They are immense, evergreen and millennial conifers. They are mainly found in the countries of South America, they reach incredible heights and are a protected and sacred species for the Mapuche people: they are the Aracauries and in Chile they have escaped their ruinous cut.
In the region of La Araucanía (so called not by chance), in fact, they wanted to eliminate 96 to make way for some road improvement projects.
But the Chilean government had to go back thanks to the pressures of indigenous communities and environmental groups.
What happened
On July 18, the National Forestry Corporation (Conaf) had authorized the demolition of 57 specimens in the Melipeuco-InaCalma section (route S-61) and 39 in Icalma-Liucura (R-95 route). The measure was intended to free the strip for road works, but in a few days more than twenty Pewenche communities have been given, NGOs such as the Austerra company and movements such as Defenseamos Patagonia.
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The campaigns on social networks with the hashtag #salvemoslaaucaria and the letters to Conaf and Mop (the Ministry of Public Works) have increased political pressure. The regional and national media titled the controversy and the citizens replied videos of Araucaria forests that quickly became viral.
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An unparalleled triumph, a “previous for the defense of the native forest“, The environmentalists underlined, while according to the Pewenche leaders, the state” recognizes the spiritual and cultural value of the Pewén “(Le Aracaurie, ed). The Mop will now resume the original path, which avoids deforestation, and will convene new working groups to balance connectivity and conservation.
With this reversal, Araucaria Araucana once again avoids the threat of the chainsaw and gives us an indispensable lesson: a strong social pressure can change the course of public decisions when the natural heritage is at stake.
Sources: AUSTERRA / Defenseamos Patagonia
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