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BOSQUE 26(3): 5-18, 2005
BOSQUE 26(3): 5-18, 2005

Hacia una definición de país forestal: ¿dónde se sitúa Chile?

OPINION

Hacia una definición de país forestal:
¿Dónde se sitúa Chile?
Towards a definition of a forest country: Where is Chile located?

PABLO J. DONOSO1, LUIS A. OTERO2
1Universidad
2Centro

Austral de Chile, Instituto de Silvicultura, Casilla 567, Valdivia, Chile.E-mail pdonoso@uach.cl
Estudios Transdisciplinarios y Ambientales (CEAM), Universidad Austral de Chile, Casilla 567,
Valdivia, Chile. E-mail: lotero@uach.cl

SUMMARY
Since the arrival of Spaniards, Chile has had great changes in its forestry landscape, mainly during the 19th
century. Land clearance for cattle and agriculture was originally the main cause of forest losses. The period ofindiscriminate destruction of forests corresponds to the first stage of “Exploitation” of the forest resources
according to the classification by Kimmins to describe the degree of forest development. In Chile this stage ended
with the last great destruction of forests in Aysén, during the middle part of the 20th century. According to
Kimmins the first stage is followed by one of “Regulation”, whichis characterized by the creation of political and
legal mechanisms to control forest harvest. Chile enters this stage, through state initiatives, with the creation of
the institutional and industrial bases, by the creating the Corporación Nacional Forestal (Chilean Forest Service),
the INFOR (Forest Research Institute), and the pulp mills Arauco and Constitución. The third stage corresponds
tothat of “Sustainable Forest Management”, in which there is a sustained provision of goods and services from
the forest. In this article our objective is to conduct a critical analysis to determine whether Chile has reached this
stage of development, and for that purpose we established three requisites that Chile should fulfill to consider
itself a developed nation from a forestry perspective:a) a great proportion of the population must improve their
quality of life through the goods and services provided by the forests; b) strong public and private institutions
should safeguard the good management of plantations and native forests, and; c) plantations and native forests are
carefully managed so as to conserve or improve their biodiversity, productivity and the ecosystem servicesthat
they can provide. Through our analysis we conclude that these conditions are not met in Chile, and the pending
challenge is to move the Chilean forest model towards greater levels of sustainability, particularly in social and
environmental matters, in order become a nation with a truly developed forest sector.
Key words: forestry development, plantations, native forests, sustainable forestmanagement.

RESUMEN
Desde la llegada de los españoles Chile ha sufrido grandes cambios en el paisaje forestal, particularmente a partir
del siglo XIX. Las grandes pérdidas de bosques fueron causadas originalmente por la apertura de tierras para la
agricultura y la ganadería. El período de destrucción indiscriminada de los bosques corresponde a la primera
Etapa de “Explotación” de losrecursos de acuerdo a la clasificación establecida por Kimmins, para describir el
nivel de desarrollo forestal de los países. Se puede considerar que en Chile esta fase terminó luego de la última
gran destrucción de bosques en Aysén, a mediados del siglo XX. Según Kimmins a la primera Etapa le sigue una
de “Regulación”, caracterizada por la creación de mecanismos políticos y legales para controlar lacosecha de
bosques. Chile entra a esta Etapa con la creación por parte del Estado de las bases de la institucionalidad y la
industria forestal chilena, en donde son ejemplos emblemáticos la creación de la Corporación Nacional Forestal
(CONAF), el Instituto Forestal (INFOR), y las empresas de pulpa Arauco y Constitución. La tercera Etapa
corresponde a la de “Desarrollo Forestal Sustentable”,...