Major bottlenecks for the restoration of natural forests in Chile

Abstract

International agreements combined with the recent Chilean Forestry Policy (2015-2035) represent a challenge and an opportunity for forest landscape restoration in Chile. Nevertheless, restoring over 500,000 ha using mainly native species seems like a daunting task by 2035. Here, we discuss the three major bottlenecks that currently constrain the restoration efforts of forest ecosystems in Chile. First, Chile urgently needs a national strategic plan for forest landscape restoration, which should take into account mid-and long-term goals. There is also a need to prioritize resource allocation for efficient use, promoting the creation of economic subsidies for restoration that consider different types of forest ecosystems. Second, there is a great need for better nursery protocols in plant production as well as to strengthen educational programs for professional and technical training, given the lack of high-quality personnel in Chilean nurseries. This would help increase the currently limited national plant supply, improving quality and increasing the diversity of native species suitable for forest restoration. Lastly, taking advantage of novel eco-technological tools and promoting innovative plantation design would help to overcome the usually deficient results in the establishment phase, leading to higher survival rates and promoting better performance of native species. Beyond current experiments that are relatively efficient on a small spatial scale, the practice of forest restoration needs to become massive and successful at a landscape scale. More and better applied research is crucial for improving the impact of forest landscape restoration, so that Chile can achieve its forest restoration challenge in the next decade.

Lack of adequate seed supply is a major bottleneck for effective ecosystem restoration in Chile: friendly amendment to Bannister et al. (2018)

“…The bottlenecks identified by Bannister et al () are real threats to restoration programs for forest and non‐forest ecosystems in Chile, as well as elsewhere. However, issues related to seed sourcing, seed quality/availability, processing and storing seeds, dormancy‐breaking, and germination also severely limit the efficacy of active ecological restoration.…”

“…Bannister et al () identified three major bottlenecks for successful ecological restoration of Chilean forests, including “lack of a national plan for forest landscape restoration, poor quality and low supply of native plant species, and poor results in the establishment phase.” We agree with these three crucial barriers and offer a fourth, equally important bottleneck: lack of an adequate seed supply chain (Merritt et al ). The success of restoration plantings pivots on the entire set of practices along the chain of seed use, from seed collection to the point at which seedlings are delivered to field sites for outplanting (Merritt et al ).…”

Ten golden rules for reforestation to optimize carbon sequestration, biodiversity recovery and livelihood benefits

“…One of the main bottlenecks for forest restoration is inadequate supply of native plant material. Lack of seeds (Jalonen et al, 2018; León‐Lobos et al, 2020; Merritt & Dixon, 2011) and planting stock (Bannister et al, 2018; Whittet et al, 2016) of target species from appropriate sources in the required amounts are often critically limiting. This problem is particularly acute in the tropics, where many tree species produce seeds that are difficult to store (i.e.…”

Intraspecific Variation in Drought Response of Three Populations of Cryptocarya alba and Persea lingue, Two Native Species From Mediterranean Central Chile

“…Native ecosystems and their species distributions within the Chilean Mediterranean climate are not exempt from the effects of climate change related to increased drought (Garreaud et al, 2017). This has led to the development of restoration programs in ecosystems with high ecologic value (Bannister et al, 2018). Because knowledge concerning patterns of genetic variability in Chilean native species is scarce, the use of local plant material for restoration has been the customary approach.…”