Americas > Chilean national fund eyes $100 mln in financing to enhance conservation of protected areas

Chilean national fund eyes $100 mln in financing to enhance conservation of protected areas

Published 12:24 on April 2, 2024  /  Last updated at 12:24 on April 2, 2024  / Sergio Colombo /  Americas, Biodiversity, South & Central

The Chilean government has presented the board of a national fund tasked with mobilising resources for the conservation and restoration of biodiversity, seeking to raise efforts on bridging the financial gap that hampers protected areas (PAs) preservation in the country.

The Chilean government has presented the board of a national fund tasked with mobilising resources for the conservation and restoration of biodiversity, seeking to raise efforts on bridging the financial gap that hampers protected areas (PAs) preservation in the country.

Established in 2021, the Chile Nature Fund (Fondo Naturaleza Chile) will be chaired by Carolina Schmidt, former Chilean minister of environment and president of the COP25 UN climate summit held in 2019 in Madrid, Spain.

Schmidt said that the initiative aims to activate new sources of financing to enhance the conservation of PAs, through setting up a $100-million endowment fund.

“We need to mobilise national and international resources both from the public and private sectors to enable the effective conservation and restoration of the country’s natural heritage,” said Schmidt.

“Biodiversity conservation is a priority. We have a significant financing gap that the state cannot fill alone. That is why this fund is so important,” added Chile’s minister of environment, Maisa Rojas.

The fund will also support conservation projects to increase the resilience of watersheds, according to its website.

The Chile Nature Fund board includes:

  • Dominique Herve, director of the Environmental Law and Policy Programme, and professor at the Diego Portales University
  • Andres Antivil, president of Fundacion Empresas Indigenas, and former presidential adviser for COP25
  • Kathleen Barclay, president of the non-profit Endeavor
  • Antonio Lara, forest engineer and professor at the Austral University of Chile
  • Hema’ny Molina, president of the Selk’nam Chile Corporation
  • Leo Prieto, founder of Lemu

UNDERFUNDED

Chile is among the 10 most underfunded countries for conservation of PAs worldwide, a recent study said.

While over 24% of land is protected at a national level, conservation efforts are unequal throughout the country, and vast areas across central and northern Chile remain exposed to changes in land use linked to the forestry and agricultural sectors.

Furthermore, PAs are often protected only on paper due to funding shortfalls, Schmidt recently said in an interview published by the Chilean newspaper El Mercurio, emphasising that less than 20% have an effective management plan.

Although Chile’s network of marine protected areas (MPAs) is the fifth largest in the world, covering more than 150 mln hectares, conservation efforts are hindered by an estimated $350 mln financing gap, resulting in a widespread lack of monitoring systems.

“We have a large number of protected areas, but we have neither the funding nor the mechanisms for effective protection and restoration, which impacts significantly people’s lives and economic growth,” Schmidt said.

Chile is home to approximately 30,000 native species, including plants, animals, algae, fungi, and bacteria, 25% of which are endemic, according to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), with the central and southern zones of the country regarded as a global biodiversity hotspot.

By Sergio Colombo – sergio@carbon-pulse.com

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