María Dolores Muñoz

Conflicts for control of Mapuche-Pehuenche land and natural resources in the Biobio highlands, Chile

This paper analyzes the impact that the Chilean governments land-ownership policies have had on the Mapuche-Pehuenche communities, especially with respect to the control of their territory and natural resources. The results show a tendency towards non-protection of their rights to control their territories with an increasing loss of autonomy and control over land. State intervention, together with large private investment projects, has generated socio-economic and territorial impacts in the indigenous areas, such as the migration of young persons, socio-cultural changes, and conflicts over access and use of ecological zones. The territorial re-ordering of the original Mapuche space, combined with its increasing appropriation by private actors and the Chilean government, has produced a subordinated integration of the indigenous communities with respect to national society. Este artículo analiza los impactos que las políticas territoriales de los gobiernos de Chile tuvieron sobre las comunidades Mapuche-Pehuenche, especialmente respecto del control de su territorio y recursos naturales. Los resultados muestran una tendencia histórica hacia la desprotección de sus derechos a controlar su territorio y una pérdida de su autonomía y control sobre sus tierras. La intervención del Estado, junto con los proyectos de inversión privada, ha generado impactos socioeconómicos y territoriales en las áreas indígenas, tales como la migración de personas jóvenes, cambios socio-culturales y conflictos por el acceso y uso de zonas ecológicas. El reordenamiento territorial de los espacios originales de los Mapuche-Pehuenche, junto con su apropiación creciente por actores privados y del Estado chileno, ha producido una integración subordinada de las comunidades indígenas con respecto a sociedad nacional.

Pérdida y fragmentación del bosque nativo en la cuenca del río Aysén (Patagonia-Chile) durante el siglo XX

This work estimates the loss and fragmentation of native forest in the watershed of the river Aysen during the 20 th century, as a result of clearance fires induced by land settlers. In order to generate the reconstruction of the native forest cover, several documentary records and GIS ArcView 3.2 were used. Different indexes of landscape changes were applied (area, density and size of the fragment, core area, euclidean distance, shape and aggregation index, and edge length) to estimate the distribution of the native forest between 1900 and 1998, which indicate that the main replacement of the forest was by prairies. A loss of approximately 23% of native forest was registered, also an increase in the number of forest fragments (<100 ha), as a result of the settlement process. Howerer, the increasing number of fragments has a high connectivity, wich was corroborated using different landscape indexes.

Los paisajes del agua en la cuenca del río Baker: bases conceptuales para su valoracion integral

Landscape concept implies several qualities and meanings. Considering this, a method for its integral appraisal is presented to be applied in the water landscapes in the river Baker basin, Aysen region. This it is an exceptional territory because of its heterogeneousness, singularity, and environmental quality, territorial and social importance of the aquatic systems that constitute it. The conceptual bases for the integral appraisal of these water landscapes has as reference for the analysis orientated to main cultural and physical qualities. The objective is to value these landscapes like spatial expression of a geographical context, as a setting for the action of the man, an identity bearer environment, an indicator of the environmental quality and a component of the territory that is essential to support determined activities, like tourism. An analysis oriented in the perspectives enunciated will permit to build a method of appraisal of the water landscapes that can support the river Baker basin management and other similar territories, rescuing the various meanings and functions of the landscape.