Rapa Nui National Park is a national park and UNESCO World Heritage Site located on Easter Island, Chile. Rapa Nui is the Polynesian name of Easter Island; its Spanish name is Isla de Pascua. The island is located in the southeastern Pacific Ocean, at the southeastern extremity of the Polynesian Triangle. The island was taken over by Chile in 1888. Its fame and World Heritage status arise from the 887 extant stone statues known by the name "moai", whose creation is attributed to the early Rapa Nui people who inhabited the island around 300 AD. Much of the island has been declared as Rapa Nui National Park which, on 22 March 1996, UNESCO designated a World Heritage Site under cultural criteria (i), (iii), & (v). The Rapa Nui National Park is now under the administrative control of the Ma´u Henua Polynesian Indigenous Community, which is the first autonomous institute on the island. The indigenous Rapa Nui people have regained authority over their ancestral lands and are in charge of the management, preservation and protection of their patrimony. On the first of December 2017, the ex-President Michelle Bachelet returned ancestral lands in the form of the Rapa Nui National Park to the indigenous people. For the first time in history, the revenue generated by the National Park is invested in the island and used to conserve the natural heritage.
The protected areas of Chile are areas that have natural beauty or significant historical value protected by the government of Chile. These protected areas cover over 140,000 km2 (54,054 sq mi), which is 19% of the territory of Chile. The National System of Protected Wild Areas is regulated by law #18,362 passed in 1984, and administered by the National Forest Corporation (CONAF).
Alerce Andino National Park is located in the Andes, in Los Lagos Region of Chile. This national park covers about 393 km². It is bounded by the Reloncaví Estuary on its east and south sides, and by the Reloncaví Sound to the west. To its north lies Chapo Lake.
Los Pingüinos Natural Monument is located 35 km (22 mi) northeast of Punta Arenas, Chile. Magdalena Island and the Marta Island, situated in the middle of the Strait of Magellan, is the main part of this natural monument. The largest penguin colonies of south Chile are on this island, including an estimated 60,000 breeding pairs of the Magellanic penguin.
Puyehue National Park is located in the Andes mountain range, in Los Ríos and Los Lagos regions of Chile formerly referred to as the 10th region. The park boast 220,000 acres of natural thermal springs, volcanoes, and evergreen forests, after having been expanded in 1950 and 1981. The park is Chile's most visited national park with 400,000 people enjoying it each year. Puyehue National park forms part of the Reserve of Temperate Rainy Forest Biospheres of the Southern Andes. Chile Route 215 passes through the park, which connects with the Argentine Route 231 via Cardenal Antonio Samoré Pass.
Tolhuaca National Park is a Protected Area created on October 16, 1935, in an area of 3,500 ha that was previously part of the Malleco National Reserve. In 1985, a second section of Malleco National Reserve was also made part of the national park. Malleco National Reserve was the first protected wildlife area in both Chile and South America, so the land within Tolhuaca National Park is one of the oldest protected areas on the continent.
Maytenus magellanica is a small evergreen tree from the genus Maytenus, up to 5 meters (16 ft), in the Celastraceae. It grows in southern Argentina and Chile from 36ºS to Cape Horn (56ºS).
Kawésqar National Park, formerly Alacalufes National Reserve, is located between Canal Concepción and the open Pacific Ocean, on both sides of Strait of Magellan in Chile. It is composed of western archipelagos; its landscape is filled with low mountain-like islands and islets and many channels and fjords. It was created in 1969 with an area of 2,313,875 hectares.
Carlos Anwandter Nature Sanctuary is protected wetland in Cruces River about 15 km (9 mi) north of Valdivia, Chile. The sanctuary is named after the German politician Carlos Anwandter who settled in Valdivia during the 1850s. The wetlands in the sanctuary are inhabited by many bird species including Black-necked Swans. This sanctuary provides a home for many native waterbird species to flourish, and contains roughly 119 species of birds alone.{2,5} Despite being a nature sanctuary for the country of Chile under the National Monuments Act, it wasn't internationally recognized for its cultural and natural value until the Ramsar Wetlands Convention of 1971. {1}
Alerce Costero National Park is a protected wild area in the Cordillera Pelada about 137 km from Valdivia and 49 km from La Unión. Fitzroya trees grow inside the protected area and give the area its name, with Alerce Costero translating as Coastal Fitzroya. The Natural Monument has a total area of 137 hectares.
Islotes de Puñihuil Natural Monument is a Chilean Natural Monument located 28 km (17 mi) southwest of Ancud. It consists of three islets off the western coast of Chiloé Island to the west and north of Puñihuil.
The National Forest Corporation or CONAF is a Chilean private, non-profit organization, through which the Chilean state contributes to the development and sustainable management of the country's forest resources. CONAF is overseen and funded by the Ministry of Agriculture of Chile.
Hiking in Chile is characterized by a wide range of environments and climates for hikers, which largely results from Chile's unusual, ribbon-like shape, which is 4,300 kilometres long and on average 175 kilometres wide. These range from the world's driest desert, the Atacama, in the north, through a Mediterranean climate in the center, to the glaciers, fjords and lakes of Patagonia in the south.
The wildlife of Chile encompasses a diverse range of animals and plants, a condition is attributed to the country's slender and elongated shape, which spans a wide range of latitude, and also its altitude, ranging from the windswept coastline of the Pacific coast on the west to northern Andes to the sub-Antarctic, high Andes mountains in the east. There are many distinct ecosystems.
ONEMI or National Office of Emergency of the Interior Ministry is a Chilean government agency dedicated to the prevention, organization, coordination and information relative to natural disasters. After the 1960 Valdivia earthquake a committee was formed to solve problems caused by the earthquake. However, this committee was not dissolved afterwards and in 1974, it acquired by law independent status as governmental office.
Alto Loa National Reserve is a Protected Area located in the province of El Loa, Antofagasta region, Chile. Announced in 2002 and created in 2005, it is Chile's largest natural reserve.
Lago Peñuelas National Reserve is a national reserve of Chile. The reserve was created around Peñuelas Lake, a freshwater reservoir that provides drinking water to Valparaíso and Viña del Mar. The park, which is located in the Valparaíso Region of Chile, was declared a protected area in the year 1952 in order to protect the drainage of the Peñuelas reservoir and dam, built at the end of the 19th and beginning of the Twentieth century. The park, along with La Campana National Park to its north, was designated Campana-Peñuelas Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO in 1984.
Laguna Parrillar National Reserve is a national reserve of southern Chile's Magallanes and Antártica Chilena Region.
Magallanes National Reserve is a national reserve of southern Chile's Magallanes and Antártica Chilena Region. It was created on February 13, 1932.
Valdivia Temperate Rainforest is an area between 36 and 47° S. consisting of a majority of the country Chile and a small part of Argentina totaling about 12.7 million hectares. The Valdivian forest is one of the few forested regions in the world with climate conditions to be considered a temperate climate. Its ecological systems provide habitat for a clustering of some of the highest biodiversity in the world. Many of the species are endemic to Valdivia and are descendants of Gondwana Species. For example, Araucaria araucana or "Monkey Puzzle Tree", and Fitzroya cupressoides "Alerce". Due to the region's unique landscape and biodiversity millions of visitors come to the area annually. National Parks in the region provide opportunities for many tourism operations. In an effort to help preserve and expand conserved areas Ecotourism or Sustainable Tourism plays a vital role. The economic benefits affect not only the park areas but also the local communities. Ecotourism accounts for 4.6% of Chile's GNP.
