UF and TCD alums instrumental in developing regulations to protect urban wetlands in Chile!

UF and TCD alums instrumental in developing regulations to protect urban wetlands in Chile!

After passage of an urban wetlands law in January 2020, Ignacio Rodríguez (UF SNRE alumni, Soil and Water Sciences Department) and Marcela Márquez García (UF SNRE alumni, Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, TCD) were hired by Chile’s Ministry of Environment to develop guidelines for the law.  They quickly formed an interdisciplinary team to assist in the development of the sustainability criteria to implement Chile’s new urban wetlands law.  Using facilitation and conflict management skills they gained at UF, and have since honed in conservation activities in Chile, Ignacio and Marcela planned participatory workshops with experts and citizens to validate their proposal. In the meantime, COVID-19 became an issue, but this team adapted and conducted all the workshops virtually because of the pandemic, managing successfully to engage these different stakeholders in the process.  Marcela noted “I would like to highlight how important was everything I learned with Jon [Dain] to do my job as a workshop facilitator. Facilitation, conflict management and collaboration skills were crucial!”

Things were on track for accepting the proposed guidelines, but ran into a roadblock with some government officials last week.  A social media campaign was launched to highlight the importance of urban wetland ecosystems (#QueremosReglamento #WeWantGuidelines) and on 31 July Chile’s ministers approved the guidelines.  These guidelines are essential to to implement the law and protect urban wetlands.

Both Ignacio and Marcela are active members of UF and TCD’s Southern Cone Leadership Initiative with students and alumni working to train conservation leaders and build capacity of local organizations to conserve biodiversity, manage natural resources sustainably, and maintain ecological services that promote human well-being in southern South America.

To learn more about the effort:

Interview with Marcela and Ignacio when the law was postponed::

Interview with Ignacio after the guidelines were approved on 30 July:

Minister of Environment’s professional celebrating approval of guidelines: