Chile Uses Conservation Standards in National Plan for Landscape Restoration

Collaborators of Chile’s National Plan for Landscape Restoration, an effort supported by the Initiative 20×20 and its technical members, including WWF, WRI, FAO, and CATIE. Photo by WWF.

Story by Anita Diederichsen (WWF), Trevor Walter (WWF), Rene Zamora Cristales (WRI), Roger Villalobos (CATIE), and Rodrigo Catalán (WWF)

Chile has been using the Conservation Standards on the planning and management of Protected Areas for many years. Now, we are looking forward to implementing the Conservation Standards in our National Plan for Landscape Restoration. In December 2019, Chile presented a draft plan for public comment. The draft plan was developed with the support of the Initiative 20×20 and its technical members, including WWF, WRI, FAO, and CATIE. At the beginning of the planning process, these organizations provided training on planning methodologies for government officials at the Ministries of Environment and Agriculture. Following this initial capacity-building workshop, a series of regional workshops took place across the country—one in each of the 16 administrative regions in Chile. Integrating the Restoration Opportunity Assessment Methodology, Social Landscapes, and the Conservation Standards processes, workshop participants identified major challenges and opportunities related to the planning and implementation of landscape restoration, mapped the landscape actors, and identified conservation targets and management strategies. Results and theories of change from each region were analyzed and integrated into the national plan. In December, the plan was presented for public consultation and was also introduced to participants at the UN Climate Change Conference. Implementation will begin once public comments are incorporated and the final draft is approved by the Council of Ministers for Sustainability.

 Developing Chile’s National Landscape Restoration Plan. Photo by WWF.