Costa Humboldt

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Photo: LUC HIRIART-BERTRANDPhoto: LUC HIRIART-BERTRAND
 
 
By Rodrigo Barría
 
Editor's note: The following is from Issue 29.
 
The Humboldt Current along South America’s western coast has engendered very high biodiversity of fish, marine mammals, seabirds, and more. Extending from southern Chile to the Galápagos Islands off of Ecuador, this cold, nutrient-rich current also creates the conditions for the most productive fisheries in the world currently responsible for about 20% of seafood consumed worldwide.
 
Along Chile’s extensive 8,385 km-long coastline, due to mismanagement and illegal fishing, almost 60% of the nation’s fisheries are currently overexploited or collapsed. 
 
It is in this worrisome context that Costa Humboldt was founded in 2012 to conserve the biological and cultural biodiversity of Chile's coastal marine areas.
 
The non-profit organization seeks comprehensive and collaborative solutions to the economic, social and environmental challenges affecting the coast. Their work involves all sectors of society, from government to the private sector, but it is grounded principally in partnerships with local communities. For example, in Costa Humboldt’s work with indigenous communities in southern Chile, they provide tools and training on how to sustainably manage the places they have fished for generations. Yet, their projects also consider national and regional scales of the issues, taking aim at achieving resilient coastal marine ecosystems that are capable of hosting diverse lifestyles.
 
 
 Photo: LUC HIRIART-BERTRANDPhoto: LUC HIRIART-BERTRAND
 
 
How do you achieve conservation and sustainable management of natural resources in harmony with the unique cultural attributes of different areas? That is the is overarching question that frames their work, which encompasses five main areas: fisheries, ecosystem management, coastal marine spatial-planning, climate change, and public policies and regulation.

During its 12 years of existence, among Costa Humboldt’s accomplishments are pioneering conservaiton program to protect the rocky reef fish, publishing dozens of scientific reports and papers, devising 8 management plans for Coastal and Marine Spaces of Indigenous People (ECMPO), and developing and affecting public policies at international and national levels.

“It is no longer possible to see our seas as a faithful and inexhaustible supplier of resources. That vision has changed drastically, mainly because of the strong and pronounced changes that the oceans are undergoing,” says Luciano Hiriart-Bertrand,  founder and CEO of Costa Humboldt, and a marine biologist with a masters degree from the prestigious Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego.

Costa Humboldt views marine ecosystems themselves as places of collaboration, capable of sustaining the existence of ancient forms of life and, at the same time, making room for the cultural and economic activities of the present era, and thus making possible a new equilibrium between natural and cultural systems.

But he adds that with ocean degradation advancing rapidly in recent degrades, his organization is necessarily placing a strong emphasis, too, on regenerating marine ecosystems.

“At Costa Humboldt, we address these challenges through ecological restoration programs that seek to recover underwater algal meadows, natural shoals, and fisheries,” said Hirart-Bertrand. “Our approach to the productive conservation of brown algae is articulated along three lines: conservation of natural meadows, restoration of degraded areas, and brown algae aquaculture. This model, in collaboration with local communities, promotes biomass recovery, facilitating the regeneration of key species and the creation of sustainable economic opportunities for the region.”

Visit Costa Humboldt at www.costahumboldt.org for more information
 

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Riding storms in Patagonia

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Hiking to the base of the central tower of Torres del Paine. Photo: Drew SmithHiking to the base of the central tower of Torres del Paine. Photo: Drew Smith
 
Editor's note: The following is from Issue 29.
 
2024's summer of historic climbs at Torres del Paine.
 
By Paula Fernandez

The 2024 summer climbing season in Torres del Paine produced two of the most exceptional climbs in history on Chile’s legendary crown jewel: an incredible climb of one of the most famous – and challenging – routes of the central tower, dubbed "Riders on the Storm," followed by the most complete traverse ever made of the entire Torres del Paine massif, and all in only 70 hours.
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Conserva Puchegüín: Protection with local and global impact

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By Rodrigo Condeza
Condeza is founder of Puelo Patagonia
 
Editor's note: The following is from Issue 29.
 
What has happened in the last 20 years of conservation history in Cochamó can be understood as “environmental alchemy”. A concept that, although it has more than one interpretation, also refers to the adaptation of new methodologies and creative approaches to environmental protection projects, with the goal of transforming traditional practices into more effective and sustainable solutions. 
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Issue 29: Discovering Puelo

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Cochamó is known far and wide as the “Yosemite of South America” and attracts droves of climbers and hikers each year. But as we write in the cover story of this issue, the neighboring and more extensive Puelo Valley is yet another wonderland landscape that has a spectacular network of rivers surrounded by grand mountains and lush green forest.
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What you need to know to visit Cochamó Valley this summer

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Photo: Marcelo SalazarPhoto: Marcelo Salazar

 
By Josefina Vigouroux and Bernardita Ortiz
Communications, Puelo Patagonia

Over the years, the Cochamó Valley has established itself as one of the top tourist destinations in Chile’s Los Lagos reion for trekking, climbing and fishing. Every summer, around 15,000 tourists visit in search of its great granite walls, ancient alerce forests, glaciers, wetlands and crystal-clear waters, and several endemic and endangered species. However, there is always an important fact many tourists are unaware of: they must reserve ahead to camp in Cochamó Valley.
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