
By Evelyn Pfeiffer
Translation by Rebecca Neal
Chile’s Cochamo Valley is an area oft compared to Yosemite National Park of the United States because of its big granite walls and wild natural beauty attracting rock climbers and ecotourists in ever bigger numbers each year. But recently a controversy has stirred there as the mayor of the nearby town of Cochamo and a Chilean businessmen Roberto Hagemann – who has been pushing for building a large-scale hydroelectric development project in the area – moved to oppose renewing special tourism protections for the popular valley.
At issue in Cochamo Valley are ZOITs, an acronym in Spanish that stands for “Zonas de Interés Turístico,” which in English means “Areas of Special Tourist Interest.”