Poaching, Mining Imperil "Crown Jewel" Park in Chile

Zoltan Istvan
National Geographic Channel

September 5, 2003

At 20,800 feet (6,340 meters), the peak of the snow-covered, dormant
volcano Parinacota, in northern Chile, commands a view of Peru, Bolivia,
and Chile's high Andean altiplano.

The volcano dominates the landscape of Chile's Parque Nacional Lauca. Atop Parinacota, the park seems peaceful. On the ground, though, classic conflicts have developed between conservation and commerce.

Poachers come for the pelts of the vicuna and the now-endangered puma. And miners covet the gold once mined extensively in the park highlands.

Lauca National Park, named for the Lauca River that snakes through the southern part of the park, is one of South America's crown-jewel conservation areas. In 1981 UNESCO named the park a Biosphere Reserve.

"(Lauca) harbors a great diversity of natural habitats, including wetlands and lakes, home to birds, fishes and an abundance of flora," said Pablo Marquet, a biologist at the Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile in Santiago who has surveyed the park's boundaries.

Lauca's wetlands are home to more than 100 bird species, including the flamingo, giant coot, white owl, Andean geese, and nandus (a flightless South American bird resembling the emu). Three species of flamingo throng the shores of Lake Chungara—at 12,000 feet (3,660 meters), one of the world's highest lakes. Birders from around the world flock to Lauca.

The park contains more than 30 species of mammals, including wild llamas, vicuna, foxes, alpacas, chinchillas, and Andean and pampas cats.

Gold Mining Prospects

Not all the park's treasures are wild. In cave sites like Refugio Rocoso Las Cuevas and Chacus Incaico Las Cuevas, artifacts and cave paintings date back thousands of years to the ancestors of the Aymara people who still live in the park.

Chile's National Forest Corporation, or CONAF, administers Chile's national parks and reserves. But only 14 CONAF rangers patrol the vast Lauca park—often to check reports about Bolivians who have crossed the border to hunt vicuna, foxes, and pumas.

"In the past, some Bolivian poachers have gone to jail," said ranger Leonel Garcia Rojas. "But the park is large, and many areas are rugged and don't have roads. It's difficult to catch poachers."

Mining interests also pose a threat. "People want to mine to improve their standard of living," Marquet said. Just 120 miles (190 kilometers) away from Lauca is Iquique, a flourishing city whose wealth has derived from copper mines.

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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