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    Plastics Industry Loses Legal Bid Against Chile’s Landmark Bag Ban

    Plastics Industry Loses Legal Bid Against Chile’s Landmark Bag Ban

    Chile’s Constitutional Court ratified a bill that bans plastic bags across the country after rejecting an appeal from the plastics industry. Last month, Chile’s Congress unanimously approved the ban in order to protect the environment and especially the ocean. Shortly after, the Santiago-based Association of Industrial Plastics (Asipla) launched a legal challenge to overturn the […]

    Chile to Become First Country in the Americas to Ban Plastic Bags

    Chile to Become First Country in the Americas to Ban Plastic Bags

    Chile is set to become the first country in the Americas to ban plastic bags to help protect the environment and especially the ocean. Congress unanimously approved the measure on Wednesday. The bill was initially designed to outlaw plastic bags in Patagonia, but was later extended nationwide. President Sebastian Piñera celebrated the news. “We have […]

    A Wilderness Like No Other: Chile’s New Patagonia National Park

    A Wilderness Like No Other: Chile’s New Patagonia National Park

    By Robin Walter After fording a rib-deep and bone-cracking cold river whose current could have easily swept away a person much bigger than I am, I took stock of my surroundings. My companions and I were sodden and soggy, huddled against slanting hail on the banks of the Jeinimeni River in Patagonia. Miserable? You bet. […]

    10 Million Acres of New National Parks Created in Chile

    10 Million Acres of New National Parks Created in Chile

    Chilean President Michelle Bachelet signed a decree Monday to create five new national parks and expand three others, following a pledge made last year with Kristine McDivitt Tompkins, the president and CEO of Tompkins Conservation, to dramatically expand national parkland in the South American country. More than 10 million acres of new national parklands will […]

    Can the Smallest Wild Cat in the Americas Survive?

    Can the Smallest Wild Cat in the Americas Survive?

    By Niki Rust The smallest wild cat species in the Americas faces big problems as its habitat dwindles and it’s targeted as a farm pest. But a new study shows it may be able to persist in a human-dominated world—if farmers and policymakers give it a hand. The güiña (Leopardus guigna), also known as kodkod, […]

    Patagonia’s Puelo and Cuervo Rivers Win Crucial Protections in Supreme Court of Chile

    Patagonia’s Puelo and Cuervo Rivers Win Crucial Protections in Supreme Court of Chile

    By James Blair Local residents and environmentalists in Chile are enjoying a prolonged New Year’s celebration, thanks to two major legal decisions that will protect the country’s free-flowing rivers. Chile’s justice system put a final stop to two controversial large hydroelectric dam developments in Chilean Patagonia: 1) Mediterráneo S.A.’s run-of-the-river project proposed on tributaries of […]

    Chile Bans Plastic Bags in 100+ Coastal Areas

    Chile Bans Plastic Bags in 100+ Coastal Areas

    Chilean President Michelle Bachelet signed a bill Wednesday that prohibits the sale of single-use plastic bags in 102 coastal villages and towns in a bid to stop the build-up of ocean plastic and to “[take] care of our marine ecosystems.” An estimated eight million tons of plastic trash gets dumped into our oceans each year, […]