Rodrigo Sanz
Futaleufú, Chile, Dec 7 (EFE).- Chile has presented two decrees to declare, for the first time, a » protected area for ecosystem conservation» of the iconic and pristine Puelo and Futaleufú rivers, in a landmark initiative applauded by local communities but considered insufficient by environmental organizations.
The initiative still needs to be approved by the State Comptroller’s Office. It extends the 2005 reform of the Water Code, which allowed the granting of » flow protection» status only for supply needs, exceptional circumstances or reasons of national interest to include regional development and the defense of the environment.
«The protection of a surface watercourse is something that will be a milestone at the national and international level,» explained Rodrigo Sanhueza, Regional Water Commissioner.
«These two decrees highlight the ecosystemic importance of the water resources not only for the flora and fauna of the river, but also for the communities that are articulated through the basin,» he added.
Two-year campaign
In 2022, local authorities and civil society movements launched the campaign «For the waters of the Futaleufú River» to protect a snow-pluvial basin that originates in the Amutui Quimey dam in Los Alerces National Park (Argentina) and flows into Lake Yelcho, with an average flow of 458 cubic meters and 105 kilometers long, 70 of them in Chile.
The river supports hundreds of square kilometers of native forest along its banks and offers great recreational opportunities, especially fishing, as it is considered one of the best places in the world for this activity.
The campaign was also launched in light of the fight against the triple planetary crisis of climate change, pollution and biodiversity loss, which mainly affect freshwater ecosystems.
The Puelo River, closer to the city of Puerto Montt, has also joined the campaign.
Criticism from environmental groups
However, the most important step in this long road to protection came in August 2016, when environmental defense groups such as Patagonia without Dams got the multinational company Endesa to sign a «renunciation of water use rights» in relation to hydroelectric projects in Patagonia.
These groups now applaud the Puelo and Futaleufú rivers decrees, but warn that they are not enough.
«They only protect one aspect of the rive, which is the flow, but a river is much more than that. When we think of a river, we think of the water, its quality, its banks, its surroundings. And in Chile there is no legal figure of protection that understands and combines all these elements,» Pía Weber, an environmental lawyer at the Puig Foundation, told Efe.
«We have marine protected areas, terrestrial protected areas. And rivers are always in limbo. The Protected Rivers initiative is trying to push for the application of existing instruments, to recognize that there are important gaps and that Chile needs to move towards permanent protection of its rivers,» she points out.
Paulo Urrutia, executive director of the NGO Beasts of the Wild South, echoes this sentiment saying that «this milestone is very important because we hope it will become a model of how to have a sustainable and respectful relationship, not only with the rivers, but also with the mountains».
Once the decrees have been passed, the last step is the approval of the Comptroller General’s Office, a simple bureaucratic procedure, according to the regional governor, Patricio Vallespín.
«We are making history and sending a signal to the country that we can protect the rivers if we work hand in hand, trusting each other and using the opportunities provided by the regulations,» he concluded. EFE
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