On Saturday, April 13, 2019, a large Open Forum was held to discuss the situation of glaciers in Chile and the urgency to protect them. This event was held in the auditorium of the Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism (FAU) of the University of Chile in Santiago. The meeting was attended by participants from various parts of the national territory in which they gave an account of the areas of action and initiatives to protect glaciers from the academic field in areas of research in geological, glaciological, and cultural issues, as well as in public policies and various instances of territorial claim for the protection of glaciers.
The forum had three panels. The first panel addressed the various social struggles around projects of large companies that have negatively affected the national ecosystem, and particularly the glaciers in their surrounding territories. This panel addressed the Alto Maipo, Alto Aconcagua, and Pascualama projects. In addition, a presentation was made regarding the various records of the Diaguita culture around the glaciers of the Choapa Valley, in the Coquimbo Region, in northern Chile.
The second panel addressed the academic field, with the presence of Francisco Ferrando, PhD in Geography and Professor of Hydrology and Glaciology of the Department of Geography of the FAU of the University of Chile; Hans Fernandez, Geographer and PhD (c) in Geography from the PUC; Sebastian Ruiz, Biotechnologist and Master in Antarctic Sciences and PhD (c) in Geography from the PUC; and Catherine Medina, Geologist and Master in Science, Technology and Innovation. Each speaker in this panel presented from their field of research in academia. Later, the attendees asked questions, which the panel of experts answered.
Finally, the third panel addressed the legislative guidelines on the protection of glaciers, in which the Colectivo Glaciares Libres’ actions and various interventions at the parliamentary level were presented, in addition to the presentation of the notions and areas of law that can be used to claim the protection of Chilean glaciers.
Due to the non-existence of legal regulations for the protection of glaciers, this instance of dissemination and conversation between different organizations of the country’s territories represents a great opportunity to bring to the stage a topic of discussion as important as the protection of glaciers. As Fundación Glaciares Chilenos, we think that it’s of maximum importance to be part of these instances to understand part of the national scenario and to be an active part of environmental protection.
This great instance was recorded on Facebook Live, so you can access to review its content at the following link: https://www.facebook.com/glaciareslibres/videos/418571612278060
Sources:
Photographs obtained from Glaciares Libres.
