A move is afoot in Arica, the nearest city, to redraw the boundaries of the park to allow mining in the highlands, Marquet explains.
Marquet was part of a team commissioned by the Arica government to survey Lauca's boundaries and assess how changes would affect the park's biodiversity and archaeological sites. CONAF and the Universidad de Chile in Santiago supervised the project.
Gold speculators from Chile and foreign enterprises have long seen potential profits in the park area. Small-scale mines, mostly deserted, turn up throughout the park.
Reopening the Mine
Along the border of Lauca National Park and the adjoining National Reserve Las Vicunas is Choquelimpie Mine.
Once operated by an English company with over 300 employees, the gold mine tunnels that penetrate the nearby mountains had been closed for a decade—until last year.
Now a Chilean company is employing 40 local residents to explore the possibility of reopening the mine.
"I don't know much about mining, but I can't imagine the reopening of the Choquelimpie Mine is going to be good for the park," said Justino Jiron, who lives in nearby Putre and makes his living as a park guide.
But many of the park's indigenous people welcome the chance to find work.
"You have to understand, no one wants the park to be mined to death. But there's very little work for the people that live here," said Vincente Mamani Yucra, who owns llamas near the village of Parinacota, in the heart of the park.
Other park residents complain that, without local work, their children depart to find jobs in Arica.
"We've lived here for hundreds of years," Yucra said. "We're going to lose our heritage if all the young people go away. In this way, jobs from mining operations might help, even if the land is compromised a little."
The future of this Biosphere Reserve, as in so many other parklands around the world, depends on planning for a balance between the needs of the environment and the people who live in it.
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