{"id":254378,"date":"2026-07-31T17:01:36","date_gmt":"2026-07-31T21:01:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fundaciontierraaustral.cl\/?p=254378"},"modified":"2026-07-31T17:06:08","modified_gmt":"2026-07-31T21:06:08","slug":"opinion-diez-anos-del-derecho-real-de-conservacion-celebrando-una-conservacion-sensible-e-inclusiva","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fundaciontierraaustral.cl\/eng\/opinion-diez-anos-del-derecho-real-de-conservacion-celebrando-una-conservacion-sensible-e-inclusiva\/","title":{"rendered":"OPINION | Ten Years of the Real Right of Conservation: Celebrating Sensible and Inclusive Conservation"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Victoria Alonso, Executive Director of Fundaci\u00f3n Tierra Austral<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Ten years ago, Chile passed the law creating the Derecho Real de Conservaci\u00f3n (DRC), following 8 years of legislative debate. It was a law we envisioned to close a gap and open an opportunity: for the private sector to take on a pioneering, leading role in nature conservation in Chile.<\/strong> Today we are certain that the conservation of our Chilean landscapes, in all their forms, cannot advance with the strength needed unless we strengthen private conservation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The facts speak for themselves. Thousands of hectares have been permanently protected using this instrument across Chile. <\/strong>It is a flexible and powerful tool that lends legitimacy to private conservation and brings diversity to the stewardship of nature, making room for initiatives that had previously gone unnoticed by public conservation efforts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This law, enacted to promote private sector participation in protecting the country's environmental heritage, has not only complemented the State's challenging efforts to conserve nature in a country where nearly 80% of the land is privately owned, but has also been able to accommodate numerous conservation initiatives seeking to formalize their voluntary efforts.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The diversity of these initiatives points to a common element we want to highlight on this tenth anniversary of the DRC: it establishes a form of conservation that is both sensible and inclusive.<\/strong>Fundaci\u00f3n Tierra Austral is a clear example of this. Staying true to the spirit behind the law, the foundation now has 18 conservation projects covering more than 21,600 hectares protected in perpetuity under the highest standards of private conservation in Chile<\/strong>\u2014protecting priority ecosystems, native forests, riverbanks, and watersheds essential for human consumption, along with more than 270 species of fauna and 620 species of endemic and native flora.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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However, while the DRC has promoted conservation\u2014amid a national challenge that requires 30% of the surface area of each terrestrial ecosystem to be effectively protected and managed by 2030\u2014 its misuse has also been undeniable<\/strong>. Using the DRC for purposes other than nature protection, particularly for the sale of subdivided lots in southern Chile, has put its public legitimacy at risk and tarnished the genuine commitment of individuals, communities, and companies who have chosen to permanently conserve the natural heritage of their land.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today we propose broadening the perspective and enriching this discussion by providing more information to strengthen a debate that supports private conservation, with the level of vision that protecting our biodiversity demands.<\/strong> There must be room here for all viewpoints, setting aside stereotyped and exclusionary positions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Every legal tool can be improved. The DRC, in particular\u2014given the sensitivity and inclusiveness underlying it\u2014embodies the ethical challenge of following principles capable of covering the wide range of conservation initiatives that view it as an option. The \"Standards for Private Conservation in Chile,\"<\/strong>developed by Fundaci\u00f3n Tierra Austral and As\u00ed Conserva Chile in 2020 at the request of the Ministry of Environment, address this challenge and are clear on the matter. DRC agreements must be perpetual; their primary objective must be to safeguard the ecological values of the land; and the holder must be a nonprofit organization free of conflicts of interest, with the technical capacity to enforce the agreement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That said, it's important to place emphasis where it belongs and not confuse responsibilities.<\/strong> The DRC does not authorize land subdivisions, does not exempt a project from the Environmental Impact Assessment System, and certainly does not override the oversight authority of the Agriculture and Livestock Service (SAG) or municipal governments. The problem is not the DRC\u2014it is the lack of control over those processes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Moreover, a well-crafted DRC agreement is precisely a tool for preventing that kind of impact. <\/strong>In our experience, robust conservation agreements include explicit prohibitions on land subdivision, create opportunities for collaboration with public entities or state-protected areas, and enable community engagement in the management of protected areas through participatory processes. These are practices reflected in the 18 conservation areas we work with, as well as in other projects and organizations committed to protecting nature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Ultimately, far from filling the debate over the DRC with inaccuracies, our invitation is to celebrate the DRC as a tree capable of sheltering the many conservation initiatives that once had nowhere to turn, and that have found in this instrument a path to effective conservation.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let us take this discussion as an opportunity to strengthen current regulations, with concrete ideas already underway: economic incentives for robust DRC projects, stricter requirements for conservation guarantors, and official recognition of their contribution to conservation.<\/strong> This is a form of conservation that not only involves active management and stewardship of nature (through annual monitoring and management plans), but also fosters a sense of belonging and active participation in a national challenge that needs all of us. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can red the original text published in Ladera Sur<\/em> in this link.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Columna escrita por Victoria Alonso, directora ejecutiva de Fundaci\u00f3n Tierra Austral Hace diez a\u00f1os se aprob\u00f3 en Chile la ley que crea el Derecho Real de Conservaci\u00f3n, tras 8 a\u00f1os de discusi\u00f3n legislativa. Una ley que imaginamos para cerrar una brecha y abrir una oportunidad: la de que el sector privado tuviese un rol pionero […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":254383,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"off","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-254378","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-noticias"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fundaciontierraaustral.cl\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254378","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fundaciontierraaustral.cl\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fundaciontierraaustral.cl\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fundaciontierraaustral.cl\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fundaciontierraaustral.cl\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=254378"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.fundaciontierraaustral.cl\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254378\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":254390,"href":"https:\/\/www.fundaciontierraaustral.cl\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254378\/revisions\/254390"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fundaciontierraaustral.cl\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/254383"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fundaciontierraaustral.cl\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=254378"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fundaciontierraaustral.cl\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=254378"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fundaciontierraaustral.cl\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=254378"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}