Forestry Forestry is the science and craft of creating, managing, planting, using, conserving and repairing forests, woodlands, and associated resources for human and environmental benefits. Forestry is practiced in plantations and natural stands. ...

is one of the main economic sectors of

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

, representing 14% of the value of the country's total

export An export in international trade is a good produced in one country that is sold into another country or a service provided in one country for a national or resident of another country. The seller of such goods or the service provider is an ...

s. This places the forestry sector in Chile as the second largest export sector behind copper mining. hile: Forestry Sector Patricia Jaramillo. From 1970 to 2005 planted forest surface in Chile grew from 300,000 ha to more than 2.07 million ha. In 2019 Chile had slighly more than 2,3 million ha of forest plantations of which 1,3 million ha were '' Pinus radiata'' and 0,9 million ha were of ''

Eucalyptus globulus ''Eucalyptus globulus'', commonly known as southern blue gum or blue gum, is a species of tall, evergreen tree endemic to southeastern Australia. This ''Eucalyptus'' species has mostly smooth bark, juvenile leaves that are whitish and waxy on ...

'' and '' Eucalyptus nitens''. In 2006 70% of Chile's forestry production went to export, and the industry employed more than 150,000 workers. By 2020 people employed in the sector were down to 112,200. The wave of forest plantations that begun in the 1970s was initially a response to severe soil erosion that affected much of the country. There was a broad support for plantations when these were first implemented but by the 1980s a conservationist critique had grown exposing the adverse effects of plantations on certain plant and animal species, on

biodiversity Biodiversity or biological diversity is the variety and variability of life on Earth. Biodiversity is a measure of variation at the genetic (''genetic variability''), species (''species diversity''), and ecosystem (''ecosystem diversity'') l ...

and on water resources. In many cases the establishment of plantations meant not reforestation but the actual replacement natural forest. The growth of the forestry sector since the 1980s is the consequence of growth of the export-oriented economy in Chile. Critics argue it has created an enclave economy.Mapuche: resistiendo al capital y al Estado. El caso de la Coordinadora Arauco Malleco en Chile
/ref> In the area of Cañete and Tirúa forestry companies have been accused of contributing to the displacement of indigenous Mapuche communities. In the last decades the communities of Temucuicui have had a conflict, at times physically violent, with the forestry company

Forestal Mininco Forestal Mininco is the forestry branch of wood product and woodpulp company CMPC. According to CMPC "Forestal Mininco territorially manages the forest heritage of CMPC in Chile." In the last decades Forestal Mininco have had a conflict, at times ...

, leading to the detention and imprisonment of community members in the prisons of

Angol Angol is a commune and capital city of the Malleco Province in the Araucanía Region of southern Chile. It is located at the foot of the Nahuelbuta Range and next to the Vergara River, that permitted communications by small boats to the Bío- ...

and Cañete.

References

Economy of Chile {{chile-stub

See also

References