Representatives from the scientific, academic, community and civil society worlds spoke on the panel "Chilean Patagonia, a refuge from climate change and a natural laboratory for science", which aimed to analyze information on biodiversity, global changes, conservation, cultural and community heritage of this vast and pristine territory, visualized as a refuge from the current climate change scenario.
This event was a collaboration between the Austral Patagonia program of the Universidad Austral de Chile and the Patagonia Mar y Tierra (PMT) working group formed by WWF-Chile, Fundación Omora, Fundación Melimoyu, Aumén, Fundación Terram, Centro Ballena Azul, Puelo Patagonia, and The Pew Charitable Trusts, who, contributing from diverse experiences, advocate for the conservation of Chilean Patagonia - terrestrial and marine - emphasizing the creation, expansion, and effective implementation of protected areas.
"From Patagonia Mar y Tierra we believe that generating a marine-terrestrial conservation model in the southern zone of Chile can be an example of different development: on the one hand, we protect and conserve unique ecosystems, and on the other hand, we generate a model of work and local economy that can be replicated in other parts of Chile and the planet," said Flavia Liberona, executive director of Terram and part of the PMT group.
Pamela Mayorga, representative of the community of Chaitén and member of the organization Yene Purrun We, Sylvia Earle, scientist and founder of Mission Blue, Rodrigo Hucke-Gaete, associate researcher of the Southern Patagonia Program, Flavia Liberona, executive director of Terram and part of the PMT group, and Francisco Solís, of the Chilean Patagonia Program.
COP25 is pushing us to look to the ocean as an ally, helping coastal ecosystems not only to adapt to the climate crisis, but also to mitigate its effects. In Patagonia," says Dr. Rodrigo Hucke, "we have discovered a refuge of marine life. But today we are also discovering it as a climatic refuge for biodiversity, where whales could act as great carbon sinks both for their biological cycles and their biomass", reveals the researcher of the Southern Patagonia Program of the UACh and president of the Blue Whale Center.
Pamela Mayorga, representative of the community of Chaitén and member of the Yene Purrun We organization, also presented her vision from the territory with respect to conservation: "Today more than ever, and under a changing climate, we need conservation figures that respect the environment. In this way, the ECMPO (Original People's Marine Coastal Space) allows communities to develop in a sustainable way, to improve the inequality gaps of poverty and poverty in the extreme zones of Patagonia, as well as to form a protective fence against the extractive industry that depredates the sea and delivers negative externalities to the communities".
The exhibition featured a presentation by noted scientist and founder of Mission Blue, Sylvia Earle, who has traveled throughout Chilean Patagonia and has consistently stressed the importance of one of the last remaining pristine wilderness areas in the world and the urgency of preserving it for the sake of humanity."We have to do everything we can to protect this territory while there is still time to do so," she concluded.