Cycling for Panul
More than 700 cyclists from all over Santiago gathered last Sunday, September 13, for the great bike ride for Bosque Panul, carrying a clear message: "We want to conserve the forest and transform the city."
More than 700 cyclists from all over Santiago gathered last Sunday, September 13, for the great bike ride for Bosque Panul, carrying a clear message: "We want to conserve the forest and transform the city."
Around 1:00 p.m. last Sunday, with the sun blazing from its highest point, the first cyclists began to arrive — tired but with a smile of satisfaction after pedaling hard up the steep hill before reaching the forest entrance. It didn't take long for hundreds of cyclists to gather, taking the opportunity to decorate their bikes with Panul banners and signs referencing protection of the forest.
Cyclists came from all over Santiago that day to support the bike ride, with notable participation from riders from Quilicura, Buin, Santiago Centro, and Maipú, who crossed the entire city by bike to show their support for the protection of the forest and the collective creation of the community park.
At 3:00 p.m., with everything ready, the great column of bicycles descended the steep Av. Rojas Magallanes, then turned onto Av. La Florida and finally Walker Martínez in the direction of La Florida's municipality.
The great caravan filled the doors of the municipality and delivered a clear message to the authorities, hanging hundreds of signs and posters on the municipality's doors referring to the protection of the forest and the creation of the community park. There were also messages alluding to the municipality's poor environmental management — its willingness to pave the way for concrete and the real estate business at the expense of green areas and the quality of life of La Florida's residents.
Why did they ride?
For more than 10 years, La Florida's residents have come together to save and defend Santiago's last native forest from the real estate threat. Today, Panul is increasingly close to disappearing — it remains private land and no authority has given it definitive protection. For its part, the real estate business has turned the city into a desolate place full of concrete, with diminished vegetation and few possibilities for efficient transportation alternatives to the car. Consequently, there is only one solution: rethink the city by conserving what we have left and transforming what exists for the benefit of everyone.
The Forest of Santiago
For a long time, Bosque Panul has been more than just a forest in La Florida's precordillera. It has established itself as an important green lung that benefits the inhabitants of all Santiago. This was reflected last Sunday when bike rides spontaneously formed from Maipú, Quilicura, Plaza Italia, and Puente Alto, drawing cyclists from across the capital to the Andean foothills of La Florida, joined by riders from Buin, Melipilla, and many other areas who came on their own initiative, with the conviction of defending this important forest. Panul not only helps clean the polluted air of the Santiago basin, but also regulates its temperature and retains rainwater, preventing further flooding in the city's impermeable streets. Additionally, the forest is increasingly consolidating itself as a place for contemplation, sport, and recreation.
Thus, Bosque Panul has become the most important forest in Santiago, known and visited by people from many parts of the city, who join the demand for expropriation and for management of a park from and with the community.
The content expressed in this article is the responsibility of its original authors and does not necessarily represent the views associated with the Panul Para Todos project.
The information archived in Archivo Panul was collected using automated tools, so there may be inconsistencies between what is presented here and the original link. You can visit the original link at the top of this article.