Mother (Earth) Knows Best: Forest Activism

The Mapuche Indians of Central Chile, like most any indigenous American group, have been persecuted, massacred, "integrated," decimated, and virtually every other verb having to do with identity destruction since the Spanish conquistadors first strolled through. And as with most indigenous American groups, their native land has been sorely hurting ever since.

Traditionally occupying a strip of Argentina and Chile just south of Santiago, the Mapuche people were one of the last remaining native tribes in South American. They repeatedly resisted conquer from both the larger, more powerful Incan civilization and the Spanish colony of Chile. It was only in the 1880s, when the Chilean population was exploding and the army was celebrating its recent victory in wars against Bolivia and Peru by crushing minority populations that the Mapuche nation was dissembled and integrated into mainstream Chilean politics.

Today, some 600,000 Mapuche descendants make up about 80% of Region IX, the state including their homeland. While most Mapuche citizens identify as Chileans (and most Chileans have some Mapuche heritage), recent movements have strengthened native identity around land use issues. At heart is forestry, or more precisely wood-farming, an increasingly important industry for Chile that brings in more than $600 million each year.

Policies similar to land-use laws in Chiapas, Mexico have effectively routed most remaining Mapuche individuals from their traditional subsistence farming and artisanship in Region IX. Now, wood farms have taken their spot, mostly growing non-native, environmentally harsh Monterey Pine and Eucalyptus trees. This kind of monoculture is not only harmful to the land, but also to the people who live near: few jobs and low wages are provided by this kind of mega-farm. Mapuche activists are working to regain legitimacy for their native lifestyle to slow the commercial development of their homeland.

There has been quite a bit of success: a conservation group called ForestEthics has waged a successful international campaign against environmentally dangerous wood farms in Chile, leading major brands like Home Depot to adopt healthier purchasing policies. When the world makes bad land stewardship unprofitable, even the worst companies will shape up. And that's something everyone everywhere should support.