lack of access and communications dictates the announcement of community meetings over the area’s radio station, Radio of the Coast. Most families tune in for the daily announcements every day at 12:30 pm.

  14. AML (2002a). The information of the effect of the RML on the forest in Maicolpi Rio Sur comes from interviews with Raul Soto and Alejandro Escobar of CONAF.

Abbreviations

AML:

Mapu Lahual Indigenous Association, coordinates the Mapu Lahual Network of Indigenous Parks, leaders include Jorge Loy and Carlos Paillamanque

CODEFF:

Comité Naçional Pro Defensa de la Fauna y Flora, a Chilean conservation organization, member of CRC

CONADI:

Corporación Naçional Desarollo Indígena, the main agency for the Chile’s indigenous people

CONAF:

Corporaçion Naçional Forestal, the main authority responsible for implementing forestry regulations in the province of Osorno, officials include Luis Cárdenas, Raul Soto, and Alejandro Escobar, contributed technical assistance for the creation of the RML

CRC:

Coastal Range Coalition, an organization formed in 2000 to design and advocate conservation strategies for the coastal mountains of the 10th Region, Director Francisco Solis, members include AML, CONAF, FBT, WWF, CODEFF

NGO:

Non-governmental organization

RML:

Red de Parques Indígenas Mapu Lahual, Spanish for Mapu Lahual Network of Indigenous Parks

FNDR:

Fondo Naçional Desarollo Regional Décima Región, a development foundation, funded the Programa Hueyelhue (PH)

WWF:

World Wildlife Fund, an international conservation organization

WWF Valdivia:

WWF’s Valdivian Ecoregion Program, Director David Tecklin, contributed funds and technical assistance for the creation of the RML

FBT:

Fondo Bosque Templado, makes grants to local communities and organizations for conservation projects, created by CODEFF and WWW Valdivia and contributed funds and technical assistance for the creation of RML

PH:

Proyecto or Programa Hueyelhue, a project to create economic development in nine indigenous communities of the province of Osorno with participation by public officials from CONADI, CONAF and non-governmental organizations AML and CRC, funded by FNDR

MOP:

Chile’s Department of Public Works, decided to redesign the coastal highway so that it would cause less environmental damage due to advocacy by the CRC

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Acknowledgements

The author gratefully acknowledges the significant contributions of Ron Brunner, Susan Clarke, Lee Alston, Jorge Loy, Carlos Paillamanque, Gustavo Paillamanque, Luis Cardenas, Raul Soto, Alejandro Escobar, Irene Alvear, Francisco Solis, Claudia Celis, and the people of the RML who offered their thoughts, meals, and homes during the author’s field research.

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    Maria McAlpin

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McAlpin, M. Conservation and community-based development through ecotourism in the temperate rainforest of southern Chile. Policy Sci 41, 51–69 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11077-007-9053-8

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