Conservation and community-based development through ecotourism in the temperate rainforest of southern Chile

Abstract

General assessments of ecotourism and community-led development offer conflicting views of these strategies’ potential. Appraisals of successful projects add to the available knowledge that policy makers can use to improve decision-making. The Mapu Lahual Network of Indigenous Parks (RML), an ecotourism development and conservation project in the 10th Region of southern Chile, covers 45,000 ha within the territories of eight indigenous communities, in a part of southern Chile that national and international conservation organizations consider a high priority for ecological conservation. Elected leaders of the indigenous communities established the RML in 2000 with technical assistance from public agencies and financial assistance from national and environmental organizations. The RML’s primary purpose is to increase and diversify per-capita incomes in a way that preserves the area’s environment and culture by establishing tourism based on a system of parks, trails, campgrounds, and local services. This paper appraises the RML with respect to the common interest of the relevant local, national, and international communities. The policy sciences provide a contextual basis for practical recommendations that will help participants build on the project’s strengths and correct its weaknesses. The RML initiative provides a model of a development process that has been constructively supported by members of public agencies and conservation organizations. The strategies employed in the RML could be diffused and adapted in other contexts.