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Chile has a well-documented structural dependence upon resource extraction, yet less is known about the social and symbolic significance of the environmental changes related to such a dependence. Since 1973, Chile's timber plantation complex increased nearly seven-fold in terms of area, prompting deep socioecological transformations in the countryside. In this paper, we focus on the workings of memory and nostalgia among peasant farmers living at the fringes of tree-farm expansion. Based on qualitative research and participatory mapping in three mountainous villages, our main argument focuses on the affective dimensions of land use change, particularly that nostalgia resists the symbolic reproduction of monocultures, while its absence seems to accept tree farms as an unescapable, unfolding process. We characterize three peasant categories of landscape: la montana (native forest), el monte (successional forest), and el bosque (timber plantations). The peasants' use of the words montana and bosque is of particular interest, as it counters the false discursive equivalence between timber plantations and forests that has been adopted by forestry and climate-change policymakers alike. Our case provides an in-depth analysis of the ways rural dwellers inhabit monocultured landscape, entangled with memories and emotions. Paying attention to gendered and intergenerational dynamics, as timber farm expansion has taken place over the last forty years, our results have the potential to inform ongoing discussion of mitigation policies based on global afforestation in the Global South.

The landscape of south-central Chile, originally a mosaic of pristine native forests and crops, has been converted into tree plantations and agroindustry. Farmlands and native forests have undergone a rapid conversion to fast-growing non-native pine and eucalyptus plantations, as well as irrigated fruits production for international exports. These two drivers have severely transformed the socio-ecological system, resulting in less biodiversity, more erosion, emigration and work depence, less drinking water, and a fire-prone landscape. A participatory approach helps not only to visualise tensions in the territory, but it is also useful for stakeholders to explore the possible environmental futures. However, frequently the development of land-use scenarios is mostly based on the views of experts and policymakers, missing out a wealth of local knowledge about the environment which experts seek to comprehend. This work aims at quantifying the impacts of the aforementioned land cover changes in water provision for the population and ecosystems, by incorporating the views of the people that still live in a drought-prone rural area in the construction of different narratives representing future land management scenarios. The study area is the Cauquenes River Basin, a mediterranean catchment located in central Chile, historically known for wine production and rainfed agriculture. To develop the narratives, we conducted semi-structured interviews to collect and analyse qualitative information using a coding system systematised in the Atlas.ti software. Using 2050 as the simulation target year, narratives gave us the guidelines to develop the spatial scenarios. Then, using an open-source land use change model- called CLUE-s we constructed scenarios of future land use change. The CLUE-s algorithm allocates land uses based on the suitability of each land use as well as spatial regulations. To assess the impact on water provision of each scenario, they were evaluated using a hydrological model (SWAT+).Our results identified two different narratives: i) rural development: where water availability could increase, if a protection strip is established near water courses, that is, scrublands and native forest are assigned in these areas and, rainfed agriculture is strengthened and reach the extension it had in 1990 and ii) agro-industrial development, in which the central government promotes irrigated agriculture for international export markets, at the same time, passive preservation plans for protect native forest are applied according to the current forestry regulation. We expect that this participatory approach will enrich and strengthen adaptive management capacity at the local level, to be able to face the challenges ahead presented by a drier future.

Chile is one of the first documented nations to undergo a forest transition dominated by tree farm expansion. Scenario modelling can inform the possible outcomes of forest conservation policies, especially when the scenarios are rooted in the political dynamics that shaped the current legislation. In Chile, tree farms of non-native Radiata Pine and Eucalyptus provide a fast return on investment. Today, fast-growing plantations compete for land area with forest conservation, putting the unique bundle of ecosystem services provided by the latter at risk. Based on a previous political analysis, we propose scenarios projected to 2030 to compare a business-as-usual scenario with A) a conservation scenario based on strict land use restrictions B) an optimistic conservation scenario; C) an unrestricted industrial land use scenario; and D) a restricted industrial land use scenario. The scenarios differ in terms of the implemented policy instruments and the land area required for each land use. We compared these scenarios in terms of carbon stock, control of erosion and wood production, all of which are relevant in the current Chilean political debate. A conservation scenario (A), that combines incentives and restrictions, would imply the largest increase in native forest and regulation services, namely carbon stock and erosion control. In contrast, an unrestricted industrial land use scenario (C) leads to the worst outcomes in terms of erosion compared to a business-as-usual scenario. This study seeks to link political and economic processes underpinning land use change to environmental outcomes, while contributing to the larger discussion on forest policy, forest transitions and environmental outcomes.

The relationship between media and the construction of environmental policy has been studied acutely in the Global North. However, less attention has been paid to deeper cultural symbols displayed ...

Maintaining biodiversity is crucial for ensuring human well-being. We participated in a workshop held in Palenque, Mexico, in August 2018, that brought together thirty mostly early-career scientists working in different disciplines (natural, social and economic sciences) with the aim of identifying research priorities for studying the contributions of biodiversity to people and how these contributions might be impacted by environmental change. Five main groups of questions emerged: (1) Enhancing the quantity, quality, and availability of biodiversity data; (2) Integrating different knowledge systems; (3) Improved methods for integrating diverse data; (4) Fundamental questions in ecology and evolution; and (5) Multi-level governance across boundaries. We discuss the need for increased capacity building and investment in research programs to address these challenges.

Maintaining biodiversity is crucial for ensuring human well-being. We participated in a workshop held in Palenque, Mexico, in August 2018, that brought together thirty mostly early-career scientists working in different disciplines (natural, social and economic sciences) with the aim of identifying research priorities for studying the contributions of biodiversity to people and how these contributions might be impacted by environmental change. Five main groups of questions emerged: (1) Enhancing the quantity, quality, and availability of biodiversity data; (2) Integrating different knowledge systems; (3) Improved methods for integrating diverse data; (4) Fundamental questions in ecology and evolution; and (5) Multi-level governance across boundaries. We discuss the need for increased capacity building and investment in research programs to address these challenges.

Chile is a well-studied case of how neoliberal institutions have affected the use of natural resources. However, only few studies have focused on how neoliberalization has influenced the social constructions of natural resources policy. This study aims to understand how forest policy has a contested meaning among different stakeholders. This study identifies five discourses among the stakeholders who were involved in the congressional discussion of the Native Forest Law (NFL). The main difference among the discourses is whether the target of the NFL should be the individual or should it be some collective entity. The property rights discourse, articulated by the forest industry, embraced free-market ideals. The “abandoned forest” discourse, articulated by government officials, made interesting parallels between the situation of the forests and the specific political conditions of Chile after Pinochet's dictatorship. The environmentalist discourse advocated for conservation through regulation, while the “local development” discourse, articulated by some NGOs, embraced egalitarian ideals. The peasant discourse, uttered by organizations that have the closest contact with native forest, uttered ambivalent identities. Given that the Constitution of Chile only acknowledges individuals' rights, peasants' organizations only get to claim political power when they articulate themselves as individual owners. In this way, the neoliberal reforms are influencing the construction of subjectivities in the Chilean forestry discourses.

In this study, we combined policy analysis with landscape change modeling to simulate outcomes of alternative forest conservation instruments proposed by opposing policy coalitions. In 1992, concern over rapid land conversion to timber plantations (Pinus radiata and Eucalyptus spp.) in Chile gave rise to a protracted policy process resulting in the 2008 Native Forest Law (NFL), which subsidizes reforestation and management with native forest. To date, however, NFL has had little impact on native forest conservation. To understand how the policy process that created the NFL shaped its outcomes, we employed the Dyna-CLUE modeling approach to simulate land use changes in south-central Chile from 1993 to 2007, based on 3 scenarios: (1) enactment of NFL in 1993 when the law was originally debated, and the different configurations of subsidies and regulations proposed in the NFL policy debate by (2) the industrial forestry coalition and (3) the forest conservation coalition. We observed no major difference in native forest loss between simulated outcomes of the industry-advocated policy and the actual NFL legislation. The conservation coalition’s policy scenario increased native forest area, primarily in shrub steppe areas, but also via conversion of pine plantations if incentive payments were large enough. However, NFL payments are inadequate to make native forest management a viable economic land use alternative to industrial pine plantations, which are also subsidized in Chile. Gains in native forest cover occurred mostly on lands under ancestral indigenous claims (unrelated to the discussion of the NFL). We conclude that the NFL, even if enacted in 1993, would have been ineffective in preventing native forest loss, because tree plantations are more profitable and NFL regulations were weakened by the industrial coalition that opposed—and strongly shaped—the final legislation. Effective incentives for protecting early-successional forests and shrublands are needed to mitigate further losses and foster recovery of Chile’s native forests.

En el contexto de la conferencia de las Partes sobre Cambio Climático (COP25) se plantea que el sector forestal sería uno de los grandes sumideros de carbono que le permitirían a Chile disminuir la intensidad de sus emisiones de carbono. El gobierno plantea que las opciones de mitigación que ofrece el manejo de bosque nativo, junto con una renovada expansión de las plantaciones forestales contribuirían a esta meta. Ante esta propuesta cabe preguntarse cuanto ha invertido el Estado en desarrollar investigación, tecnología y desarrollo productivo de estas dos opciones. La hipótesis es que se ha invertido más en especies exóticas que en bosque nativo. Se elaboró y analizó una base de datos de proyectos financiados total o parcialmente por el Estado. Se analizaron 1.139 proyectos entre los años 1981 y 2018, los que se compararon en términos de los montos asignados, dinámicas temporales y espaciales. Se asignó en total 1,5 veces más fondos a proyectos de investigación y desarrollo en plantaciones forestales que a proyectos similares basados en especies nativas, siendo un proyecto de especies exóticas 1,6 más caro que su contraparte. Desde 2010, ha habido una tendencia al alza en proyectos sobre especies nativas, sin embargo, esto se sostiene únicamente en el Fondo de Investigación para el Bosque Nativo. Se discuten las implicancias de estas desigualdades de conocimiento y desarrollo. Se concluye que las diferencias en inversión y desarrollo en el sector forestal han ayudado a construir sector basado en plantaciones forestales muy rentables, en desmedro del desarrollo de los bosques nativos y sus territorios.

The main forest transitions that took place in south-central Chile from the end of the last glaciation to the present are reviewed here with the aim of identifying the main climatic and socio-economic drivers of land cover change. The first great transition, driven primarily by global warming, is the postglacial expansion of forests, with human populations from about 15,000 cal. yr. BP, restricted to coastlines and river basins and localized impact of forest fire. Charcoal evidence of fire increased in south-central Chile and in global records from about 12,000 to 6000 cal. yr. BP, which could be attributed at least partly to people. The subsequent expansion of agriculture led to much clearing of forests and the spread of weeds and other indicators of open habitats. The Spanish colonial period in America may have been followed by a transient expansion of forest cover into abandoned land, as indigenous population declined rapidly due to disease and slaughter. The 18th and 19th centuries brought about extensive loss of forests due to the massive impact of lumber extraction for mining operations both in central Chile and in western North America. Two centuries of intensive deforestation, coupled to grazing by cattle and extremely variable rainfall had long-lasting effects on forest cover in south-central Chile, which persist until today. The transition from a preindustrial to an industrial society brought about the “golden age” of timber harvest, assisted by mobile sawmills and railway transportation since the late 1800s. These advances led to the exhaustion of native commercial timber by the late 20th century in south-central Chile. In North America, harvestable stands were exhausted in New England and the Midwest around 1920. Settlement of the independent territories in the late 1800s and early 1900s implied vast burning and clearing of land and mounting soil erosion. Industrial forestry, based on government-subsidized massive plantations of short-rotation exotic trees, developed in the late 20th century, in connection with postindustrial displacement of exploitative activities from developed to third-world nations. In the last two decades, economic globalization and free trade promoted the expansion of new crops and further decline of woodlands, despite modest increases in forest cover. These patterns are repeated in many Latin American countries. To prevent further depletion of native forest resources and to provide an insurance against climate change, in the 21st century developing nations should aim at: (1) relocating subsidies from fiber farms to restoring diverse forest cover, (2) promoting ecosystem management of diverse forest and crops within landscapes, and (3) fostering diverse cultural relationships between people and their land.

Indexación: Web of Science; Scielo. La Estación Biológica Senda Darwin (EBSD) constituye un centro de investigación inmerso en el paisaje rural del norte de la Isla de Chiloé (42º S), donde fragmentos del bosque siempreverde original coexisten con praderas de uso ganadero, turberas de Sphagnum, matorrales sucesionales, plantaciones de Eucalyptus y otras formaciones de origen antropogénico. Desde 1994 hemos realizado estudios de largo plazo centrados en algunas especies de plantas (e.g., Pilgerodendron uviferum D. Don) y animales (e.g., Aphrastura spinicauda Gmelin, Dromiciops gliroides [Thomas]) catalogados como amenazados o escasamente conocidos y en ecosistemas nativos de importancia regional y global (e.g., turberas de Sphagnum, bosque Valdiviano y Nordpatagónico). Las investigaciones han considerado las respuestas de las especies y de los ecosistemas frente al cambio antropogénico del paisaje y cambio climático, así como los efectos de diferentes formas de manejo. Este escenario es semejante al de otras regiones de Chile y Latinoamérica lo que da generalidad a nuestros resultados y modelos. En este período, investigadores asociados a la EBSD han producido más de un centenar de publicaciones en revistas nacionales e internacionales y 30 tesis de pre y postgrado. Entendiendo el papel clave de los seres humanos en los procesos ecológicos de la zona rural, la EBSD ha desarrollado un programa de educación ecológica y vinculación del avance científico con la sociedad local y nacional. La integración de la EBSD a la naciente red de Sitios de Estudios Socio-Ecológicos de Largo Plazo en Chile consolidará y fortalecerá la investigación básica y aplicada que realizamos para proyectarla hacia la siguiente década. Senda Darwin Biological Station (SDBS) is a field research center immersed in the rural landscape of northern Chiloé island (42º S), where remnant patches of the original evergreen forests coexist with open pastures, secondary successional shrublands, Sphagnum bogs, Eucalyptus plantations and other anthropogenic cover types, constituting an agricultural frontier similar to other regions in Chile and Latin America. Since 1994, we have conducted long-term research on selected species of plants (e.g., Pilgerodendron uviferum) and animals (e.g., Aphrastura spinicauda, Dromiciops glirioides) that are considered threatened, poorly known or important for their ecological functions in local ecosystems, and on ecosystems of regional and global relevance (e.g., Sphagnum bogs, North Patagonian and Valdivian rain forests). Research has assessed the responses of species and ecosystems to anthropogenic land-use change, climate change, and the impact of management. During this period, more than 100 scientific publications in national and international journals, and 30 theses (graduate and undergraduate) have been produced by scientists and students associated with SDBS. Because of our understanding of the key role that humans play in ecological processes at this agricultural frontier, since the establishment of SDBS we have been committed to creative research on the communication of science to society and ecological education. The integration of SDBS to the nascent Chilean network of long-term socio-ecological research will consolidate and strengthen basic and applied research to project our work into the next decade. http://ref.scielo.org/vbm4r5

The extent of the northern distribution range of Diplodon chilensis is reported herein from specimens collected in the Rio Grande, an affluent of the Rio Limari located to the south of the village of Carachilla (30o28'S;71o05'W)