A Big Week of Conservation Successes for President Michelle Bachelet of Chile

Having initially proposed to make Chile’s offshore waters a whale sanctuary earlier this year, on Wednesday President Michelle Bachelet officially signed the whaling ban into law.
On the previous day, she helped designate a new national park and also announced that six additional protected areas will be created in Chile next year.

She’s setting an excellent example for other world leaders on the conservation front.

» See also: Blue Whale Songs Getting Lower – Puzzling Scientists
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Bachelet first announced her plans to ban whaling in Chile’s waters when hosting the annual meeting of the International Whaling Commission in June of this year. It was a bold and appreciated move by conservationists. The chairperson of this year’s meeting, American William Hogarth, had announced his plans to avoid confrontations between countries that currently are whaling like Japan, and those countries most vehemently opposed to it such as Australia.

After Japan’s representative announced at the end of the week-long meeting that “we were witnessing the death of the International Whaling Commission,” it was safe to chalk up a point for Bachelet and her leadership. Hogarth unquestionably deserved poor reviews. Although Chile hasn’t hunted whales for almost thirty years, the country does have a history of participating in the industry. While that might be reason for some to diminish the importance of the sanctuary, the symbolism of the gesture was of vital importance given the ongoing controversy of whaling.

But as mentioned, signing the sanctuary into law was not Bachelet’s only conservation success of this week. On Tuesday she officially redesignated the Radial Siete Tazas National Reserve as a national park (in fairness, this was an upgrade contemplated by others long ago). The park is most famous for the siete tazas (the seven cups), a series of seven waterfalls and their pools along the Claro River. About 25,000 people visit the park each year.

Bachelet also announced that six new protected areas would be created next year throughout Chile’s various regions. But her conservation emphasis does not end there. Her administration has also promoted the development of alternative energy like solar and wind power plants in the northern deserts of the country. Pilot projects to power agricultural irrigation pumps with solar energy and programs that help families living in remote areas to get electricity via solar panels are also in place. Chile has also decided to build additional volcano monitoring stations to help protect its citizens from the threat of violent eruptions, after several occurred this year. The country ranks second in the world in its high number of active volcanoes–only Indonesia has more.

But while Bachelet has unquestionably led some terrific conservation efforts, it would not be giving a complete picture if it were not mentioned that she has also been involved in some more questionable initiatives and plans.

Criticism of Bachelet
For instance, her popularity ratings dropped significantly after an ambitious change to Santiago’s public transportation system got off to a bad start last year, despite initial support for the project. Known as Transantiago, the project aimed to nationalize public transportation and eliminate the tremendous amounts of private vehicles shouldering the transit load. It did not start with enough buses and trains, however, and consequently left many people stranded or needing to walk long distances. A sophisticated computer system that used GPS was meant to shift vehicles to routes where they were needed, based on demand. Protests began immediately because of the system’s initial inefficiency and Bachelet was forced to fire her transportation minister. Despite these problems, it is worth noting that at least one Chilean noted to the International Herald Tribune a pleasant reduction in air and noise pollution near her home.

Bachelet also has been criticized for her contradictory stances toward development of hydroelectric power dams. There is currently a plan that is being chastised by environmentalists to build 5 new dams on two rivers in the Patagonia region of Chile. * The dams would produce an estimated amount of energy to meet 20% of Chile’s needs. Bachelet said in April to at least one person that she was not in favor of large dams. In May, however, she announced in her annual address that $68 million dollars would be spent on dams and irrigation, a 70% increase over the previous year. Her hands are somewhat tied as Chile has been suffering from electricity shortages this year because of droughts. Their hydroelectric reserve of energy has been depleted.

Despite her nuanced (and perhaps politically necessary stance) toward hydroelectric dam construction, Bachelet’s environmental leadership is commendable. Chilean law only allows her one four year term in office through 2010. She should celebrate this week’s conservation successes with pride– it might be one of the high marks of her presidency.