The state copper company Codelco will give up 24,000 hectares of mining concessions that it owns in the Andes Mountains, around the Chilean capital, for a recently created park of glaciersannounced Monday the chairman of the board.
In mid-August, the government published the creation of the Santiago Glaciers National Park, which seeks to protect 368 of these bodies that deliver water to an important part of the metropolitan region.
“It is a strategic initiative so that we can face the challenges of the climate change”said Máximo Pacheco during the announcement.
More than 200 social and environmental organizations have supported the Queremos Parque movement, which has promoted the creation of the wide area for public access.
“We are proud that we have been invited and happy to be able to contribute with these 24,000 hectares and make them available to Queremos Parque for their project,” added.
The park, which initially considered 75,114 hectares, is located in the upper part of the Olivares and Colorado river basins, in the San José de Maipo commune of the capital region.
The Undersecretary of the Environment, Maximiliano Proaño, said that the mining company’s announcement facilitates phase two of the project, which is the expansion of the protected territory.
The local unit of Germany’s Knauf, dedicated to the extraction of gypsum and production of panels, which is seeking to develop the Rubí project, is also holding concessions in the area, with opposition from social and environmental groups.
Source: Reuters
Source: Gestion
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