Download Sustainable Tourism Development Task force

Sustainable Tourism Development Task force
Template for good practice (GP)
KARUKINKA: A
Title of the GP
Partnership for Conservation and Recreation: The Story
Begins
Country / organization
CHILE/WILDLIFE CONSERVATION SOCIETY
presenting the GP
Destination where the GP
takes place
TIERRA DEL FUEGO, CHILE
UNEP's classification (is the GP directly related with UNEP's classification?)
Transportation
X Education
Energy use
Communication
X Training
Policy
Area of activity
Water use
Land planning
Waste
Chemicals
Type of activity
X Action plans
X Partnerships
X Local economy
Waste water
Building and construction
Other:
TASK FORCE's classification (is the GPdirectly related with one of the task force's current classification)
X Climate change
global stakes (see notification and agenda)
X Biodiversity
X Cultural and natural heritage
X Local development
BP classification for the workshops (see notification and agenda)
A Mobilization of financing
B Sustainable heritage management patterns
C Governance and territorial actors
D Value chain and corporate social -and environmental- responsibility
CONTACT INFORMATION
Web site
Publication(s)
Contact person
www.wcs.org
Bárbara Saavedra [email protected]
STAKEHOLDERS
(Name, type of local/regional/national authority, organisation, company or other stakeholder involved)
Goldman Sachs Investment Company, Forestry National Corporation of Chile (CONAF), The National
Environmental Commission (CONAMA), Fundacion Patagonia, Karukinka Advisory Council, The
Government of Chile, The U.S. Forest Service, Wildlife Conservation Society
DESCRIPTION of the GOOD PRACTICE
Detailed description
Karukinka is a 680,000 acre private protected area owned by Wildlife Conservation Society
(WCS) and located in the southwestern sector of Tierra del Fuego Island in Chile. Title to the
property was gifted to WCS in 2004 by the Goldman Sachs Investment Company, which
continues to provide some financial support. Karukinka contains several unique ecosystems,
including the largest stands of primary southern beech forests (lenga), peat bogs, high mountain
meadows and grasslands. Human presence is extremely low. These large stands of old growth
lenga are of great importance at a global scale because of the small amount of temperate forests
in the Southern Hemisphere. Karukinka will be one of the few protected areas available to
tourists in this remote and spectacular location.
WCS’ primary goal for the property is to conserve Karukinka’s wildlife, restore the ecological
quality and representation of its most important ecosystems. WCS has three conservation
objectives for Karukinka which include maintaining and enhancing the ecological quality and
representation of the major ecosystem types within the Karukinka; recovering flow regimes and
nutrient cycles associated with these ecosystems, and helping the recovery of endangered and
vulnerable species. The large size of the Karukinka properties and the relatively undisturbed
habitats they contain provide an exceptional opportunity for WCS to play a key role not only in
the protection of the properties themselves, but in the conservation effort throughout Tierra del
Fuego and Patagonia as a whole.
In the pursuit of these objectives, WCS will develop a) a Management Plan for conservation, b)
Control of exotic species, c) Research and conservation monitoring, d) Conservation beyond
Karukinka, and e) Sustainable development. Through the development of all of these activities
WCS expects to establish a permanent conservation presence in key areas of Karukinka in order
to manage the properties as a private protected area that can be used for research, education, and
tourism. A main goal of this conservation project is to provide opportunities for the development
of local economic and social benefits. To achieve this, WCS developed a Public Use Plan for
Karukinka for development of low impact infrastructure that will allow visitors, including
tourists, managers, and scientist, to learn through the conservation program and experience the
extraordinary biota and landscapes of Tierra del Fuego.
Support for conservation at local and regional levels will be promoted through access to the site
by local people, coordination with the local government, and professional collaborations.
Karukinka will contribute to the social and economic development of the Magallanes Region and
Chile, developing low impact economic activities that are compatible with the long term
persistence of this extraordinary biota.
WCS expects Karukinka to be a model of cooperation between private – public agents working
together in the establishment of an ecologically and economically sustainable conservation area.
The Public Use Plan describes development of infrastructure for activities like trekking, fauna
watching, fly fishing, kayaking, and mountaineering, among others, which in coordination with
the main conservation goals will allow the development of tourism for conservation. Activities
offered visitors will be diverse, increasing the target for potential visitors (e.g. age, physical
aptitude, interests).
The implementation of Karukinka’s Public Use Plan will involve working with The National
Environmental Commission (CONAMA), thought its “Sendero de Chile” Program to develop
paths for visitors in natural areas; the US Forest Service, in coordination with the local NGO
Fundación Patagonia, and the local CONAF (Forestry National Corporation) to develop a
Volunteer System to invite people from the US and Chile to work in Magallanes, with no cost for
the local institutions. We expect to implement this system to develop part of these initial
Karukinka paths.
Results / Lessons learnt (both positive and negative)
WCS is in the initial stages of implementation of the Public Use Plan. The main lesson learned so
far is that Chile offers diverse resources (human and economic) that should be included in the
development of the project in order to increase the probability of success.
Economical and financial viability
We expect to develop a financial model to analyze the viability of the Public Use Plan for
Karukinka, but initial assessments on cost/benefits indicate that the Plan would be sustainable
after five years of the first investment in infrastructure.
Replication possibilities
There may not be many opportunities for partnership for conservation and sustainable use of such
a large tract of land. However, with corporate support, the project may be replicated.