Since 2000, the University of Magallanes (UMAG) has been soliciting a governmental lease for the headwaters of the Róbalo River to complete the Omora Park’s mission to protect the watershed that provides drinking water to Puerto Williams. In a 17:1 vote in favor, the regional council of Magallanes approved on Monday this request, noting the importance of this iniative for the town and also the region and country. The study and protection of the Róbalo Watershed is also being re-enforced by an agreement that is being negociated with the General Direction of Waters, part of the Ministry of Public Works, which administers water rights in Chile to ensure that this is one of the founding pilot “conservation watersheds” in the country, which also has the added value of being incoporated as one of the Long-Term Socio-Ecological Resaerch Sites (www.ieb-chile.cl/ltser).
Category Archives: In the News!
UNT-Omora Student Wins IEB Scholarship
The Institute of Ecology and Biodiversity (IEB) has provided a doctoral dissertation support award to Tamara Contador, Ph.D. student at the University of North Texas (UNT) who is working with Drs. James Kennedy (UNT), Ricardo Rozzi (UNT-IEB-UMAG) and Christopher Anderson (UNT-IEB-UMAG) on a stream ecology project in the Robalo River watershed. The award (approximately $1,200) will aid in the development of Tamara’s dissertation in the Cape Horn Biosphere Reserve and helps to re-enforce the network of institutions, graduate students and projects encompassed by the Chilean Long-Term Socio-Ecological Research Network, coordinated by the IEB, and the Omora Alliance’s Sub-Antarctic Biocultural Conservation Program, coordinated by UNT and UMAG.
UMAG Student Wins National Award for Thesis
OSARA is proud to report that Yanet Medina, masters of science student at the Omora Park-University of Magallanes, has won second place in the national competition to select the nation’s best theses and dissertations in the area of tourism. The $1,000 award was given to Ms. Medina by the regional secretary of the Chilean Tourism Ministry and recognizes her work in the Cape Horn Biosphere Reserve to consolidate “tourism with a hand lens” via her thesis entitled: “Miniature Forest Garden of Cape Horn: Tourism with a Hand Lens as a Tool for Conservation, Education and Scientific Tourism in the Chilean Sub-Antarctic Ecoregion”.
UNT and OSARA Receive National Science Foundation Grant
The University of North Texas and the Omora Sub-Antarctic Research Alliance have received a $150,000 grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to conduct international research experiences for US students in the Chilean sub-antarctic region. The grant is also supported by the Institute of Ecology and Biodiversity’s Long-Term Socio-Ecological Research Network, which includes sites at the Omora Ethnobotanical Park (Cape Horn), Senda Darwin Biological Station (Chiloé) and Fray Jorge Experimental Site (Coquimbo). The Chilean LTSER Network extends across a latitudinal gradient from the subantarctic archipelago to the temperate rainforests and the arid desert regions of Chile and provides a platform for students to not only visit diverse ecosystems, but also interact with Chilean and Argentine mentors, learn how to combine social and ecological studies to create biocultural conservation and research, and study together with students from Chile and Latin America. For more information, go to the project website.
Naval Supermarket Helps Protect the Cape Horn Biosphere Reserve
From El Pinguino, 13 Mayo 2009
The Puerto Williams Naval Supermarket joined efforts in April to celebrate “Earth Month”, putting into practice an initiative to convert to the use of returnable bottles to reduce the contamination in the Cape Horn Biosphere Reserve. This decision can seem basic, but in reality it requires a great amount of coordination. From Puerto Williams, these returned bottles must be carried by ship to the closest bottling company in Punta Arenas. About half of the population of Cape Horn County is employed by the navy, and these actions will significantly support efforts to reduce the world-wide ecological catastrophy of plastic. Amazingly it takes a two liter plastic bottle hundreds of years to disappear.
The motivation for this effort is the fruit of educational campaigns conducted in the Cape Horn Biosphere Reserve since 2000 by the Omora Ethnobotanical Park, the University of Magallanes and the Institute of Ecology and Biodiversity, where the local navy district has enthusiastically collaborated throughout. It bears mentioning that this program is also part of a broader initiative to convert plastic bags in the town to reusable, cloth bags.
With such measures as this, the Chilean Navy demonstrates its committment to social responsability and the bettering of life for all living beings in the extreme tip of the Americas.
Earth Day Becomes “Earth Month” in Cape Horn
To celebrate “Earth Day,” Ximena Arango and Rodrigo Molina, local coordinators of the Omora Program in Puerto Williams, organized a month-long series of activities including guided visits to the Omora Park, “ecological walks,” a pet sterilization campaign, collection of trash along the coast, a movie series for children, a photography competition and a special ceremony for the 22nd of April. To date, more than 200 people from diverse institutions, such as the Chilean Navy, the ladies’ auxiliary, Scouts, school children and other residents have participated.
Read more at Radio Polar about the Omora Park’s efforts to help control the feral dog and cat population on Navarino Island.
UNT and UMAG Sign Agreement to Strengthen Sub-Antarctic Biocultural Conservation Program
On April 16th in Denton, Texas, the President of the University of North Texas Dr. Gretchen Bataille and the Rector of the Universidad de Magallanes Dr. Víctor Fajardo signed a formal agreement to consolidate the Sub-Antarctic Biocultural Conservation Program, being led by both universities in conjunction with the Institute of Ecology and Biodiversity. The agreement will formalize program offices in each university, as well as initiate the process to create a dual masters degree program in the integration of environmental philosophy and ecological sciences. In addition, this new stage of the binational relationship will help strengthen existing programs, such as the Tracing Darwin’s Path field course, the exchange of students and the application for external funding. For more information from the NT Daily, click here.
During the weeklong workshop surrounding the signing celebration, academics from UNT, UMAG and IEB also worked with scientists from the U. of California Los Angeles, the U. of Connecticut and the Ibero-american Biosphere Reserve Network to prepare a new $1.5 millon dollar proposal to fund international partnerships in research and education, focusing on the unique biodiversity of the subantarctic region, its ecological functions and the integration of research in decision-making through understanding perceptions and valuation of ecosystem services.
New Study Explores the Freshwater Fish of Cape Horn
Michelle Moorman (OSARA Board of Directors) recently published the results of her pioneering study on Cape Horn’s freshwater fish in the journal Transactions of the American Fisheries Society. The work, based on her master’s thesis research conducted in 2006, surveyed the native freshwater fish species in the Cape Horn Biosphere Reserve and determined the effect of multiple invasive species on this relatively unknown biodiversity. These surveys discovered two rare and threatened fish speices that were previously unknown south of the Beagle Channel (Aplochiton zebra and A. taenitus). In addition, it was not possible to confirm the previously reported presence of invasive brown trout in the CHBR, but introduced brook and rainbow trout were common in many catchments. The overall effect of invasive beavers on puye, the only common native fish species, was to actually increase abundance of this species, while predatory trout reduced these numbers. For more information visit the journal’s website.
New Fulbrighter for Cape Horn
Dr. Jim Kennedy, OSARA Advisor and Member of the Governing Board of the UNT-UMAG Sub-Antarctic Conservation Program, recently received a Fulbright Senior Specialist Award to work at the Unversidad de Magallanes this fall semester. During his stay Dr. Kennedy will help teach the Sub-Antarctic Ecology Course in the UMAG’s Masters of Science Program and also help prepare the dual masters degree that will be offered by the University of North Texas and the University of Magallanes. With this honor, the researchers associated with the Cape Horn Biosphere Reserve have now received a total of four Fulbright awards.
Cape Horn on BBC’s “The World” for Darwin’s Birthday
To celebrate Darwin’s 200th birthday, PRI-BBC’s The World has developed a multi-part series on the importance of the renowned British naturalist. As part of the GeoQuiz, Dr. Christopher Anderson is interviewed regarding the geography of the Cape Horn Biosphere Reserve, the importance of Cape Horn to Darwin and his thinking and specifically places that still bear his name, such as Mount Darwin and Darwin Sound.
Tune in to The World’s GeoQuiz from February 11th to listen.
UMAG-Omora Student Wins Rufford Grant
Cristóbal Pizarro, a master’s of conservation student at the Omora Park-University of Magallanes, has been chosen to receive a Rufford Grant For Nature Conservation from the Rufford Maurice Laing Foundation (United Kingdom). Pizarro’s project is based around the consolidation of the Omora Park’s bird observatory to include marine species as part of long-term global change monitoring. The award of £5,700 is part of the foundation’s efforts to support small conservation programs and pilot projects around the world. This latest award in recognition of Mr. Pizarro’s efforts is in addition to receiving the prize for the best poster at the Chilean Ornithology Congress in August and being the recipient of a scholarship from the Institute of Ecology and Biodiversity.
Dr. Rozzi Wins “Sustainable Living Award”
On November 28th, Dr. Ricardo Rozzi was recognized by the Fundación Casa de la Paz (Peace House Foundation) with its Premio Convivencia Sustentable (Sustainable Living Award) in the category of educator, during a ceremony at the United Nations headquarters in Santiago, Chile. In conferring the award, the organization highlighted Dr. Rozzi’s achievements in formal and informal education and leading the creation of the Cape Horn Biosphere Reserve. UMAG master’s student Cristóbal Pizarro noted that “Dr. Rozzi as an ecologist, philosopher and musician has helped us to see our own interdisciplinarity, which can be a tool for education and conservation, discovering that each of us is more than a biologist or researcher, but also a friend and brother or photographer, poet or musician. According to Dr. Sergio Guevara, president of the Ibero-american Network of Biosphere Reserves, Ricardo is “one of the few people in the world who has maintained a tight link between research and education.” Congratulations Ricardo!
UNT and UMAG Consolidate “Sub-Antarctic Biocultural Conservation Program”
![IMG_0921[1].jpg](/journal/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/IMG_0921[1].jpg "IMG_0921[1].jpg")
During a recent visit to Chile in October, a high level delegation of authorities from the University of North Texas, including Provost Wendy Wilkins, Associate Vice President for International Affairs Earl Gibbons and Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences Warren Burrgren, had the opportunity to visit the University of Magallanes in Punta Arenas and the Omora Park in Puerto Williams to better define the relationship of UNT to the biocultural conservation initiative in southern Chile. After meeting with the Rector and Vice-Rectors of the UMAG, it was decided to strengthen a bi-national effort, which will include a Sub-Antarctic Biocultural Conservation Program Office at both universities, international field courses, student and professor exchanges, a joint editorial line and interdisciplinary field research.
“Tourism with a Hand Lens” Wins Major Grant from Ministry of Economy
The Chilean Ministry of Economy, through its Commission for Innovation, has awarded the Omora Park a $500,000 grant to implement “Tourism with a Hand Lens“ as a specialty tourism offering for the subantarctic and Antarctic regions. According to Carlos Alvarez, executive vicepresident of the fund, “These projects have the objective of addressing the challenges related to innovation in specialty tourism in Chile. We hope that each of these proposals, found throughout the length of our entire contry, contributes to the development of distinctive, sustainable and high quality tourism offerings related to our natural and cultural patrimony.”
Since 2001, researchers in the Cape Horn Biosphere Reserve have focused on the diversity of mosses, lichens and liverworts found in what Dr. Ricardo Rozzi has termed the “miniature forests of Cape Horn.” In 2004, Rozzi and his collaborators began to promote “tourism with a hand lens” as a way to transfer this potentially esoteric information to development via tourism. Today, these efforts have been highlighted in numerous important newspaper articles, travel magazines and television documentaries. The grant given by the Ministry of Economy demonstrates the major committment from the Chilean Government to this initiative, as well as its ability to ally itself with important local and regional tourism companies, who must provide 30% in matching funds. Dr. Francisca Massardo, director of the project, says “This initiative, which we have developed in conjunction with local and regional tourism operators, is a tremendous opportunity to consolidate the years of efforts of the park to link research and society through ecotourism.”