Letter from organizations calling for the definitive protection of Bosque Panul
Dozens of territorial organizations, academics, and other institutions demand that the relevant authorities (the president and the mayor) provide definitive protection for Bosque Panul, the last remaining pocket of native vegetation within Santiago's urban boundary, which is today threatened by real estate developers and by the lack of protection and regulation.
Twelve years ago, a handful of people decided to organize to defend Bosque Panul, Santiago's last native forest, which was condemned to disappear.
Hundreds of hectares of mature, well-established forest that had survived the advance of the city were a treasure for our polluted city, and they needed to be saved and protected.
Soon, many people began joining this cause, and it was thus that in 2012, after four years of intense struggle, a historic victory was achieved: environmental agencies rejected the real estate project at Fundo El Panul, thanks to strong social opposition.
The organized community had succeeded, but the battle for its protection was only beginning.
Over these twelve years, political representatives of all stripes have committed to protecting it, but none have followed through. Meanwhile, the fragile ecosystem of the forest receives thousands of visitors every month, and the lack of care and regulation has caused significant environmental deterioration — making it a genuine time bomb for forest fires.
Today we are no longer a handful of people. Today we are the entire community that lives alongside the forest: the schools, the nurseries; the neighborhood councils and committees; the grassroots territorial, environmental, and social organizations; prominent members of the academic and scientific community; neighbors who enjoy and defend Bosque Panul — who have come together through this document to request its definitive protection. This natural treasure cannot be traded for concrete for the enjoyment of a few.
This document is more than a letter — it is an urgent call to the responsible authorities to protect the last native forest remaining within Greater Santiago. In the troubling global environmental context we are living through, protecting our nature is imperative. If we do not do it TODAY, the damage will be irreversible.
DOWNLOAD THE FULL LETTER HERE
Red por la Defensa de la Precordillera, February 2018
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.