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The Council of Ministers for Sustainability unanimously agreed to recategorize the Nonguén National Reserve -in the Bío Bío region- to National Park and with this he becomes the first peri-urban in the country that protects species of flora and fauna of high ecological value.
Located in the communes of Chiguayante and Concepción, the new park has an area of 3,036.90 hectares and among its highest values is that it is a reservoir of the deciduous forest and endangered native fauna.
In its 10 years under the administration and management by the National Forest Corporation (Conaf), it was possible to verify the important recovery of altered sectors, the recognition of new species and the knowledge of the potential of the area for the purpose of preserving diversity. biological, which supported its recategorization to a national park.
The Minister of Agriculture, Antonio Walker, stressed that “this change of category from national reserve to national park gives this territory a higher level of protection, given that the National parks are aimed at preservation, which implies strict conservation of their natural resources ”.
For his part, Mayor Sergio Giacaman noted that “this is great news for the region, because it will provide greater tools to preserve its heritage and natural biodiversity, but it will also contribute to promoting national ecotourism in the province.”
In addition, he added that this new category will make Nonguén visible “on the national tourist map, as one of the great National Parks that beautify our territory, and that attract thousands of people who enjoy ecotourism.”
Meanwhile, the executive director of Conaf, José Manuel Rebolledo, highlighted
that “it is one of the last fragments of the Deciduous Forest of Concepción, reason why all the wealth that there is in this unit, both in flora and fauna, deserved a much higher level of protection and conservation than it had until today ”.
The next Nonguén National Park, given its peri-urban status, it will have great relevance in the expectations of regional development, especially in the province of Concepción, given the fact that all activities and services linked to tourism based on natural areas, can benefit from the increase in visitation.
The general objective of this park will be to preserve a sample of the Mediterranean-temperate coastal deciduous forest of oak (Nothofagus obliqua) and queula (Gomortega keule), safeguarding its biodiversity, provision of environmental services and the continuity of its evolutionary processes.
With this categorization, the National System of State Protected Areas (SNASPE) is made up of 42 national parks, 45 national reserves and 18 natural monuments, and with an area of 18,616,766.47 hectares.
