News

Unprotected Soil

Sponsors

Editorial byLa Discusión

Desertification is a problem affecting countries around the world. Globally, it is estimated to already impact 40% of the planet's surface, while in Latin America and the Caribbean, at least 300 million hectares are desertified—a figure that grows each year. In Chile, it is estimated that out of the country's 75 million hectares of land, nearly 50 million hectares suffer some degree of degradation, erosion, desertification, or are at risk of it, meaning two-thirds of the national territory.

In our country, the advance of desertification is primarily linked to certain practices generically termed "land-use change," which can be highly harmful. These include urban expansion, the extension of agricultural frontiers, the clearing of native forests on slopes or in watershed headwaters to enable agricultural or forestry crops—also known as "clearing" or cleanup work—that is, the historical replacement of native forests with exotic forestry plantations, in addition to the effects of wildfires.

Thus, the fight against deforestation and desertification should be a cornerstone of Chile's strategy to address climate change.

To achieve this, it is necessary to strengthen the state institutions responsible for safeguarding and conserving our natural heritage, particularly forests.

In this context, special attention must be paid to the reasonable but long-delayed proposal to transform Conaf into a public National Forest Service. In fact, the main recommendation made late last year by the Forest Policy Council during the extraordinary plenary session analyzing Chile's forestry institutional framework was precisely to resume discussions on this initiative.

It is essential to understand the importance of native forests in halting desertification and protecting watercourses and soils. The Native Forest Recovery and Forestry Promotion Law (No. 20,283), in its Article 17, establishes the need for stringent protective measures. However, after 15 years in effect, the opposite has occurred, as these requirements have been downplayed through transitional regulations, doing little to control desertification.

The persistent degradation of our natural heritage and weak regulations do not help the country, as they prevent the institutions legally tasked with forest protection from fulfilling their role. On the contrary, the public apparatus tends to favor the development of "productive projects" that threaten our forests, waters, and soils.

It is necessary to support the creation of public institutions where productive development, natural heritage conservation, and oversight are handled by separate services. It is unreasonable for the same entity to be responsible for promoting exotic plantations, conserving native forests, and overseeing this very same area.