Industrial plantations in southern Chile. Retrospective analysis and development of prospective scenarios spatially explicit (district of San Juan de la Costa - Chile)

International audienceThe first exotic species appeared in the district of San Juan de la Costa (Los Lagos Region - Chile) in the 1990s. Predominantly populated by indigenous Mapuche this district has the highest poverty rate in the country. The arrival of multinational timber generated many environmental problems such as degradation of water resources, the substitution of native forests, biodiversity loss, accompanied by rising unemployment and a rural exodus.Chile has since the 1970's an exceptional growth of its forest sector fueled by high-yield industrial plantations. The politico-economic orientation taken by the Chilean State, including the promulgation of Decreto Ley 701 (1974) and repeated updating, was the keystone of this forest expansion. He allowed the landowners and pulp industries to build in a few years, a nationwide weighty forest heritage.The plantations are mainly concentrated in the 8th Region of Bio Bio in the 10th Region de Los Lagos. However, their distribution is not uniform and there is a clear interregional imbalance. Given that business strategy is to expand their forest heritage, the latter actually focus on new areas suitable for afforestation, as the district of San Juan de la Costa