Chile land restitution did not boost native forest cover

A long-term study has found that returning ancestral land to Chile's Mapuche community over 30 years did not lead to significant environmental restoration. Published in Nature Sustainability, the study examined 1,577 parcels returned between 1994 and 2023 under Chile's 1993 Indigenous Law. It found that commercial non-native forest plantations decreased by 18%, but agricultural pasture increased by 4.5%, with no statistically significant improvement in biodiversity, carbon storage or soil erosion control.

Researchers from the University of California, Santa Barbara and the University of Talca said the results challenge the assumption that Indigenous land ownership automatically produces environmental benefits. Lead author Dany Jaimovich noted that land use after restitution was influenced by traditional Mapuche farming practices, particularly livestock raising, rather than large-scale native forest restoration. The researchers stressed that the primary purpose of land restitution is to address historical injustice, not to serve as an environmental program.

The study also highlighted differences from Indigenous territories in less-developed regions like the Amazon. Many of the returned Chilean lands had already been heavily altered by commercial forestry and agriculture before restitution. The researchers are now examining restrictions in Chile's Indigenous Law that prevent communities from selling or mortgaging restituted land, studying how these rules affect long-term economic development and conservation as Chile adjusts its policies to international frameworks.