CONAF and the Municipality of Pinto pay tribute to park rangers of the Ñuble National Reserve

The National Forestry Corporation (CONAF) and the Municipality of Pinto held an emotional recognition ceremony for park rangers of the Ñuble National Reserve, within the framework of the International Ranger Day and the commemoration of the Centenary of Chile's National Parks.

The event took place in the Municipal Council Hall of Pinto, led by Mayor Jairo del Pino Lema and the regional director of CONAF Ñuble, Domingo González Zúñiga; accompanied by the Seremi of Environment, Angélica Cuevas Palominos; the Seremi of National Assets, Rodrigo Herrera Parra; and the acting director (s) of the Biodiversity and Protected Areas Service (SBAP) in Ñuble, Nicolás Gatica Cárdenas.

Those honored were Eladio Ramírez, Alberto Peralta, Jorge Alarcón, Lupercio Peña, and Juan Sepúlveda, highlighting the role they have played in the management of the protected area, in the implementation of plans to protect its biodiversity, with special emphasis on the southernmost populations of the huemul, as well as in matters of environmental conservation education, promotion of sustainable tourism, and in the progress of the process seeking the recategorization of the Ñuble Reserve to a national park.

The director of CONAF Ñuble, Domingo González Zúñiga, emphasized that "every enabled trail, every guided visitor, and every conserved species has behind it the imprint of silent and ongoing work by our park rangers. In some cases, with experience spanning nearly half a century of work, carried out at the beginning under very difficult conditions, and which today involves the challenge of passing on that knowledge to new generations."

For his part, the mayor of Pinto, Jairo del Pino Lema, stated that "it has been an emotional recognition ceremony for park rangers who, with dedication and commitment, have devoted a significant part of their lives to public service, through the protection of biodiversity and ecosystems of the Ñuble mountain range. We feel very proud that it was Pinto, the commune where we delivered this regional tribute."

The ceremony was crowned with the delivery of recognition certificates and the floor being given to the park ranger and administrator of the Ñuble National Reserve, Eladio Ramírez Navarrete, who stated, "we are very grateful and moved by the recognition they have given us, because carrying out the work of park rangers has allowed us to have permanent contact with nature, protecting native forests and wildlife, where we have also had the pride of dedicating a large part of our work to the conservation of the huemul's habitat."