UNITED NATIONS DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMMEGLOBAL ENVIRONMENT FACILITY

PROPOSAL FOR PDF B FUNDING

UNDP Project Number: CHI/02/GXX (PIMS 1859)Project Title: Conservation of Valdivian Temperate Forest

Ecoregion BiodiversityDuration: PDF B 12 months; Full Project 6 yearsCountry: ChileFocal Area: BiodiversityOperational Programme: Forest Ecosystems OP # 3, BD Strategic Priority 1: Catalyzing

Sustainability of Protected AreasImplementing Agency: UNDPExecuting Agency: Comisión Nacional del Medio Ambiente (CONAMA) Country Eligibility: Chile Ratified the CBD in 1994Funding Request: PDF B: US $ 424,000 Total

US$ 334.000 GEF US$ 90,000 Government of Chile Full Project (Estimates): US $ 8-12 million Total US $ 4 million GEF US$ 5-7 million in co-funding from the Government of Chile, IDB, Private Sector, and other donors (to be confirmed)

Block A Grant Awarded: Not requestedEstimated Work Programme Submission: January 2005-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

PROJECT SUMMARY

1. The proposed full scale project will develop the capacity for long-term sustainability of conservation in the globally outstanding Valdivian Temperate Rain Forest Ecoregion  of the Los Lagos Region of Chile. It will centre on the definition and adoption of a Biodiversity Conservation Plan that will create a regional conversation system, or matrix, addressing deficiencies in existing protected areas and creating new ones. These will include the range of land-use categories, from strict conservation to sustainable-use corridors, that will provide connectivity between habitat stands and protection across the broader landscape. Existing protected areas will have managerial and financial capacities strengthened and new ones will be established and co-managed through innovative partnerships including public-private and community-indigenous. Sustainable-use corridors and conservation at the broader landscape level will be enhanced by mainstreaming biodiversity conservation principles into the region’s main productive activities with particular emphasis on the forestry sector. This will entail institutional capacity building and the revision of control and regulatory measures as well as outreach activities to raise biodiversity awareness across a broad range of regional actors. It will also include a specific focus on increasing capacity to address one of the regions growing threats, that of invasive species, and to develop a financial mechanism for increasing local participation in conservation. The project will centre on an area of approx. 1.5 million hectares, representing over 25% of this ecoregion’s area in Chile, and in a region where the Valdivian forest reaches its peak biodiversity and where intervention will achieve greatest global benefits. While cross-cutting actions to mainstream biodiversity and increase multi-stakeholder awareness will deliver improved conservation to all this region, site-specific interventions would focus on 450,000 hectares along the Coastal

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mountains of Osorno and Valdivia that includes the Huilliches-Lafquenches Indigenous Development Area, and will contemplate a corridor across the Central Valley to the Andes.

LINKS TO NATIONAL PRIORITIES, ACTION PLANS AND PROGRAMMES

2. Since the mid-nineties, the Chilean government (GoC) has progressively adhered to international initiatives addressing environmental deterioration by fostering environmental protection, and natural resource and biodiversity conservation through legal, institutional and political means. In 1994, Chile ratified the Convention on Biological Diversity and in 1995 became actively involved in bringing about the Santiago Declaration on Criteria and Indicators of Sustainable Forest Management (1995) in the framework of the Montreal Process. This Declaration calls for the sustainable management of temperate and boreal forest ecosystems.

3. The GoC’s ability to address environmental issues progressed significantly in 1994, as a result of the enactment of the Environmental Protection Law (Nº 19,300). This law established a legal framework for the development of efficient environmental management tools, including an environmental impact assessment system, quality standards, resource management and pollution abatement plans. The National Environment Commission (CONAMA) was created under this framework and is responsible for co-ordinating environmental programmes at local and national levels. In 1998, an Environmental Policy for Sustainable Development was drawn up, establishing the guidelines for national efforts to achieve sustainability in the context of development.

4. The GoC has also developed a policy for the conservation of the country’s Renewable Natural Patrimony, for which a main objective is the conservation of relevant environmental components such as the nation’s biodiversity. This is to be achieved through the implementation of a system of wildlife protected areas, of public-private character, linked through biological corridors. For this, the GoC proposes a series of financial mechanisms for the establishment of environmental funds, to act as an incentive for the creation of private protected areas. In addition, a comprehensive analysis of the elements affecting the conservation and sustainable use of the country’s native forests was established as a government priority, particularly in recognition of the variety of ecosystem services provided by forests, as well as the existence of innovative mechanisms and partnerships to support their sustainable management.

5. A recent GEF Country Dialogue Workshop (September 2002) defined priorities for requesting GEF support in Chile. The current request closely follows the conclusions for the workshop that placed as a top priority, those projects that conserve biodiversity of internationally recognised importance, that conform with the environmental agenda of the country and that incorporate measures to benefit indigenous groups, count with participation of the private sector and seek to reduce the threat of invasive species in natural vegetation.

PROJECT CONTEXT

Global Significance of Biodiversity

6. Chile has the largest surface area covered by temperate rain forest in South America and more than half of the temperate rain forests of the Southern Hemisphere. These forests once formed a continuous cover that stretched from the Coastal Mountain Range in Western Chile, across the

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inter-cordillera Central Valley to the Andean Mountain Range in the east. The wide range of topographical, climatic and edaphic conditions across this extension result in considerable differences in biodiversity between the extremes points and has formed a mosaic of forest types. These forests collectively compose the Valdivian Temperate Rain Forest Ecoregion, extending in Chile from the political boundaries of the Bio Bio to Aysen (35º-55º S), and in Argentina, along the eastern slopes of the Andes mountain range (37-47º S), and covering a total of approximately 166,000 Km2. This ecoregion is considered vulnerable, globally outstanding in terms of biological distinctiveness, and was placed as highest priority for conservation on a regional scale (Dinerstein et al., 1995). It represents one of the world’s five major temperate rainforest ecosystems and is known to contain many unusual species and higher taxa. The area is also distinguished as one of the Global 200 Terrestrial Ecoregions of WWF, forms the southern extreme of the Central Chile Hotspot in the Conservation International priority hotspots programme, and has centres of floral diversity recognised for their world-wide uniqueness by the WWF/IUCN (Olson et al., 1998).

7. The Valdivian evergreen forests are completely isolated from other South American forests due to the mountainous barriers of the Andes, and the country’s arid ecosystems to the north (Armesto et al., 1998) and as such demonstrate extraordinarily high levels of endemism. The level of endemism is as high as 90% for vascular plant species (50% in Chilean territory), and 34% for generic plants, with the majority of forest genera represented by a single species in each case. Among endemic plant species, the conifer Fitzroya cupressoides is the second longest-living species on the planet, with specimens as old as 3,000 years, and has confirmed potential for palaeo-environmental reconstruction in the Southern Hemisphere (Lara & Villalba, 1993). Among vertebrates, endemism varies from 30% in birds to 80% in amphibians (Armesto et al., 1996), while knowledge regarding the biodiversity of invertebrates is still incipient.

8. The forests also exhibit a remarkable structural complexity, in terms of the diversity of woody species, the range of growth forms (trees, shrubs, lianas, epiphytes, hemiparasites), its vertical stratification, spatial heterogeneity, and the age variations of tree populations. This structural complexity, which reaches its maximum expression in old-growth primary forests, supports the rich biological diversity of these ecosystems and includes areas with the largest diversity of lichens and bryophytes in the world (Galloway, 1996, in Armesto, 1998)1.

9. Studies of forest ecosystems in undisturbed environments have suggested that the nutrient cycles of temperate rainforests, particularly the nitrogen cycle, differ radically from those of forests located in regions subject to severe air pollution, as occurs in the Northern Hemisphere (Hedin et al., 1995). The study of old forests along the coast of Chile provided a valuable baseline for the comparison and understanding of the consequences of anthropogenic alterations in the nutrient cycles of forests subject to high nitrogen deposits (Hedin et al., 1995). Importantly, study results indicated that the balance of the capture, retention and loss of essential nutrients in Chilean forest ecosystems, depended on maintaining the key biological processes mediated by micro-organisms, fungi, and other groups of poorly studied organisms. These processes would be seriously affected by potential losses in the biological diversity of Valdivian temperate forests, and particularly by their conversion to other land uses.

1 Reduced extreme temperature fluctuations, due to the oceanic influence on the Chilean climate, together with high rainfall rates (2,000 to 4,000 mm/year) and tree longevity, create favourable conditions for the development of a rich epiphytic flora.

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10. Finally, other studies have indicated the importance of the evergreen forest in relation to the oligotrophic features of the lakes of southern Chile. These have been acknowledged as the purest water reserves in the world, (Soto & Campos, 1997). Forest cover of the respective watersheds plays a vital role in both the quality and quantity of these reserves and forest conversion to other land uses could cause severe changes in these environmental services. Such interventions could also result in significant losses of biodiversity in aquatic environments, which already possess reduced and unique fauna, given their geographic isolation (Soto & Stockner, 1996).

Threats to Globally Significant Biodiversity

11. From the early 19th Century onwards agricultural and livestock activities increasingly expanded throughout the fertile inter-cordillera Central Valley causing extensive habitat loss and fragmentation to the Valdivian forest in this area. Forest cover was gradually reduced to the inter-cordillera and Andean mountain ranges and to isolated points of connection across the valley. Further land-use changes, including commercial logging of native forest and plantations of exotic species reduced natural habitat still more. Today, natural habitat remnants of Valdivian Forest are estimated to cover 5.16 million hectares. The most extensive, pristine and biodiversity-rich stands of these are found along the Coastal Mountain Range which has an estimated forest cover of 1 million hectares. Large stands are also found along the Andean range but these tend to have less structural complexity and hence lower biodiversity. There is also one area between the mountain ranges where forest cover is largely continuous, permitting original gene flow and providing the one last connecting point between the western and eastern extremes of this ecoregion’s extension. This natural forest corridor is located close to the city of Valdivian and is mountainous area that cuts across the central valley and links the Coastal and Andean mountain ranges (Map in Annex).

12. Collectively, the remaining Valdivian habitat stands hold extensive and highly representative representations of the ecoregion and support a large percentage of its original biodiversity. However, these are being increasingly pressurised by a range of threats that are intensifying still further ecosystem fragmentation and degradation. The most recent reports of native forest cover in the project area show losses of approximately 5,400 hectares per year (CONAF-CONAMA, 1999), representing a rate of loss of 0.27%. This has been attributed to a series of proximate threats the most important of which are described below in para. 13 to 18 together with their root causes.

13. Fast-growing Forest Plantations using exotic species, particularly Pinus radiata and Eucalyptus spp, are causing substitution of native forest, increasing species loss and producing genetic impoverishment of forest ecosystems. Legally the clearance of native forest for exotic plantations is not permitted although Law 701 establishes certain exceptions. However, once cleared or highly degraded, previously native forested land can be sold to forestry companies for planting. In the absence of alternative livelihoods, this can inadvertently stimulate small forest owners to degrade or convert forested land to shrubs and pasture for subsistence agriculture and subsequently sell this land for plantations. Over the last two decades incentives for the establishment of fast-growing species have been developed further increasing the spread of plantations in the region and placing more pressure on native forest. In the north of the Los Lagos Region, approx. 2,200 hectares of land are converted annually to fast growth forest plantations, many of which are concentrated in the foothills of the Coastal Range (CONAF-CONAMA, 1999).

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14. Unsustainable logging at both the industrial scale and by small native forest owners, is degrading native forest and increasing habitat fragmentation. Industrial logging is more concentrated in the Andean Mountain range. Permission for selective logging in native forest is dependent on the approval of a forest management plan. While most of the industrial concessions fulfil this requirement, there is a poor understanding within both the private and government sectors on how to manage forest for biodiversity and commercial values. The result is that these management plans rarely include biodiversity management principles or adopt forestry practices based on sustainability and using ecological criteria. Logging by small native forest owners is more widespread throughout the region. These forest owners can adopt two legally viable options. One is logging for use as chips and the other is forest clearing for conversion for subsistence farming With the current levels of poverty and the absence of incentives for sustainable alterative land-uses, the land clearance option can lead to the plantation of exotic species as explained in above in paragraph 13, (Lara & Veblen, 1993).

15. Firewood Collection. Firewood constitutes a high percentage of domestic energy in the region with an estimated 1.6 million m3 of firewood/year being collected mostly from natural forests. This is used not only for heating and cooking, but also holds an important cultural and social function as important meetings are held around the fireplace. Whilst firewood is cut and collected by small forest owners, intermediaries gain much of the associated profit as they command its transportation to rural communities and towns where they sell it at rates up to 3 times higher than cost price. Despite these low returns, in the absence of alternative livelihoods and poor knowledge of non-timber use of native forest, firewood collection by small forest owners continues to provide an attractive source of income.

16. Forest fires. The loss of native Valdivian forest cover caused by fire is estimated at an average of 18,000 ha/year (CONAF, 1999). These fires are rarely due to inherent ecosystem dynamics but rather the result of poorly managed fires used for land clearing for agricultural and livestock activities or prior to the sale of land. The low awareness of the value of forest biodiversity and the ecological services that native forest cover provides, impedes a more widespread interest in, and adoption of, controlled fire practices, raising the incidence of fires spreading to pristine forest. The high number of fires also arises from the misuse of a legal disposition that allows the collection of dead or burnt wood of species normally under protection (eg. Fitzroya cupressoides). By starting forest fires to burn native forest, wood from these species can be legally collected and sold. Again the poor use of managed fire practices results in the frequent spreading of these fires to large areas.

17. Invasive species . An increasing number of aggressive invasive species are exerting pressure on native fauna and flora in the region. Whilst the exact impact of these has not been fully evaluated, it is clear that, at least in some cases, the long-term effects on native forest and its fauna are considerable. These include the detrimental effect of aggressive invasive fauna such as the lady deer (Dama dama) and red deer (Cervus elaphus) on native trees, and the mink (Mustela vison), on native fauna. It also includes aggressive plant species such as Ulex europaeus, Cetissus montpessulanae y Rubus ulmifolius that invade clearings formed by openings in the canopy and prevent the natural regeneration of forest, thus provoking changes in forest structure in the long-term2. In the absence of sound data on economic effects of these aggressive species and without

2 Native invasive species are adapted to gap phase regeneration and do not effect forest structure

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sufficient means of control and prevention, the spread of aggressive invasive species in the region remains unchecked.

18. Agricultural and livestock practices are causing degradation of native forest to pasture and shrub habitat. While the direct effect of agriculture is relatively low3, livestock practices bear a greater impact on the loss of forest cover. More than 60% of native forests are believed to be used as feeding terrain for livestock strongly impacting the regeneration of forest trees such as Aextoxicon punctatum, Eucryphia cordifolia and other important species of the Valdivian Temperate Forest. Furthermore, livestock rearing is often practised in forests previously degraded by firewood extraction, leading to additional degradation of the forest and eventual deforestation. Although the impact of these livestock practices have not been fully evaluated in terms of forest structure and biodiversity, it is reflected in the high levels of degradation of native forest to shrublands or land without vegetation. Between 1994-1998 approx. 3,350 hectares annually of native forest were reported as degraded correspond to 57% of the annual forest loss rate.

Stakeholders

19. A wide range of stakeholders play important roles in the conservation challenge of the Valdivian Forest. These include a series of national institutions such as the Ministries of Agriculture, of Planning and Co-operation; and of National Properties; the National Forestry Co-operation (CONAF), the Institute of Agriculture and Livestock Development (INDAP), the National Tourism Service and the National Corporation for Indigenous Development (CONADI). They also include local players such as municipal governments (a total of 14 Communes)4, Chile’s Austral University and the forestry sector leaders, including both plantation owners and industrial logging companies. Finally, they also include the inhabitants of the region that will also play a pivotal role by adopting new practices and approaches to conserving the biodiversity and ecological services that this forest provides. These include the inhabitants in the several small towns in the region, private land owners, rural communities and the approximately 10,000 Huilliche Indians that live in the region.

20. This last group of stakeholders will be of particular importance as a large area of the Coastal Mountain range has been provisionally identified as an Area for Indigenous Development (AID). This land-zoning category was established by the Indigenous Law Nº 19.253, approved in 1993, and has already been implemented in 3 areas (II, VIII and IX Regions of Chile). This would require careful definition of exact boundaries, the resolution of land tenure issues, developing a management plan and full negotiation of its formal declaration. However, given its position in the most biologically diverse of the Cordilleras and the traditional of respect that indigenous peoples have with nature, it offers an excellent opportunity for developing a new and innovative conservation partnership in the Valdivian Forest Ecoregion.

BASELINE 3 Between 1994-1998 only 150 hectares in the north of Region X were converted to agricultural uses CONAF/CONAMA, 1999.4 The most important of these are: Valdivia, Los Lagos, Corral, La Unión, San Juan de la Costa, Río Negro, Purranque, Fresia, Los Muermos and Maullín.

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21. In accordance with national conservation priorities (para.2-5)), and in recognition of the growing threats to Valdivian forest remnants, the Government of Chile is taking action to check the rate of forest conversion in the region. It is seeking to conclude the prolonged legislative and institutional process surrounding the development of a new legal framework and the institutional structure required for an effective regulation of the conservation and sustainable use of native forests. It will correct certain deficiencies in the current legal system regarding sustainable management possibilities for native forests, by establishing economic incentives for sustainable management, reinforcing monitoring and enforcement capacities, and forbidding the conversion of native forest to fast-growing plantations. However, the complexity of the discussion centres on the fact that privately owned property is not subject to a comprehensive range of judicial or institutional parameters. Furthermore, there will continue to be little local experience in the management of native forest under private ownership, and of the implementation of public-private initiatives for conservation purposes.

22. Site-specific efforts to promote sustainable forest management involve numerous initiatives, mainly supported by international co-operation. These include the following: (i) "Conservation and Sustainable Management of Native Forests," a project developed by CONAF in 1997 with the assistance of the German government, working with forest peasants and small landowners in central and southern Chile. (ii) The co-operation agreement established in 1995 between the CONAF and the French government, which enabled the implementation of a pilot management project for the Malleco National Reserve. (iii) The development of the “Chiloé Model Forest" with the support of the Canadian government and the GEF.

23. The government is also taking action in relation to forest fires. CONAF has an extensive fire control and combat programme in the region. However, this does not consider biodiversity as an element in setting priorities for action. The result is control that tends to be concentrated in intervened forest in the Andean Range where selective industrial logging is more prevalent. Forest plantations have well equipped and efficient private fire control programmes but these are designed to protect areas under commercial exploitation and do not extend to surrounding areas of native forest. In the continued absence of conservation management in both private and public programmes, prevention and control of fire outbreaks in native forest in protected or isolated areas will be ineffective and slow, increasing risk to pristine habitat.

24. In the baseline scenario, the threat that aggressive invasive species present to biodiversity will receive sparse attention, despite recent studies indicating that invasive species are causing ecological impacts in different regions of the country including the Xth region (Jaskic, 1998). Some isolated action will be taken, however, for example, the Agricultural Control Service (SAG), will undertake occasional campaigns to control mink. Nevertheless, the design and implementation of more comprehensive action to address this threat is severely hampered by a series of factors, including: (i) incomplete knowledge of the population sizes and distribution patterns of aggressive invasives, or the dimensions of their present and potential impact to biodiversity rich areas; (ii) weakness in systematic institutional and regulatory approaches for establishing priorities and implementing control action; (iii) incipient understanding of viable control and prevention methods and low capacity for their implementation; and (iv) extremely low awareness throughout the general public on the potential effects of invasive species on native forest and its ecological services or on their role in control and prevention programmes.

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25. In parallel with the above action to abate proximate threats, and in keeping with national environment priorities, in the default scenario emphasis will also be place on increasing biodiversity conservation in situ through the promotion of a National System of Wildlife Protected Areas (SNASP) 5. This new system will enhance the currently existing SNASPE by encouraging the establishment of private protected areas across larger areas and under different regimes and ownership. At present, the SNASPE, managed by the National Forest Commission (CONAF), includes 32 National Parks, 48 National Reserves and 13 Nature Monuments, with a total area of approximately 14 million hectares, covering 19% of the national territory. This constitutes a representative sample of around 60 of the 85 terrestrial ecosystem types existing in Chile. While this is a significant area at the national level representation of the Valdivian forest in the SNASPE in Los Lagos Region is much smaller, covering only 2-3 % of the total area of the Region. In addition to small surface area under protection, there are a number of other deficiencies in the existing SNASPE of the region that exacerbate the impact of proximate threats on native forest. These deficiencies are various and include amongst others the following:

26. Incomplete representation of the biodiversity mosaic in existing protected areas. The protected areas that exist in the Valdivian region do not include sufficient critical areas and habitat ranges to provide protection to the full range of biodiversity in the ecoregion. The biodiversity-rich coastal ranges, for example, still do not have any protected areas. This is in part due to the fact that existing areas were created at a time when information and knowledge on the biodiversity found throughout the ecoregion was largely incomplete. Today it is exacerbated by the absence of public land highest diversity areas in the Coastal Range. that could readily be placed under State protection. It is further aggravated by the absence of a systematic public-private approach to identifying and conserving priority biodiversity areas. Patchy representation is also effected by the sub-optimal management of existing areas due to deficiencies in human and equipment complements. A dearth of management expertise and tools further aggravates this and impedes more effective channelling of limited resources to the most critical threats and sites in each area.

27. Insufficient connectivity between remaining forest habitat. Existing protected areas in the Andean region provide protection to forest within their boundaries, however, remaining forest habitat between these areas is not under protection. Habitat connectivity, critical for long-term conservation, is being undermined as productive activities in the broader landscape encroach on these unprotected habitat stands, reducing gene flow and putting at risk the long-term survival of some species. Critical connectivity between Valdivian forest on the Coastal Range and in the Andes is also in danger as productive activities increasingly pressurise the only remaining forest in the inter-cordillera valley.

28. Incipient systemic approach to protected areas. Existing protected areas do not cover the range of land-use restrictions and management categories required to provide conservation from a ecoregional view. Publicly owned National Parks prevail and there is little integration between these and conservation efforts across the broader landscape. There has been minimal experience in developing and implementing innovative conservation partnerships in the region impeding the participation of individual land-owners in formal and informal conservation approaches. There are, however, public and private legal instruments which allow the private sector to participate in the 5 This system is defined under the Environment Protection Law (Nº 19,300) of 1994, and incorporates the National State System of Wildlife Protected Areas (SNASPE), Private Protected Areas and Marine Protected Areas.

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conservation of biodiversity by establishing privately owned protected areas6. The WB MSP entitled “Public Private Mechanisms for Biodiversity Conservation in the Chilean Valdivian Forest Zone” is expected to contribute new mechanisms for private/public-sector co-operation in the arena of protected areas management. However, it will take action at a restricted level and address only one aspect of the complex issue of public-private initiatives for conservation (see paragraph 37 for discussion of links with present proposal).

29. Low levels of participatory conservation at local levels As a bid to promote diverse and innovative conservation partnerships and increase the participation of grass root and community organisations in local environmental management, in 1994 the GoC established a small grants Fund for Environmental Protection (FEP) under Law 19.300. This became operational in 1997 and has subsequently funded a wide range of small projects (approx. US$ 6,000) focusing on local conservation needs. The FEP is funded by CONAMA resources and represents on average 4% of its total annual budget. CONAMA is responsible for the administration of the fund through a National FEP Co-ordinator as a programme under the Division for Environmental Culture and Citizen Participation. Annual calls for proposals are held with specific guidelines and eligibility criteria defined by CONAMA based on national environmental policies and regional needs and priorities. Selection of the projects is undertaken by the Council of the Americas, Chile to ensure transparency using the criteria defined each year. The number of projects submitted has increased considerably but with currently restricted funding, on average only 13% of these are approved.

30. A recent evaluation of the FEP underlines the success of this programme and the high level of acceptance it has amongst local stakeholders. In view of this, and in recognition of the role the FEP plays in making effective co-responsibility in local environmental management, CONAMA wishes to expand the programme and has actively sought funds from other sources to increase funding levels. Indeed last year 40% of the resources in FEP funded projects came from external sources. Whilst this indicates the potential of the FEP to mobilise additional external resources and hence expand its impact, several other aspects would require support and strengthening if it is to fulfil its full potential as an effective means of promoting participatory conservation at local levels throughout the entire country. These include the design of mechanisms, such as sub-accounts, that guarantee sufficient resource allocation to priority conservation areas and links selection process more closely to regional conservation matrixes and sustainable use of resources. As the fund grows, support would also be required to ensure the most efficient administration of resources and the adoption of procedures recognised internationally as the most effective for environmental trust fund management.

31. Poor integration of regional economic planning with protected area system. Planning in the Valdivian region has adopted a largely sector based approach in which short-term economic interests often prevail over long-term and broader approaches to development for the entire eco-region. This is in part due to the absence of simple planning frameworks for conservation in priority native habitat areas. It is also due to the general low awareness in local governments, and across the public, of the value of Valdivian biodiversity and the environmental services that this provide and the consequent long-term cost of forest conversion. The result is that land practices

6 Instruments for designating land for specific purposes include: Nature Sanctuaries, Places of Historic or Scientific Interest, Ecology Preservation Areas, Ecology Protection Areas Subject to Controlled Development, Areas Subject to Hunting Bans, Environmental Easements, and Zones Subject to Priority Uses (i.e. zones assigned to conservation purposes, within the framework of communal planning regulations used to designate priority uses).

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near protected areas, and in pristine forest in connecting areas, is not conservation compatible and is increasingly pressuring biodiversity.

PROJECT RATIONALE, OBJECTIVES AND ACTIVITIES:

32. Despite the considerable contribution of the baseline activities described above, under the default scenario, native forest conversion and habitat fragmentation will continue in the Valdivian Temperate Rain Forest Ecoregion with the concomitant loss of attendant biodiversity and the forfeit of substantial global benefits. It is clear that present deforestation and substitution patterns need urgent and immediate attention. Small-scale conservation efforts, while commendable, will be clearly insufficient to appropriately address ever-increasing threats and limited capacities. A more comprehensive and integrated effort will be required if current trends are to be reversed and replaced by viable alternatives in a timely manner. A key element of this effort is the compelling need to catalyze the sustainability of protected areas in the region, adopting a systems approach of core zones and corridors of sustainable uses that would abate current deficiencies and provide long term survival across the entire ecoregion. Protection and sustainable use activities will also need to be integrated across the larger landscape and within major productive sector activity if this globally outstanding eco-region is to be effectively conserved.

33. The alternative scenario would seek to provide this more comprehensive and integrated approach by developing and implementing a strategic plan to conserve the Valdivian biological diversity on an ecoregional level. This Biodiversity Conservation Plan for the Valdivian Temperate Rain Forest Ecoregion of Chile would be defined through multi-stakeholder co-operation and consensus building, and would provide a framework for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity within the context of regional development. To be developed with PDF resources requested herein the Plan would centre on conservation in situ practices involving the creation of a regional system or matrix of public, private and indigenous protected areas (core zones) in the coastal zone and the establishment of corridors of sustainable uses between these and the protected areas in the Andes. Particular attention would be placed on the sustainability of the system by strengthening financial mechanisms for conservation management and the consolidation of innovative partnerships for this across the ecoregion including building public-private and community-indigenous agreements. The Plan would also seek to define and adopt actions required to mainstream biodiversity concerns into major productive sector in the region and to raise awareness on biodiversity across a broad range of regional actors.

34. Whilst preparatory phase stakeholder consultations and more in-depth assessments will provide the detail of the full-scale project, initial studies and evaluations indicate that the project would focus on the area between 39 and 41 degrees latitude South. This is where the majority of the Chilean Oligotrophic Lakes are located and where the Valdivian forest reaches its peak biodiversity. The area corresponds to the 3 Provinces (Osorno, Valdivia and Llanquihue) of the northern part of the Los Lagos Region (Xth administrative Region of Chile), and represents a Valdivian Forest surface area of approximately 1.46 million hectares, including the Andean and Coastal Mountain ranges. The most significant site-specific activities of the project would centre on approximately 450,000 hectares along the Coastal mountains of Osorno and Valdivia, and will contemplate a corridor across the Central Valley close to the city of Valdivia (see Map in Annex).

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35. To be corroborated and detailed with PDF funding, the full-scale project is expected to take action at different but complementary levels as outlined below:-

i. The establishment of core zones for strict conservation to provide immediate protection to the largest remaining pristine areas of Valdivian forest and conserve the full range of alpha and beta biodiversity that characterises this ecoregion. This will be achieved by: (i) creating new core conservation zones in the coastal mountain range under a mix of public and private regimes including support to a new Area of Indigenous Development and the creation within this of core conservation and sacred areas; (ii) increase the operational effectiveness of existing core zones in the Andean range that house representative samples of the most eastern extreme of the Valdivian ecoregion in Chile and that differs somewhat from that of the coastal range.

ii The establishment of sustainable-use corridors to provide connectivity between core conservation zones along each of the mountain ranges as well as between these, thus protecting the gene flow throughout the ecoregion and increasing its long-term integrity and conservation. This will be achieved through a balance of conservation activities in remaining primary forest of selected corridor locations and conservation-compatible land use demonstrations in adjoining intervened forest. These demonstrations will include pilot projects for sustainable use of non-timber products such as dyes, medicinal plants, edible mushrooms, wild fruit, and honey. Considering the limited knowledge and the scarce value assigned by the public to goods and services provided by forest ecosystems, the demonstrations will also include modules for the evaluation of ecosystem services provided by Valdivian forests and their economic valorisation and the subsequent design of potential subsidies and other incentives for forest owners in these corridors to adopt conservation practices.

iii The implementation of an invasive species programme in core areas and sustainable use corridors. This will involve the development and testing of a mix of control, eradication and prevention techniques for key aggressive species. Whilst the PDF activities will better define these key species, they will include the aggressive invasive plants Ulex europeus and Cetissus montpessulanae, and the testing of alternative uses for these (such as for live fences or mulch respectively) as a way of stimulating local inhabitants to take part in their control. This level of activity will also develop guidelines to illustrate the most appropriate mix of prevention, control and eradication approaches depending on the invasive species, its population size or distribution, and on the proximity of closeness to core areas. Finally an invasive species public awareness campaign will be implemented to illicit support from communities both in early detection of aggressive species near core zones and in community control campaigns.

iv. The mainstreaming of biodiversity concerns into productive activity of the region paying particular attention to the forestry sector. The approach to be adopted under this component would involve two complementary set of actions. The first would develop and adopt an array of adaptive management tools to facilitate the application of different land-use categories within the conservation in situ matrix, including the sustainable use corridors. This will include the definition of indicators and the design of a biodiversity monitoring system that will provide scientifically sound and accurate information to guide priority making and facilitate management decisions for core zones and sustainable use corridors. The second set of actions would focus on the incorporation of biodiversity conservation principles into current control systems of the forestry sector. These would include (i) strengthening the design of the current

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forest fire prevention and response plans in the region by strengthening co-operation with CONAF and forest companies and incorporating the protection of public, private and indigenous core conservation areas as a priority; (ii) developing guidelines and special requirements for forestry management norms near conservation core zones to ensure that biodiversity conservation is included along with the existing sustainable-use elements; (iii) the training of CONAF staff in biodiversity management and the dovetailing of their operational and administrative procedures with the regional biodiversity conservation system or matrix.

v The design and implementation of a capacity building, education and public outreach programme targeted at core zones, buffer zones and biological corridors. The education and public outreach program will focus on providing knowledge and greater public awareness regarding the sustainable uses of Valdivian temperate rain forest biodiversity, so as to raise awareness on the importance of its rational use and conservation. Capacity building activities will target resource planners, decision-makers, private sector entrepreneurs - at local and national levels - and address the development and consolidation of skills required for conservation management and the sustainable use of forest biodiversity.

vi The design and implementation of a Valdivian Forest Biodiversity Conservation Account as a sub-account of CONAMA’s current Fund for Environmental Protection (FEP). The objective of this sub-account would be to promote and provide continuity to biodiversity recovery, restoration, conservation and sustainable use in the Valdivian ecoregion and enhance the financial sustainability of conservation at the eco-regional level and within the system approach. This component will create and establish the administrative and organisational structure needed for a Valdivian Forest Biodiversity Conservation Account in the FEP. A contribution by the GEF will be sought to provide initial capitalisation of this sub-account, established for the exclusive financing of activities and initiatives geared towards the conservation and sustainable use of the Valdivian Temperate Rainforest. This initial GEF contribution into the sub-account would be a sinking fund ending with the project. CONAMA will ensure the periodical replenishment of the Valdivian Forest sub-account from its normal operating budget.

Linkages to other GEF Financed Projects and UNDP Programme

36. The proposed project is fully consistent with the UNDP's and GEF’s Country Co-operation Framework with Chile. The UNDP-Chile office has focused its collaboration on environmental focal areas that are relevant both nationally and globally, and which are eligible for funding. Climate change, ozone depletion, biodiversity conservation and the struggle against desertification are among priority areas. The UNDP-Chile office hopes to consolidate existing partnerships and establish new ones by addressing community-level needs identified jointly with local, provincial and regional authorities, through resource mobilization and the integration of the private sector, and by facilitating ongoing discussions and reflection on environmental issues in order to highlight their priority in the public agenda and debate.

37. Complementary GEF financed projects include two ongoing Medium Size Projects: The first of these is entitled "Valdivian Forest Zone: Public/Private Mechanisms for Biodiversity Conservation” (GEF/WB) which will provide mechanisms and approaches for public and private co-operation. While in the same general area, the differences between the GEF/WB MSP and the

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proposed UNDP project are substantial. The GEF/WB MSP will validate mechanisms for private sector involvement in PA management in 3 to 4 Pilot Demonstration Areas, each covering approximately 1,000 hectares in private lands. The proposed UNDP/GEF project would establish public and private PAs within a regional system of sustainable use areas to be determined, forming corridors stretching along and between the Andes and Coast ranges. The WB-GEF MSG thus has a much narrower and local focus and would not be able to achieve the broad geographical and thematic goals of the present proposal.

38. Thematically the UNDP project would also include elements that go well beyond public/private sector partnerships. These include the establishment of a regional system of conservation areas and sustainable-use corridors, demonstrations modules on non-timber uses of native forests, valorization of ecosystem services and development of economic instruments to compensate forest owners, creation of an indigenous development area, environmental education at local and sub-regional levels, and the control and/or eradication of non-indigenous invasive species. Despite these substantial differences between the two initiatives, cross-fertilisation between initiatives will be highly beneficial particularly in the topic of mechanisms and incentive measures for private sector involvement. CONAMA will ensure that a close and active collaboration and co-ordination is realised amongst all in-country GEF financed initiatives, and that lessons learnt will be shared across projects and institutions.

39. The second MSP is entitled "Strengthening Biodiversity Protection in the Chiloé Model Forest" (GEF/UNDP) and is aimed specifically at the forest of Chiloé Island, situated in the archipelagic zone south of the current project’s area and possessing different geographic and climatic conditions. This project seeks to establish mechanisms to extend the use and transfer of ‘biodiversity-friendly’ technologies to local communities.

40. Finally, another GEF project, to be developed through UNDP, will also be complementary with the project proposed herein. Still at the concept level, this project will support the integrated ecosystem conservation and management of the Chilean winter-rainfall and drylands ecoregion, designated as the highest priority at regional level (Dinerstein, 1995) and included as one of WWF Global 200 Priority Ecoregions Programme. These two proposals aim at very different biodiversity in the strongly marked North-South rainfall gradient in Chile.

Sustainability and Potential for Replication

41. Project results would be replicable in other ecoregions in Chile given that the project seeks to develop a model to reinforce in situ conservation in forest ecosystems at the ecoregional level including: the incorporation of novel instruments in conservation policies (for instance, indigenous development initiatives) and the practical application of ecological corridors to optimise conservation measures. Involvement of the private sector (both large and small property owners) in the protection of biodiversity resources should not only lead to the development of effective and efficient biodiversity conservation tools, but should also ultimately lead to a concrete improvement of local livelihoods and community development. Support for establishing an indigenous development area for the Huilliches indigenous people and the creation of core conservation area within this will provide important lessons on developing state and indigenous conservation partnerships that will have high replication value throughout the country and other nations of the region. Additionally, this project provides a valuable opportunity to strengthen - at the ecoregional

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level - policies and regulations encompassed by the SNASP (and SNASPE), and to promote the involvement of the private sector in long-term biodiversity conservation measures as well as sustainable forestry management practices.

DESCRIPTION OF PROPOSED PDF-B ACTIVITIES

42. The PDF B project will finance activities required to detail and cost the components of the full-scale project and prepare the project brief and document. It will also fund consultations with a wide range of local stakeholders on the proposal to obtain input to critical aspects of design and determine their role and contribution in project implementation and monitoring. Furthermore, it will lay the groundwork for full implementation of the in-situ based conservation system, or matrix, with the promotion of sustainable use practices, public-private conservation agreements, and community participation within this system. These PDF funded activities broadly fall under two main categories - process-related aspects of project development and those related to the detailing of individual components.

43. Activities related to the process of project formulation are outlined below. Those related to the more detailed definition of project components are described in paragraph 44.

Activity 1: Perform a more in-detail stakeholder assessment in the area to determine how different groups would be affected by the proposed project and to define their role in its design, implementation and monitoring and evaluation. In addition to valuable input to the definition of project design and strategy this process would also provide the basis for a public participation plan to be an annex to the Project Brief.

Activity 2: Undertake a more in-depth analysis of the root causes of biodiversity loss with a representative group of stakeholders and define possible actions and opportunities to redress these focusing especially on (a) institutional co-ordination issues; (b) incompatibilities and/or inconsistencies in regulatory, administrative and operational frameworks of major productive sectors in the region particularly that of the forestry sector; (c) weakness in the operational capacity of existing public protected areas particularly those in the Andean mountain range.

Activity 3: Identify, describe and quantify more fully the baseline activities upon which the GEF project will build, following the more detailed evaluation of root causes of biodiversity loss, the identification and initial design of the respective corrective actions.

Activity 4: Undertake a consultation process with stakeholder groups to raise general

awareness on biodiversity conservation issues in the region, discuss proposed interventions, select representatives to take part in the final design stages and identify effective channels for information flow related to the project development and approval process.

Activity 5: Hold workshops and working session with representative of key stakeholder groups to define the logical framework matrix for the project - (as the formulation process is iterative, it is expected that more than one workshop will be required to fine tune the matrix as information from other PDF activities and appraisals are available and co-funding confirmed). This will include consultations and consensus reaching with biodiversity conservation specialists to determine indicators for measuring project performance.

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Activity 6: Appraise the global and national benefits of proposed interventions and determine those elements that would require the mobilisation of co-financing. Identify and negotiate possible partnerships for project funding and implementation through both formal and informal resource mobilisation activities. Prepare a summary of this information for the incremental cost assessment annex of the project brief.

Activity 7: Detail implementing arrangements for the full-scale project including the definition of a steering committee, co-ordination structures, executing modalities and lines of reporting. This will include the definition of a monitoring and evaluation plan, and information dissemination of these results.

Activity 8: Draft the project documentation according to GEF formats and articulating information derived from both process oriented activities (1-9) and component design oriented activities (10-15)

Activity 9: Prepare the additional components required for a UNDP project document (Operational details including the terms of Reference for consultants and major sub-contracts, work plans etc).

44. Activities related to the finer definition of specific project components will include:

Activity 10: Select the specific locations for new core-conservation public and private zones in the coastal mountain range through ground proofing and consultation exercises within the pre-selected macro areas (illustrated in the Annex Map). These exercises will include a more in-depth assessment of the representativeness of the SNASPE in the coastal mountain range using preliminary GIS mapping, and feasibility studies for the possible expansion of existing state protected areas particularly within the Cordillera Pelada area. It will also include consultations with relevant government institutions in areas that can be potential sites for new state protected areas but that required the negotiation of land exchange agreements7. Consultation will also be held with private owners of land with high biodiversity value to determine feasibility of establishing private protected areas and their inclusion of these in the SNASP.

Activity 11: Undertake the design of the Indigenous Development Area (IDA) and conservation areas within this as a complement to core conservation areas in the coastal mountain range. This will require a careful consultation process with indigenous communities and leaders, as well as relevant national and local government institutions, to define the most appropriate approaches to establishing this IDA. It will also require the identification of high biodiversity areas in the IDA, the evaluation of land-tenure overlaps (state and indigenous) in these areas and the negotiation of exchange settlements that allow them to be included within the SNAPSE either as state land or as scared lands under indigenous ownership and management. The design of this component will also include the definition of activities, to be undertaken in the full scale project, to assist indigenous communities to develop management plans for the IDA, incorporating biodiversity management

7 All state land in the Coastal is currently assigned to different national institutions and hence unavailable for public protected areas. However, the Ministry of National Properties may exchange allocated land in the Coastal range for accessible state owned lands in the Andean range, hence making available land for new protected areas along the Coastal Range.

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principles and sustainable use practices based on both traditional practices and new ones to be developed through the sustainable use corridors component.

Activity 12: Finalise the selection and design of potential sustainable use corridors. This will include the final location of corridors in areas most appropriate for providing connectivity between existing and new core areas. Possible sites for this have already been have been pre-selected (see Annex Map). It will also include a range of studies to define and locate conservation-compatible, sustainable use practices and incentives for land-owners within the corridors to maintain intact habitat blocks. Existing experiences of land-use practices that are compatible with biodiversity conservation in the region, including traditional indigenous practices, will be revised together with broader information and experiences of non-timber uses of native forests. In addition, marketing studies and strategies for development work, to be undertaken in the full scale project, to facilitate the replication and conservation of compatible land-use options following demonstration modules, will be identified and costed. Finally the activities needed to assess the ecosystem services provided by Valdivian forests will be determined in detail.

Activity 13: Establish the activities to be included in introduced species component of the full size project. This will include the collection and review of available information on population levels of plant and animal invasive species in those areas selected for core conservation zones. It will also include a technical workshop with local, national and selected international experts to evaluate the existing information base, initially quantify the current and potential threat of introduced species to selected core conservation areas, to determine information gaps. The workshop will also select key species on which the component will focus and identify potential approaches to their control through a mix of control prevention and eradication approaches to be executed under the full scale project.

Activity 14: Finalise the identification of the most cost effective means to mainstream biodiversity concerns into productive action including adaptive management tools for conservation areas and improving forest controls systems. This includes the outline and costing of a monitoring system and the initial design of a strengthened forest fire prevention and response plan to provide additional protection to core zones and sustainable use corridors. The fire response plan will require a further analysis of current CONAF and local and forest companies and community consultations to design the interventions needed for this biodiversity sensitive programme. Based on root cause assessment (activity 2) the training needs and operational procedures and guidelines to be produced in the full scale project a biodiversity overlay to major productive sectors will be further assessed and costed.

Activity 15: Determine and cost the capacity building requirements, information dissemination and public awareness elements that would be implemented in the full scale project This will entail more in depth assessments of education needs in the private sector/local communities, of public outreach needs in order to further ensure success of conservation/sustainable use measures. It will also include the costing and scheduling of the proposed capacity building, education and public outreach programs during the full-scale project Capacity building, Education and Public outreach Component

Activity 16: International expertise would be sought to design a feasible approach for developing a Valdivian Forest sub-account under the FEP and to provide detailed the Terms of

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Reference for finalizing the design of this sub-account during the full scale project and setting up its administrative and operative procedures. In determining this approach, the current structure of the FEP would be reviewed to determine its concordance with GEF’s recommendations for Trust Fund establishment and identify those areas that would require support to ensure these recommendations are adopted for the Valdivian sub-account. In this context, a review of existing laws and assessment of existing conservation financing structures in Chile would be made to determine if provisions are made for trusts or trust-like devices. Consultations would be held with relevant segments of civil society, private sector, government agencies and international donors in order to obtain their comments and opinions regarding the establishment of the potential sub-account. Attention will be paid toward the level and nature of commitment by the various stakeholders to participate actively and transparently in the development process and the final structure. Based on this, detailed Terms of Reference and a corresponding budget for the design and implementation of the proposed sub-account would be developed including: (i) all the necessary activities required for the final design of the sub-account and its operationalisation ; (ii) their chronology and appropriate sequencing; (iii) clear benchmarks and success indicators to measure performance and progress; (iv) the profiles and qualifications of specialists needed (including individual Terms of Reference); (v) the necessary time-frames to carry out proposed activities; and (vi) an estimated budget.

ELIGIBILITY

45. Chile ratified the Convention on Biological Diversity on September 9, 1994 and is eligible for UNDP assistance. The GoC has taken a number of significant steps towards realising its commitments under the Convention, including the promotion of a National System of Wildlife Protected Areas that will enhance of biodiversity conservation efforts. It has also implemented a range of actions to bring the use of its national resources, particularly forests, to a more sustainable level. The proposed project is fully consistent with national policies and strategies to protect biodiversity (see Section II) and has been endorsed by the GEF Operational Focal Point (see attached letter of support). It centres on conservation in situ practices through the protection of primary old growth and ecologically mature secondary forest ecosystems, by establishing and strengthening systems of area conservation, and combining productivity, socio-economic, and biodiversity goals. Following the same focus on in situ conservation, it is also in line with a number of the objectives of the Convention. The GEF would fund eligible activities under Operational Programme # 3 (Forest Ecosystems), covering the incremental costs of measures required to secure global conservation benefits.

JUSTIFICATION FOR PDF B GRANT

46. Although considerable work has been undertaken and information collected to develop the proposed project, significant gaps remain and require additional action to fully define and cost project components and attain consensus throughout the wide range of stakeholders that play a role in conservation of the Valdivian rainforest. PDF B preparatory funding is urgently needed to complete this action thus enabling the development and formulation of the full project document building upon the support and input of all major stakeholders. Preparation funds will also facilitate consultations and negotiations at the local, regional and national levels, on the importance and

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benefits of forest biodiversity conservation, as well as the most effective measures, activities and policies for the protection of forest ecosystems.

IMPLEMENTATION ARRANGEMENTS

47. The PDF B project will be executed through the UNDP direct execution modality. Activities will be implemented by CONAMA, who will be responsible for overseeing the formulation and identifying and selecting the required expertise and research studies for each of the project’s component, as well as co-ordinating the actions required for the institutional arrangements for the full GEF Project.

48. A Project inter-institutional steering committee will be established during the PDF-B project, to ensure the full participation of all relevant actors in preparation work and in the design of the final full-scale project and define the most viable and cost-effective implementation arrangements for the full-scale’s project implementation. The Project’s inter-institutional steering committee will be directed by CONAMA and will be composed of:

One representative of CONAF (National Forestry Commission - Regional or National level) One representative of CONADI (National Commission for Indigenous Development) One representative of the Huilliches-Lafquenches indigenous people (Xth Region). One representative of the academic sector (namely Universidad Austral) One representative of an NGO (namely Coastal Mountain Coalition) One representative of the private sector (land owners or forest companies)

IX BUDGET

Description GEF $ Govts $ Total $1. Consultants:International Consultants: Project Design Specialist Biodiversity Fund Specialist Invasive Species Specialist National Coordinator

15,00015,000

35,00015,000

15,00015,00015,00035,000

2. Travel: International Consultant’s travel National Coordinator’s travel

15,0005,000

15,0005,000

3. Contracts:Fund-Raising Activities Public Participation ActivitiesIndigenous Development ActivitiesEducation and Outreaching ActivitiesForest Biodiversity Conservation ActivitiesSustainable Forestry Management ActivitiesInvasive Species ActivitiesValorization of Ecosystem Services ActivitiesActivity 4: Audiences and Meetings

16,00018,02017,00012,00026,00020,00020,000

50,000

5,0006,000

16,00010,00010,00016,000

16,00018,02022,00018,00042,00030,00030,00016,00050,000

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Activity 5: Workshops and Seminars 50,000 50,000Subtotal 314,020 78,000 392,020

4. Miscellaneous 19,980 12,000 31,980Grant total 334,000 90,000 424,000

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X WORK PLANPDF-B Activities 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Process-related activities1. Stakeholder assessment, and public participation plan x x x2. Analysis of root-causes of biodiversity loss and potential actions x x x3. Identify, describe and quantify base-line activities x x x4. Consultation process with stakeholder groups on proposal x x x x5. Workshops and sessions to define logical framework matrix x x x6. Appraise benefits of proposed actions and mobilize co-financing x x7. Implementing arrangements for Full Project x8. Draft Full Project document in GEF format. x9. Prepare elements required for UNDP Prodoc x

Component-related activities10. Select locations for new core conservation zones: X X X X X X11. Design of Indigenous Development Area: X X X X X X12. Finalize selection and design of potential corridor zones; review non-timber uses; marketing studies and assess ecosystem services.

X X X X X X X X

13. Establish Invasive Species activities including technical workshop. X X X X X X14. Finalize adaptive management tools, and strengthening forest control and Fire Prevention and Response Plan.

X X X X X

15. Determine & cost capacity building and dissemination requirements X X X X16. Design approach for developing a Biodiversity Valdivian Forest sub-Account under the FEP in the Full Project.

X X X

XI BIBLIOGRAPHIC REFERENCESArmesto J. et al. (1996) "Los bosques templados del sur de Chile y Argentina: una isla biogeográfica" en:

Ecología de los Bosques Nativos de Chile, J.J. Armesto, C. Villagrán and Mary T. Kalin-Arroyo (Eds.) Editorial Universitaria, Santiago, 23-49.

Armesto J. et al. (1998) "Conservation targets in South American temperate forests" J. Armesto, R. Rozzi, C. Smith-Ramírez and M.T. Kalin-Arroyo, Science, 282, 1271-1272

CONAF/CONAMA (1999) Catastro y evaluación de los recursos vegetacionales nativos de Chile, monitoreo de cambios, Santiago.

Dinerstein E. et al (1995) A conservation assessment of the terrestrial ecoregions of Latin America and the Caribbean, The Word Bank, Washington D.C.

Fuentes E. (1994) “¿Qué futuro tienen nuestros bosques? Hacia la gestión sustentable del paisaje del Centro y Sur de Chile, Ediciones Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago.

Hedin L.O. et al (1995), “Patterns of nutrient loss from unpolluted old-growth temperate forest: evaluation of biogeochemical theory” in Ecology, 76, pp 493-509

Jaksic F. (1998) “Vertebrate invaders and their ecological impacts in Chile”, Biodiversity and Conservation 7, 1427-1445.

Lara A. & Villalba R (1993) “A 3620-year Temperature Record from Fitzroya cupressoides tree rings in Southern South America” in Science, 260, pp 1104-1106.

Lara A. & Veblen T. (1993) “Forest Plantations in Chile: a Successful Model?” in: Afforestation Policies, planning and Progress, A. Mather, ed., Belhaven Press, London.

Olson D.& E. Dinerstein (1998) The Global 200: “A representation approach to conserving the earth’s distinctive ecoregions” Conservation Science Program, WWF-US, Draft Manuscript.

Soto,& Campos (1997) “Los lagos oligotróficos del bosque” en: Ecología de los Bosques Nativos de Chile, J.J. Armesto, C. Villagrán and Mary T. Kalin-Arroyo (Eds.) Ed. Universitaria, Santiago, 23-49.

Soto & Stockner (1996), “The Temperate Rainforest Lakes of Chile and Canada” in: High Latitude Rain Forest and Associated Ecosystems of the West Coast of the Americas, Climate, hydrology, Ecology and Conservation, R Lawnford; P. Alaback y E. Fuentes (Eds.) Springer-Verlag, New York.

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Annex 1: Endorsement Letter from the Government of Chile

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ANNEX 2

Existing protected area

Initial selection of areas for new private, public and indigenous protected areas

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