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CHILE
Environmentalists Oppose Move to Hand Over Parkland
By María Cecilia Espinosa
SANTIAGO, Sep 22, 2005 (IPS) - Environmentalists in Chile are upset over a
government decision to hand over part of a national park that is home to
endangered species of trees, birds and mammals to a local indigenous
community that has long laid claim to the property.
In 1985, the dictatorship of Gen. Augusto Pinochet (1973-1990) decided to
expand the La Campana National Park, located 100 km northwest of Santiago,
by incorporating surrounding land to which no one held legal title, which
was thus considered public land.
Since then, the local indigenous community living on the land has been
involved in a dispute with the Chilean state over property rights to the
area.
The "Mariana Osorio Farming and Livestock Community", made up of 700
indigenous families whose ancestors have lived on the disputed land for
centuries, says their ownership rights date back to the Spanish colonial
period, in the 17th century, when colonial official Mariana Osorio left a
will stipulating that the property belonged to the indigenous people under
her charge.
Early this year, the minister secretary general of the presidency, Eduardo
Dockendorff, confirmed that the community would be given legal title free of
charge to 900 hectares that formed part of the nature reserve, along with
another 900 hectares of public land that border the park.
He said the decision was based on documents held by the local community that
proved that they owned the land in question.
But local environmental groups like Ecosistema and the National Committee
for the Defence of Fauna and Flora (CODEFF) are opposed to the government's
decision to hand over ownership of part of the park, saying it sets a bad
precedent.
And although the land within the park would legally maintain its protected
status, they argue that there is no guarantee that the Mariana Osorio
Community will fully respect nature in the area.
The community has been given permission by the government to create camp
sites, stands or shops for selling souvenirs, firewood or coal, and hostels
and inns, and to carry out "any other compatible economic activities."
CODEFF, a leading environmental group, argues that the government's decision
means the park will not be protected from future subdivision and sales of
land.
CODEFF activist Hernán Vercheure told IPS that the Mariana Osorio Community
has not made any commitment to ensure that the land will continue to be
protected. "All it would take is a change in the community leadership or
statutes...to modify their activities in that area," he said.
"Above and beyond their intentions, the problem is that there is a lack of
safeguards, and the only way to be sure the area will continue to be
protected is if La Campana does not lose its status as a publicly owned
national park," he argued.
Vercheure said he agreed that people living near the park should benefit
from their location by providing services or carrying out activities within
the reserve. But "that benefit should not involve the transfer of land
ownership, which compromises the integrity of the reserve, and in the end
affects all Chileans," he argued.
In 1984, the park was named a National Biosphere Reserve by the United
Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO).
It is home to endangered species of mammals like the lesser grison (Galictis
cuja), a member of the weasel family; the mouse opossum (Thylamys elegans),
a small marsupial; the South American grey fox (Pseudalopex griseus); the
Andean fox (Pseudalopex culpaeus); the vizcacha (Lagidium viscacia), a
member of the chinchilla family; the pampas cat (Lynchailurus colocolo); and
the cougar (Puma concolor).
La Campana is also the habitat of endangered species of birds like the giant
hummingbird (Patagona gigas); the Andean condor (Vultur gryphus); and the
austral pygmy owl (Glaucidium nanum).
In addition, the park has the largest and best-preserved population of
Chilean palm trees (Jubaea chilensis) in the country, and it is the only
area with forests of the endangered 'belloto del norte' (Beilschmiedia
miersii), 50 percent of which are located on the land that was handed over
to the farming community.
"In the last stretch of his term, President Ricardo Lagos has been
implementing a policy that completely disregards Chile's natural forest
wealth, national parks or natural monuments, while handing them over to the
highest bidder," Ecosistema activist Flavia Liberona complained to IPS.
Legal action has been brought against Minister Dockendorff for yielding
ownership of part of the park.
The environmental groups have invoked international treaties, like the
"Convention on Nature Protection and Wild Life Preservation in the Western
Hemisphere" adopted in Washington, D.C. in 1940, which was ratified by Chile
in 1967, as well as national legislation like the law on forests and
decree-law 1939, which states that land forming part of a national park
cannot be yielded to private owners.
"A national park is an area that contains important ecosystems and rare
species that are of high priority from a biological diversity standpoint - a
sample of the natural environment that we want to leave to the future
generations," said Vercheure.
The CODEFF activist is especially concerned that natural protected areas
will begin to shrink due to growing pressure from urban development.
"It doesn't take a lot of imagination to see that in the not too distant
future, all of our rural areas will be used by human beings as part of
productive activities. If we don't preserve certain areas, we will lose
wilderness spaces that are essential for recreation, research and
education," he warned.
In Liberona's view, by yielding ownership of the land to the local community
of small farmers, the centre-left government of Ricardo Lagos "is making a
political gesture, because the community members have not actually proven
their legal right to inherit the land," she said.
Under that reasoning, "all indigenous people would have the right to lay
claim to the territory that their ancestors occupied in the 1800s, because
they are the legal heirs, and the government would have to hand that land
over to them - which just isn't happening," said Liberona.
In Chile, 6.4 percent of the population of 15.5 million identify themselves
as members of six indigenous groups, although other estimates put the
proportion at closer to 10 percent.
The international conventions to which Chile is a signatory require that
Congress be consulted any time a national park is stripped of its protected
status, "which the government has not done," said the activist.
She maintained that the government signed the agreement to transfer
ownership of the land to the local farming community not only to strengthen
its image as the December presidential and legislative elections loom, but
also in response to an official policy that disregards the environment.
That policy, she said, is not only reflected by La Campana, but also by "the
appalling and scandalous logging of 'alerce' trees (a valuable endangered
hardwood species) and by the fact that the bill on native forests has been
winding its way through Congress for 14 years."
Moreover, she noted, the Lagos administration is attempting to modify the
bill in order to allow the government to hand over nature reserves in
concession.
"The constitution upholds private property above everything else, and
private owners are allowed to do whatever they please with their property,
with no one questioning them," said Liberona.
But in this case, it is "the Chilean state, which administers the natural
wealth of all Chileans, like the national parks and reserves, that is
failing to live up to its duty. It is the state itself that is breaking its
own laws," said the environmentalist.
(END)
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