Arauco Unit Recognized for Biodiversity Conservation
Diversity Management System Earns Chile Verde “Green Seal.”
Bioforest, ARAUCO’s forestry research and development division,
has been awarded the coveted
Chile Verde Green Seal for its work
in developing tools to conserve
biodiversity in the Bío-Bío region of
central Chile. Chile Verde is a consortium of non-governmental and
academic organizations, national
agencies, commercial entities, and
trade associations established to
evaluate and recognize conservation, environmental protection, and
green energy initiatives currently
being developed in Chile.
Two ARAUCO initiatives were
among the 80 projects singled out
by Chile Verde for commendation –
the Bioforest project and the company’s work in the field of forestbiomass-generated renewable
energy.
The Bioforest project is aimed at
accurately and efficiently identifying biodiversity components that
exist within ARAUCO’s 327,000
hectares of native forest holdings,
so that these highly valuable
aspects can be conserved.
As a first step, Bioforest established 32 High Value Environmental Areas (abbreviated AAVAs in
Spanish), using a methodology
know as Systematic Conservation
Planning. SCP is an internationally
adopted tool that is used to define
new reserves, conducting conservation efficiently, with specific, verifiable goals.
SCP optimizes biodiversity man-
agement efforts by putting together a group of reserves that cover
a wide range of conservation
objects and that represent different levels of native biological diversity existing in ARAUCO’s forestland. ARAUCO employs SCP to
guide the identification and subsequent management of AAVAs as
well as the zoning of current and
future protected wild areas. The
SCP methodology has proven valuable in facilitating the achievement
of explicit conservation goals at
appropriate implementation and
management costs.
While the AAVA reserves established using this approach are
representative of the types of
biodiversity existing throughout
ARAUCO’s native forest holdings,
scientific evaluations suggest that
the system can be enhanced
through the incorporation of additional criteria related to other biodiversity components, Examples of
this are the inclusion of threatened fauna habitats, or greater
biodiversity existing on its forest
holdings, adding a range of additional indicators and expanding the
number of AAVAs beyond the 32
that exist today.
representation of diverse forest
ecosystems that, to date, have
only been considered indirectly or
through specific initiatives.
After identifying the 32 AAVAs,
Bioforest embarked on the development of a specific Diversity
Management System for each.
This system included an explicit
definition of conservation objects
and representation goals, a program of field monitoring of conservation objects, implementation follow-up and reserve management,
among other indicators.
ARAUCO’s use of Systematic
Conservation Planning supports
complete transparency and auditing of its biodiversity conservation
program. In addition, it is designed
to facilitate the constructive participation of multiple stakeholders,
avoiding conflicts stemming from
differing agendas or points of view.
ARAUCO through its Bioforest and
Forestal Arauco units, currently
conducts biodiversity management
across all of its 327,000-hectare
native-forest estate. The management of these lands includes monitoring of threatened flora and
fauna, adult forests, vegetation formations, wetlands and other habitats. Through the SCP process,
ARAUCO intends to enhance its
assessment and evaluation of the
About Chile Verde
Developed by the Innovation Forum
and Midia publishers, together with
Pacific University, Chile Verde is
supported by UNESCO, Chile’s
National Energy Commission and
National Environmental Commission; and is sponsored by the
Interamerican Bank for Development, Electric Companies Association, Crystal Lagoons (a company
that designs and builds artificial
beaches), ARAUCO, the Santiago
Metro public transit system, and
SODIMAC home centers.
Among Chile Verde’s goals are the
raising of awareness about Chile’s
environmental, conservation, and
clean energy initiatives; to communicate the economic, environmental, and quality of life contributions
made by these projects; and to
thoroughly document the initiatives
so that they can serve as a source
of reference for science, academia, and parties interested in embarking on similar projects. (A thorough discussion of Chile Verde, in
Spanish, is available online at
www.porunchileverde.cl.)
Created as a broad range, longterm initiative, Chile Verde brought
together renowned representatives
of multiple sectors of civil society
to form the panel of experts that
evaluates the relative merits of
submitted projects. This multistakeholder approach resulted in
an team of judges that is broadly
based, fair, and balanced.
To be considered for a Green Seal,
projects first had to meet a number of selection criteria. These
included: the contemporary execution of the project; that the project’s outcomes were visible and
quantifiable; and that reliable metrics had been developed to measure the impact of the project on
humans, fauna and/or flora.
Next, each project was subjected
to a comprehensive assessment
that includes an evaluation of environmental, social and economic
impacts, innovation and advancement of knowledge or technology,
and replicability. Concurrent contribution to multiple sectors (such
as the environment and social well
being) was considered a “plus” in
the evaluation, as was the selffinanced nature of a given project.
For additional information, contact
your ARAUCO representative or
email [email protected].