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Small and Medium Forest Enterprises Request Urgent Government Aid After Fires

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In this new edition of the event that annually brings together representatives of the forestry sector, the theme was: "Fires, Causes, Impacts, and Challenges," focusing on the issues faced by small and medium-sized forest owners as a result of the fires.

Organized by the Agromen nursery and the Chilean Wood Corporation, the meeting was attended by the Presidential Delegate and head of reconstruction for the Ñuble, Biobío, and La Araucanía regions, Paulina Saball; the Executive Secretary for the Reconstruction Fund of the Ministry of Finance, Trinidad Undurraga; the Executive Director of Conaf, Christian Little; the Mayor of Portezuelo, René Schuffeneger; the President of Corma, Juan José Ugarte; and the Director of Agromen and host, José Manuel Contreras, among others.

In her presentation, Presidential Delegate Paulina Saball highlighted the key aspects of the Reconstruction Plan.
"First, affected families must be able to get back on their feet, and that requires direct aid from the State. Second, there is a need to reactivate the productive activities in each territory. Third, it involves addressing the inequities between the affected areas."

For Corma, this meeting marked the beginning of a serious, long-term commitment to continue positioning the sector as a pillar of Chile's sustainable development. This was stated by the association's president, Juan José Ugarte, who emphasized:
"This emergency is not over; today we are facing a social, productive, and environmental challenge," and added: "The associations, alongside the public sector, want to take charge of these demands and work long-term, quickly implementing local-scale nurseries in neighbors' homes, communities, and with mayors, to recover productive potential. This way, next year we can launch campaigns for native and productive forest plantations, watershed protection, and job creation."

The 19th edition of Trawu Forestal also included the participation of the Manager of the Chilean Forestry Contractors Association (Acoforag), René Muñoz; the President of the Chilean Biomass Association (AChBIOM), Rodrigo O'Ryan; the President of the Chilean Native Forest Owners Association, José Cárter; the President of Corma's Small and Medium Forest Enterprises, Pablo Mieres; the President of Pymemad, Michelle Esquerré; and the President of the College of Forestry Engineers of Chile, Roberto Cornejo.

The Needs of Municipalities and SMEs

The emergency situation has also persisted for mayors of affected municipalities, who have had to focus aid on those who lost everything. In this regard, the Mayor of Portezuelo, René Schuffeneger, commented, "We must face this challenge with a public-private alliance, as this has affected forests, productive systems, infrastructure, drinking water committees, and homes, among other things."

Small and Medium Forest Enterprises Request Urgent Government Aid After Fires

Meanwhile, the Executive Director of Conaf, Christian Little, highlighted the meeting as a space for reflection and dialogue to address "the crisis affecting producers managing plantations, native forest owners, and the agricultural sector, who have lost part of their livelihoods, and to determine how we move forward."

Meanwhile, the Director of Agromen and host, José Manuel Contreras, stated:
"We don’t want a repeat of 2017, when nothing was done for the SMEs affected by the fires. We need this to translate into concrete actions, as for the first time, the different forestry associations share the same sentiment about what happened and the desire to rise again and take pride in this activity, as always."

Source:www.paislobo.cl