In celebration of World Environment Day, the Universidad Austral de Chile published the results of an investigation confirming that a budget of at least $20 million is needed to care for nature.
In the country we have made significant progress in conserving important ecosystems in Patagonia, but much more remains to be done, said expert Maximo Sepúlveda.
He said that effective conservation of the wealth of flora, fauna and landscape not only preserves national heritage, but also generates economic activities such as nature tourism, and favors the development of territories and the well-being of communities.
Juan Carlos Miranda, the study’s lead researcher, said they hope to contribute to the design of the state’s annual budget aimed at managing and conserving wilderness areas.
The amount assigned to this activity is historically less than what is needed to carry out the conservation work, the academic assured.
Considering the country’s vast wealth of biodiversity and the size of its GDP, Chile is one of the least invested in this task.
One of the shortfall areas is the recruitment of personnel needed to protect and maintain the system of national parks and protected wilderness areas.
In this sense, among the objectives of the non-governmental organization Fondo Naturelle Chile is to mobilize resources for the conservation of heritage throughout the national territory.
mgt/car/im
