– An environmentalist group in southern Chile won an agreement from the authorities to change the route of a highway in order to protect areas that are valuable in terms of eco-tourism and biological conservation. Francisco Solís, director of the Coalition for the Conservation of the Coastal Range, signed a pact on Jan 14 with Minister of Public Works Javier Etcheberry and the new executive director of the National Environment Commission, Gianni López.

Government officials agreed to alter the route of the National Coastal Highway, a 3,000-km road that is to unite the northern city of Arica with the far southern city of Puerto Montt. The resulting plan will consolidate conservation areas, protecting native forests and the lands belonging to indigenous communities.