Research, conservation intersect at the Cape Horn Biosphere Reserve

UNT and the Chilean Institute for Ecology and Biodiversity (IEB) are using a 10-year, $15 million grant to build a high-tech field station in Chile's Cape Horn Biosphere Reserve that will support researchers and students working to protect, preserve and sustain one of the last true wilderness areas in the world.

Only eight applicants received designations as "Scientific Centers of Excellence" to win CONICYT (the Chilean equivalent of the U.S. National Science Foundation) funding for projects considered to be of major importance to Chilean development.

Ricardo Rozzi, professor of philosophy and religion studies, coordinates the UNT-Chile program. A native of Chile, he is also affiliated with the Chilean Institute for Ecology and Biodiversity (IEB) and was heavily involved in the grant application process.

"This grant makes UNT and IEB strong partners in research and education," Rozzi says, adding that it will also support UNT graduate student research.

 

Working together for conservation and study

The collaborative research Rozzi refers to takes an interdisciplinary approach to environmental problems, combining science, philosophy, and policy. 

The UNT-Chile Program's partners include the University of Magallanes, the University of Colorado, and other Chilean and international universities, government bodies, and non-government organizations. The project takes into account the combination of biological, cultural and economic issues involved in making optimal decisions about the region.

"UNT is quickly becoming a world leader in interdisciplinary research," says Robert Frodeman, chair of the Philosophy Department and member of the UNT-Chile Program team.

 

Striving to be the world leader

Just as Duke University's Organization for Tropical Studies is respected world-wide as the authority on tropical conservation and study, UNT-Chile Program leaders believe UNT's work in the sub-Antarctic will place it at the forefront of conservation and study for integrating environmental philosophy into conservation at the world's southernmost ecosystems. 

Projects range in scale from the local to the global and span a wide-range of disciplines from philosophy to ornithology as scientists and researchers recognize the need to document the plant, animal and marine life in the area, but also to work with indigenous people to preserve and protect their history while developing the long-term ecological research site.

"Knowledge about the region's ecology that is held by the indigenous people is threatened due to strong acculturation processes," Rozzi says. Acculturation is the process of adopting the cultural traits or social patterns of another group.

"For this reason, we are working with the elders and children of Cape Horn's indigenous community to preserve this knowledge. As part of a UNT-Chile project we published a dictionary illustrated by children that includes a CD of recordings of the names given to plants, animals and birds by current elders of the community. That is part of the UNT-Chile biocultural conservation project."

 

Progress threatens a pristine wilderness

The area that designated by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization as the Cape Horn Biosphere Reserve lies at the southern-most tip of South America. Containing pristine mountains, glaciers and forests, it is the largest protected area in Latin America and the southern Hemisphere-- 10 times the size of Yellowstone National Park.

Until now, it has been protected by its remoteness and by the fact that it was part of a Chilean Naval Reserve. But ecotourism is reaching the area, developers are interested, and other threats -- such as global warming -- are issues researchers must deal with.

The UNT-Chile Program is based in Puerto Williams, the capital of Chile's Antarctic Province. The town is adjacent to the Omora Ethnobotanical Park, and both are surrounded by the Cape Horn Biosphere Reserve.  Puerto Williams claims to be the southernmost town in the world and is roughly as far from the Equator as Edmonton, Alberta. Both the park and the reserve offer a rich environment for ecological research and conservation activities.

 

Why UNT?

The Chilean government and scientists were interested in UNT's unique environmental philosophy program and interdisciplinary studies, which offers an innovative approach to sustainability when they began looking for help to develop an economic sustainability plan for the area. The definition being used for this project is that a program has to be sustainable economically, ecologically and culturally. The inclusion of retaining an area's culture is a new, unusual step, and will meet one of Chile's goals for the area.

A unique element in the project is the inclusion of environmental philosophy to help drive the development of a comprehensive use plan that not only describes "how" but also "why" such a plan can be put in place and succeed.

 

Following in the footsteps of Darwin

Darwin spent much of his time aboard the HMS Beagle in the Cape Horn region 179 years ago. Recently, Rozzi and James Kennedy, professor of biological sciences led a group of about 20 UNT undergraduate and graduate students on a three-week "wintermester" program in late December 2007 and early January 2008. It was the second year of this study abroad program,"Tracing Darwin's Path: Convergences of Natural History and Field Philosophy in Cape Horn."

In June they will return with another team of students and colleagues for an international workshop celebrating the third anniversary of the biosphere reserve, and Omora Park's new distinction as a "Long Term Socio-Ecological Research" site. This designation, in the context of global climate change, validates the field station's approach of integrating environmental science, philosophy and policy.

 

Building the field station

To date, UNT activities have been based at facilities in Puerto Williams owned by the Chilean Universidad de Magallanes, a UNT partner in the region. The grant will allow design and construction to begin on a facility to include classroom, laboratory and living space.

 

License and credit: Creative Commons license, photo taken by Clark Miller