The American website, which depends on the Earth Institute of Columbia University, detailed the work carried out by our NGO and highlighted the effort we make with the care of glaciers in Chile.
At the end of July this year, the blog specialized in glaciers, “GlacierHub”, shared a piece of news in which it focuses on the important work carried out by the “Chilean Glaciers” foundation. The website stressed that Chile “is home to 82% of the glaciers in South America, which makes it an important reserve of fresh water , “ so the work carried out by our NGO is of great importance.
The Columbia University website interviewed Felipe Espinosa, founder of the foundation, who highlighted the various profiles that make up the team and the various activities carried out by the organization “Fundación Glaciares Chilenos focuses on three activities: educating the Chilean population on glaciers, make the issue more visible and provide information through understandable scientific documents, “Espinosa told the outlet.
The US blog emphasized the lack of environmental legislation in our country, commenting that “the entire Chilean environmental policy is found in a single sentence of the constitution that mentions the right to” an environment free of pollution. ” Also mentioning that there is an institutional vacuum with respect to the protection of glaciers in Chile.
However, GlacierHub commented and highlighted that the lawyers of “Chilean Glaciers” work together with other organizations to develop a more comprehensive legislation regarding glaciers in our country. In addition, they added that Chile’s environmental NGOs point to a much deeper change in the hands of the plebiscite of October 25, 2020, in which civil society intends to include the protection of glaciers and free access to water.
One of the things that also caught the attention of the international media, was the difference in terms of environmental legislation compared to Chile’s neighbors. In terms of glacier protection, “Chile is really a different case from its neighbors, ” the NGO’s founder told the site. Since Ecuador, Peru and Argentina have made a lot of progress on this issue.
According to the statements delivered by José Pinedo, a member of the foundation’s team, the lack of legislation in Chile is mainly due to the fact that “Chileans are unaware of the environment in which they live . ” Because glaciers and snow in general, according to website research, are quite absent in the daily life of Chileans due to their difficult access. As a consequence, the management of glaciers in our country has largely remained within the private sphere.
That is why the work we do from “Chilean Glaciers” takes such importance and becomes even more relevant with this publication, since our work is internationally recognized by “GlacierHub”, who seek to expand and deepen the understanding of glaciers and highlight how our NGO provides information on Chilean glaciers.
Finally, our founder stressed on the website that he is impressed by the altruism of the foundation team, because we are all volunteers, who carry out a huge variety of tasks ranging from educational to scientific. The founder of Glaciares Chilenos ended his interview by stating “our NGO long ago (…) But there is still a long way to go”.
Sources
- “Chilean Organization Hopes to Write Glacier Protection Into Chile’s New Constitution”, GlacierHub. Link
Cover Picture: Supraglacial runoff in Exploradores glacier, Aysén region, by Marcos Cole.
