This study shows that a significant share of the native forests in Chile can be classified as frontier forest. Specifically, considering only tracts of 10,000 hectares or more, almost 32 percent of native forests are frontier forests. For tracts of at least 5,000 hectares, 34 percent of native forests can be classified as frontier forests. The definition of a frontier forest should take into account not just size requirements per se, but also additional criteria ensuring that the designated minimum forest tract size is adequate to maintain the ecological processes and biodiversity of Chile’s forest ecosystems. Together with its Technical Advisory Committee, GFW-Chile concluded that the minimum patch size plays an important role in analyzing the viability of the various species and populations of flora and fauna. However, the team had difficulty agreeing on a common minimun patch size, and therefore selected two random thresholds (5,000 and 10,000 hectares). Further analysis and discussion on the subject is needed in the Chilean context (see Annex III for methodology discussion).

Chile’s frontier forests are distributed between 36.5 degrees S and 54 degrees S, featuring a wide array of forest types, species compositions, and disturbance regimes. A large percentage of these forested areas is primary forest, dominated by deciduous and evergreen species, with a heterogeneous age structure as well as a scrub-like understory.

Almost all of Chile’s frontier forests are found in and around the Andean Mountain Range. In the Coastal Mountain Range, frontier forests are concentrated mostly in Region X, where they constitute only 7.5 percent of the country’s frontier forest tracts of at least 5,000 hectares.

Because of the high degree of native forest fragmentation, there is practically no frontier forest left in the northern regions. Regions VI and VII contain only fragments of undisturbed or minimally altered native forests, ranging in size from 6.25 to 5,000 hectares. The combined area of these forest fragments for Region VI, for example, is 1,084 hectares, or 0.91 percent of the region’s native forests. For Region VII, the total area of forest cover fragments is 22,575.4 hectares, or 6.10 percent of regional native forests. For these regions, the presence of these forest fragments is crucial, because they represent unique remnants of the original forest cover and have considerable biological and strategic value as genetic reservoirs for maintenance of the ecological and evolutionary processes of these forest ecosystems. This genetic heritage can be the basis for future restoration activities and therefore for the development of sustainable forest management, and economic activity of great importance for the country.

Region VIII contains more than 17,000 hectares of frontier forest, representing 2.2 percent of the native forests in the region. Because of the small proportion of frontier forests left in the region, and given the fact that this region has the highest level of forestry plantation activities, it is very important to monitor changes in land use and forest cover in this area. Conserving the forests of Region VIII is crucial, given that, as in Regions VI and VII, these are the only remaining examples of forests that once covered the central parts of the country. This would entail establishing either public or private protected areas and incorporating forest conservation into management and plantation zoning plans.

Considering only forest tracts of at least 5,000 hectares, almost 27 percent of all frontier forests are included in either a private or public protected areas system. However, representation of frontier forests in the protected areas system is not adequate. For example, those regions with smaller areas of frontier forests (Regions VIII and XII) also have, at the national and regional level, the smallest proportion under protection. The only exception to this trend is Region IX, which is one of the regions with less frontier forests, but almost half of its frontier forests are protected.

It is also important to highlight that, of the fragments of undisturbed or minimally altered forests found in Regions VI and VII, only 1.1 percent and 14.8 percent, respectively, are protected. This points to an urgent need to increase protection of these forest fragments through the establishment of new protected areas and detailed monitoring of changes in land use and forest activities in these regions.

Even though the underlying causes in the fragmentation and clearing of native forest are centered on political, economic and cultural issues, accessibility is an important factor in forest conservation in Chile. As more forests become accessible, more of them will be affected by fragmentation, making it more challenging to maintain the ecological processes and biodiversity of these ecosystems. In southern Chile, where forests are least accessible (Regions X, XI, and XII), there are also more remaining frontier forests. This points to the need to consider the location and protection of these forests when planning road and infrastructure development in southern Chile.

With respect to the degree of alteration, the forests of Regions VI and VII are considerably more altered than other regions. Region XII has the smallest area of altered forests. The main type of alteration affecting native forests, based on CONAF’s data, is selective logging, affecting 75 percent of the total area of altered forests, followed by forest fires, which affects 24 percent. However, it is important to highlight that CONAF’s study did not consider the clearing of secondary forests with trees measuring less than two meters in height forest alterations.

After completing this first assessment of the coverage and degree of conservation of native and frontier forests in Chile, GFW-Chile considers it imperative to continue monitoring changes in forest cover and development activities occurring in and around these forests, in order to detect their impacts on forest ecosystems and their biodiversity.