Environment Ministry study says human activity endangers 55 percent of Chile’s natural areas, with populated central and southern regions most at risk.

Southern temperate rainforests and precarious desert waterways in the north are among the more than half of Chile’s ecosystems under threat from encroaching urban and industrial expansion, a study commissioned by the Environment Ministry warns.

In coordination with the Institute of Ecology and Biodiversity (IEB), the research reveals that 55 percent of the country’s natural areas fall into one of four threat categories: critical danger, danger, vulnerable and minor concern. There are currently four ecosystems categorized as being in critical danger.

According to Lohengrin Alexis Cavieres, a biologist and researcher at IEB and the Universidad de Concepción who contributed to the study, although most of the threatened regions are located in central and southern Chile, the ecosystems facing the most immediate threats are spread throughout the length of the country.

In the north and far south, native forests are threatened by increased mining, overgrazing, logging, wildfires and non-native tree plantations. Rising demand for water from large mining operations and growing populations threaten limited water sources in northern salt fields, home to migratory birds, including flamingos. Beaches, sand dunes and other coastal habitats contend with urban sprawl. In Chile’s deserts, native species of cacti dwindle as locals harvest plants to make artisanal goods, such as rain sticks.

Cavieres told The Santiago Times that if something is not done soon, some of these unique ecosystems may face extinction.

“If we keep intruding at this rate and if we don’t take measures in the medium term, these ecosystems could disappear,” Cavieres said, though he admitted that finding solutions won’t be easy. “The threats are varied in nature. The threats in the north are very different from those in the south. At this stage, it would be impossible to plan solutions. The study is an effort to attract attention to the issue so that an initiative can be started as soon as possible.”

Víctor Marín, a professor of ecosystem theory at the Universidad de Chile, agreed that such a study was necessary, though said any definition of an ecosystem is arbitrary.

“An ecosystem is not like a farm, where you know exactly where it starts or it ends,” Marín said. “It is a way of looking at and understanding the complexity of the interactions within a system.”

Rodrigo Catalán, director of conservation at the World Wildlife Fund’s (WWF) Chilean office, granted that defining an ecosystem can often be challenging, but said the study is just a first step.

“Ecosystem classifications can be very broad, but we still think it is very positive that the study was done,” Catalán told The Santiago Times. “The study will help us know where to focus our efforts.”

But the WWF Chile official lamented that marine ecosystems were significantly underrepresented in the study.

“In terms of marine systems, there is a big void. We have many protected terrestrial areas, but very few protected marine areas,” Catalán said, adding that the discrepancy was likely due to a lack of studies on marine systems.

Catalán also explained that the study would help inform a legislative project currently being drafted by the Environment Ministry which would create a Biodiversity and Protected Areas Service.

Creation of the service is one of 50 reforms promised by President Michelle Bachelet within the first 100 days of her presidency, with the intention of permitting “the expansion of biodiversity preservation beyond protected areas.”

In a La Tercera article published Monday, the Environment Ministry’s chief of natural resources, Alejandra Figueroa, confirmed that further studies and efforts to address endangered areas are in the works.

“We are designing plans to restore ecosystems and protect natural areas,” Figueroa said, adding that some plans have already been implemented, citing the restoration of a forest of Tamarugos trees — a type of flowering tree found only in northern chile — carried out by the National Forestry Service (Conaf).