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Save The Waves has had an active and successful environmental program in Chile since 2006.
In early 2009 Save The Waves and FIMA launched Chile's first Coastkeeper program. In its inaugural year of operations as a member of Waterkeeper Alliance, the Maule Itata Coastkeeper has achieved tremendous results in its mission to protect coastal water quality in the Maule and Itata regions.
Foremost is the program’s tireless efforts at public outreach to educate local and regional citizens about water quality issues and pollution threatening local communities. This was most notably accomplished through new media outreach via twitter, facebook, and daily blogging, as well as through more traditional media in radio, television, print and the Internet.
The Coastkeeper, Rodrigo de la O Guerrero, is instrumental in outreach and education through his activism and presentations at hearings, film festivals, cultural events, educational conferences, universities, business roundtables and other events throughout Chile and Latin America.
Another centerpiece of the program’s efforts is the stringent observation and independent investigation of the Celco Nueva Aldea forestry pipeline construction. Water quality testing, legal challenges, and independent scientific reviews of this forestry pipeline were all utilized in 2009 to halt the construction of the pipeline and protect community and environmental health. In late 2009 this pipeline eventually began very restricted operations after more than 3 years of construction, stop-work orders, environmental protests and legal challenges.
In 2009 the Coastkeeper filed 2 legal challenges and galvanized nationwide community organization against the proposed Los Robles coal power plant located in the Maule Region. Led by the Coastkeeper, Save The Waves and FIMA, this legal battle against the Los Robles project was recently appealed to the Chilean Supreme Court in Santiago and the final case will be argued in 2010. It promises to be a very controversial series of hearings and the Chilean public is closely following developments on this matter. The Maule Itata Coastkeeper has also closely collaborated on a nationwide opposition movement against Chile’s burgeoning coal industry threatening numerous pristine coastal regions of Chile.
Another major focus is litigation, public comment, and independent review and challenge against the operating permits of industrial polluters and proposed large-scale industrial projects in the region. Via FIMA’s legal structure the Coastkeeper filed twelve legal challenges in 2009 to stop or delay grossly polluting projects involving forestry, road building, coal plants, illegal construction, wetlands destruction and sewage disposal.
Educational and professional internships from national and international students are currently being performed with this Coastkeeper program, both locally in Curanipe as well as in Santiago, in the areas of water quality monitoring, sustainable fishery development with local community fishing syndicates, biodiversity studies of local marine life, and community outreach and education.
Via an online and in-person reporting system the Coastkeeper has been able to successfully empower an original pillar of the program: to provide the public with an easily accessible means of registering, investigating and reporting local pollution threats to coastal water quality.
These successes, as well as our ongoing commitment to the program, have guaranteed the Maule Itata Coastkeeper a busy and fruitful year in 2010. We look forward to pursuing more triumphs for water quality in Chile.
> Click here for additional background information on Save The Waves in Chile.
> Click here to visit the Maule Itata Coastkeeper website & blog in Spanish.
Above photos: The Maule Itata Coastkeeper in action.
