The National Forest Corporation or CONAF (Corporación Nacional Forestal) is a

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

an State-owned private non-profit organization, through which the Chilean state contributes to the development and sustainable management of the country's forest resources. CONAF is overseen and funded by the Ministry of Agriculture of Chile. It administers the forest policies of Chile and promotes the development of the sector with

sustainable forest management Forest management is a branch of forestry concerned with overall administrative, legal, economic, and social aspects, as well as scientific and technical aspects, such as silviculture, forest protection, and forest regulation. This includes mana ...

. CONAF is also the governing body of all the

national park A national park is a nature park designated for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes because of unparalleled national natural, historic, or cultural significance. It is an area of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that is protecte ...

s of Chile, including those without forests or major vegetation, such as Llullaillaco National Park and others in the

Atacama Desert The Atacama Desert () is a desert plateau located on the Pacific Ocean, Pacific coast of South America, in the north of Chile. Stretching over a strip of land west of the Andes Mountains, it covers an area of , which increases to if the barre ...

History

CONAF was created on May 13, 1970 as the "Reforestation Corporation" or COREF (Corporación de Reforestación'). In 1972 it acquired its current powers, structure and name. In 1976 it adopted Forestín, a

coypu The nutria () or coypu () (''Myocastor coypus'') is a herbivore, herbivorous, semiaquatic rodent from South America. Classified for a long time as the only member of the family Myocastoridae, ''Myocastor'' has since been included within Echimy ...

, as its

mascot A mascot is any human, animal, or object thought to bring luck, or anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, sports team, university society, society, military unit, or brand, brand name. Mascots are als ...

. In 1984, under Chilean law Nº 18,348, a move was made to modify the private corporation status of CONAF and make it a government agency. In October 2012 the Chilean senate considered and rejected a proposal to convert CONAF's legal nature from that of a "private corporation" to that of a public (government) agency. The rejected proposal would have created a National Forest Service ''(Servicio Nacional Forestal)''. During the legislative proceedings, testimony was made that addressed the "anomalous" nature of a private corporation performing functions that should be performed by a wholly government agency or agencies. However, as of November 2014, such a status change has not taken place.

Mission and goals

CONAF's mission is to contribute to Chile's development through the sustainable use of forest ecosystems, the mitigation of the

climate change Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...

, the promotion and enforcement of forestry and environmental laws, protect natural resources, and administrate the wildlife areas protected by the government for the generations to come. Forestin y Parvulos UMCE 1286

This includes: * Contribute to the development of sustainable forestry resources and their use in goods and services that prioritize their responsible use and mitigation of damage to the environment. Contribute to the country's economic, social and environmental development. Replant, recover and care for endemic forest species and trees in urban areas. * Protect the forest ecosystems from biotic and abiotic agents and harmful events such as: unlawful exploitation, blights and infestations, wildfires,

desertification Desertification is a type of gradual land degradation of Soil fertility, fertile land into arid desert due to a combination of natural processes and human activities. The immediate cause of desertification is the loss of most vegetation. This i ...

. * The efficient administration of the National System of Wild Areas Protected by the State (Sistema Nacional de Áreas Silvestres Protegidas del Estado - SNASPE), in order to maximise their environmental, social and economic potential.

Organization

Although CONAF is not technically a

government agency A government agency or state agency, sometimes an appointed commission, is a permanent or semi-permanent organization in the machinery of government (bureaucracy) that is responsible for the oversight and administration of specific functions, s ...

, it has similar functions and attributes. It is a "corporación de derecho privado" which in Chile is means a

non-profit A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...

juridical person A juridical person is a legal person that is not a natural person but an organization recognized by law as a fictitious person such as a corporation, government agency, non-governmental organisation, or international organization (such as the ...

, and is wholly dependent of the Ministry of Agriculture of Chile.Ministry of Agriculture of Chile (ES)
minagri.gob.cl retrieved on November 13, 2014

Administration

It is headed by a Directive Council (Consejo Directivo) and administered by an Executive Director (Director Ejecutivo) named by the Chilean president in office. There are also Regional Directors, overseen by the Executive Director. ;CONAF has three "Gerencias de áreas técnicas" or technical areas of management: * Forest Management: In charge of preserving the native forest and administrating the sustainable exploitation of the forest ecosystem. * Wildfires Management: Responsible for coordinating the

wildfire A wildfire, forest fire, or a bushfire is an unplanned and uncontrolled fire in an area of Combustibility and flammability, combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire may be more specifically identified as a ...

s prevention programs and organizing the logistics of fighting wildfires. * Wild Protected Area Management: In charge of administrating the

National Parks A national park is a nature park designated for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes because of unparalleled national natural, historic, or cultural significance. It is an area of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that is protecte ...

, National Reserves, and Natural Monuments. Responsible for preserving their biodiversity and public access. CONAF also has a legal department ("Fiscalia"), a financial administration department ("Gerencia de Finanzas y Administración"), and a human resources and development department ("Gerencia de Desarrollo de las Personas"). ;Human resources: CONAF has more than 135 offices throughout Chile and more than 1,900 employees (professionals, technicians and administrative staff). 450 of them are highly qualified Park Rangers trained to help visitors. ;Material resources: CONAF's resources include Regional Offices, visitor centres and facilities, forest nurseries, wildfire observation towers and bases, and all kind of vehicles to carry out its work in land, water or air.

References

External links

*
CONAF Corporate book PDF
{{authority control 1970 establishments in Chile Nature conservation in Chile

Forestry in Chile Government agencies established in 1970 Government agencies of Chile National parks of Chile