Article
Identifying the determinants of the increase in Native Forests in Southern Chile
Autor
Roco-Fuentes, Lisandro
Grebe, José
Rosales, Patricia
Bravo, Carmen
Institución
Resumen
In Chile, the native forest has suffered anthropic pressure that has resulted in the reduction
in its surface and increased degradation, which has led to the development of public policies to
reverse this scenario and encourage its sustainable management and conservation. This study
examines the socioeconomic variables that influence the area increase in native forests in southern
Chile, based on the analysis of 154 properties in the regions of Los Ríos, La Araucanía and Los Lagos.
Georeferenced information from the 2015 SIMEF program survey and the Cadastre and Evaluation of
Native Vegetation Resources of Chile were used. A Probit regression model was implemented, which
associates a traceable increase in the native forest area with the variables regarding the owner: location,
gender, age, schooling, management plan and technical advisory; and regarding the exploitation:
farm size, percentage of native forest, scrub and forest plantations of the property and number
of animal units. The econometric results show that smaller farms and those located in Los Lagos
presented less probability of increasing their native forests. In the same way, an increase in the share
of forest plantations area decreases the probability. Conversely, the scrub area share is related to the
recovery of native forests in the sample. No significant effects of the variables associated with the
implementation of management plans and technical assistance were found.