Current state of ecological Restoration in Chile: perspectives and challenges

Abstract

Ecological restoration is a discipline that was born just under 30 years. In Latin America it is in a formation stage, with Chile as one of the countries that has led in some aspects of restoration. The purpose of this paper is to review the state of the art of Ecological Restoration (ER) in Chile. Specifically we aim to: i) a brief compilation of the first actions of ecological restoration developed in the country; ii) to identify the ecological restoration of forest ecosystems that have been or are being implemented; iii) to identify the organizations that have been involved; and iv) to outline the main challenges and opportunities of ER in the country. We found about 60 ER initiatives in the country, that are being developed by NGOs, government, forest companies and universities. Despite being many initiatives, the area covered by each one is rather small. However, there are commitments to expand it considerably. ER is increasingly being taught in universities. The challenges aimed primarily at generating a National and Regional ER Plans that