La Serena, Landau, May 27, 2025: At the end of last year, the Chilean government declared the Humboldt Archipelago an “Área de Conservación de Múltiples Usos - AC-MU (2). The marine and coastal protection zone covers around 574,873 hectares and is located off the coast of the municipality of Freirina, Atacama region, and the municipalities of La Higuera and La Serena, Coquimbo region. The declaration of the protected zone aims to protect a marine ecosystem in central Chile with its biodiversity, habitats, ecological processes and ecosystem services. The declaration defines not only rare marine animals and islands as worthy of protection, but also the characteristic marine upwelling systems and artisanal fishing. However, the decree also stipulates that the marine protected area and the management plan should not have any impact on freedom of navigation and anchorages, insofar as these affect international obligations that Chile has entered into. The AC-MU (2) is under the supervision of the Ministry of the Environment. All activities carried out in the future must be compatible with the conservation objectives of the area and comply with the provisions of the respective management plan.
At the end of November 2024, prominent representatives of civil society groups from the communities of La Higuera and Freirina founded the association “Equitable Development of the Humboldt Archipelago” (1). The association has two objectives:
1. to influence community developments, especially in the “Área de Conservación de Múltiples Usos” (2).
2. to advocate the effective protection of the archipelago and the strengthening of local economic, cultural and traditional activities. The body brings together representatives from the fields of tourism, fishing, agriculture, culture and the environment (3). The association was formally recognized in February.
In April, the “Just Development” association held its first training sessions with experts from the natural and social sciences. The workshops took place in Yerba Buena, municipality of La Higuera. Their aim was to familiarize the representatives of different interest groups with the the AC-MU (2). The speakers were María de los Ángeles Gallardo, doctor of Alejandra Donoso Cáceres, lawyer and managing director of the NGO “Defensoría Ambiental”. Questions were asked about regulations and laws, management plans and conservation protection goals, the phenomenon of marine upwelling off the coasts, places of interest and the challenges of a nature reserve with multiple uses.
For lawyer Alejandra Donoso, the training was intended to promote environmental education, skills and exchange of information on protection in the context of the establishment of the AC-MU should be promoted. The lawyer pointed out, among other things, that “the creation of the association is important as it helps to maintain and influence population numbers”. She also emphasized “the role and participation of the communities, ... they are very important to design and shape the (protected) area”.
Jessica Osorio, the president of the cooperation, expressed her satisfaction with the day: “We asked for this meeting to prepare us for what (4) is coming. We need to know all the entities involved in this process and we have decided to invite the right people to train us”
Marcelo Villalobos, President of the Sustainable Tourism Association of La Higuera said about the event: “It was a synergy of different professions, different entrepreneurs of our community that have come together to influence the marine reserve on the coast and its management plan. For this, it is very important to provide further information and training. We want to do our best to make this process work for all inhabitants of the Humboldt Archipelago”.
As effective participation in municipal decisions cannot be achieved with voluntary commitment alone, the company plans to hire a managing director who will be entrusted with the following tasks:
- advising and supporting the Executive Board
- strategic planning
- managing resource
- advice and support in cooperation with key players, organizations and institutions and
- representation of the Executive Board.
The central objective of the “Equitable Development of the Humboldt Archipelago” project is to promote citizen participation in order to ensure the sustainable, fair and responsible development of the Humboldt Archipelago. Sphenisco Chile is not a member of the Corporación, but welcomes the initiative as a civil society commitment to sustainability and nature conservation. The project is supported by the species conservation foundation Zoo Karlsruhe and the Association of Friends of Hagenbeck Zoo e.V..
It will be a race against time. The first workshops have been taking place since May 12 to which the environment ministers of both regions have been invited. The aim of the meetings is to develop the management of the protected, area which are to be developed in a participatory manner. Leonardo Gros P, Environment Minister of the Coquimbo region, focused on the special importance of the Humboldt Archipelago. Due to its unique oceanographic processes and marine topography, the archipelago is an important place for conservation, a highly productive system with optimal conditions for the existence of a variety of species such as macroalgae, benthic invertebrates fish, birdlife and marine mammals. He can be quoted as saying: “We will work in a participatory way in the development of the management plan for the multi-purpose protected area so that the plan becomes a useful and beneficial tool for the inhabitants of these coastal areas”.
W.K.
Notes
For better readability, the generic masculine is used in this article. The personal designations used in the article refer to all genders, unless otherwise indicated, refer to all genders.
(1) Corporación de Desarrollo Justo del Archipiélago de Humboldt - Society “Just Development of the Humboldt Archipelago”.
(2) Área de Conservación de Múltiples Usos (ACMU) - Multi-use marine protected area
(3) Previous members of the “Society for Equitable Development” are: Cultural and environmental movement Los Hornos Bay, Yerba buena, Movement for the Protection of the Environment
- MODEMA, Association of Changos Caleta Chañaral, Association of Indigenous Pt. de Choros, group Blue Tourism, two fishermen from Chungungo, other people from Chungungo.
(4) Process of citizen participation in the design of the management plan of the protected area.
Sources
Communications of the Corporación de Desarrollo Justo del Archipiélago de Humboldt. April 2025 El Comunal - La Higuera Electronic newspaper. May 10, 2025