President Bachelet: “We are committed to protecting the environment, and this can be seen in concrete measures and results”
President Michelle Bachelet visited the Rio Clarillo National Reserve in the Pirque municipality, to preside over celebrations for National Environment Day. She created this special day in 2014, in order to promote environmental education and generate awareness of the importance of preserving Chile’s natural heritage.
The President was accompanied by the Environment Minister, Pablo Badenier, the Director of the National Forestry Corporation (CONAF), Aaron Cavieres, and the Mayor of Pirque, Cristian Balmaceda. President Bachelet said, “we are very proud of our landscapes in Chile, but there is still a long way to go, to learn, to understand and to protect. We don’t want anyone to miss out on this experience. On the contrary, we want to make sure that everyone can really appreciate this treasure. However, we know that the first step is to cherish and protect it.”
Therefore, in order to commemorate this day, access to all Protected Areas and National Parks in Chile during the first weekend in October will be free, so that everyone has an opportunity to understand biodiversity and ecosystems, and appreciate the conservation efforts taking place around them. CONAF will open its 101 National Parks and Reserves without charge, and Fundación Sendero de Chile (a nonprofit organization that promotes footpaths) will offer guided tours of its 14 Heritage Routes. In addition, the Metropolitan Park and other private conservation projects will also join this initiative.
The President reiterated, “as a Government, we are committed to protecting the environment, and this can be seen in our actions, in concrete measures and results, some of which have already been mentioned by the Minister. We will remain committed to this right until the end. We will continue making great strides forward in conservation, because we know that we cannot simply rest on our laurels, but must continue to make progress”.
She added, “therefore, I want to announce that we are soon going to double the area of protected areas. We are responsible for the future and are committed to the children that are here today, who represent all the children in our country. The time to act is now, not tomorrow, when it will be too late.”
By the end of last year, Chile had officially protected an area of land and sea measuring close to 30 million hectares. This includes the Francisco Coloane marine park in Magallanes and Motu Motiro Hiva marine park on Easter Island, which together make up half that area.
During the ceremony the President signed a protocol to create the Rio Clarillo National Park in Pirque, and the Río Olivares National Park in San Jose de Maipo, in response to strong support for these projects from residents in these areas. Creating these parks has required a coordinated effort between Ministries of the Environment, Agriculture, National Heritage, the Metropolitan Regional Government of Santiago and CONAF.
Other initiatives that aim to protect the environment include a commitment by President Michelle Bachelet’s government to the UN to reduce greenhouse gas emissions per unit of GDP by 30% of the 2007 baseline before the year 2030. The Government has also pledged to recover and sustainably manage 100,000 hectares of predominantly native forest over the next 15 years.