The Penguin | The process of declaring urban wetlands in Natales advances

Through discussions with citizens, the law is intended to be disseminated and feedback gathered from civil society. Two projects, the Last Hope Fjord and an urban park, are part of the process.

On the third floor of the Puerto Natales bus station, the talk “Green and Blue Infrastructure” was held, informing the community about the progress of the Urban Wetland Declaration process in the capital of Última Esperanza. The municipal urban advisor, Juan San Martín, explained that in the case of the commune, there are two projects.

“In the case of the Última Esperanza Fjord, the Urban Wetlands Protection Law is being socialized, and to that end, we are working with the NGO FIMA, which is helping us understand the law and then implement the protection ordinance,” said San Martín. Regarding the Natales estuary project, we are working with the Cosmos Foundation to design an urban park to be located behind the municipal stadium and extend to the Natales waterfront.

Sofía Herrera, a lawyer with the NGO FIMA, stated that these types of requests are the first step toward submitting the application to the Ministry of the Environment. “It involves disseminating the law, gathering information about ecosystem services from the public, and listening to the public, in order to capture all this information in the application,” Herrera noted.

Meanwhile, Felipe Correa of the Cosmos Foundation praised the municipal work, especially the importance of the Natales estuary for the community. “Today, this ecosystem is being valued, redefined, and given new meaning with this proposal for an urban park that can provide services and connect this park to the estuary with the rest of the urban landscape, and deliver ecosystem services to the community around these new green areas,” Correa explained.

Urban wetlands are known for being spaces for meeting, recreation, contact with nature, and for providing the community with basic natural resources such as water.