Environmental Woes of Tierra del Fuego -- Forest Exploitation

Heavy equipment cuts a new access road into beech forest in Chilean Tierra del Fuego for Forestal Russfin, a local logging concession. Six local logging companies work on the Chilean side of the main island of Tierra del Fuego. Cutting up to 500 hectares per year, Russfin is the largest Chilean-owned company, according to Nelson Sanchez, a manager for the Gondwana Project, a forest management and mapping organization based in Punta Arenas, Chile. By contrast, the smallest harvest proposed by Trillium/Savia was 2,000 hectares per year.

"Me, I think there should be a lumber industry, but one for local consumption," Sanchez says. He feels large-scale logging is as damaging to the economy as it is to the forest. Large companies employ few local residents with little promise of long-term employment, he notes.

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Filename: 03RussfinTrucks.jpg
Copyright: © Kevin Moloney, 2000
Image Size: 4605x3045 / 4.2MB; log logger logging lumber saw sawmill wood ecosystem beech tree Tierra del Fuego forestry forest environment deforestation
Contained in galleries: 4. Deforestation

Heavy equipment cuts a new access road into beech forest in Chilean Tierra del Fuego for Forestal Russfin, a local logging concession. Six local logging companies work on the Chilean side of the main island of Tierra del Fuego. Cutting up to 500 hectares per year, Russfin is the largest Chilean-owned company, according to Nelson Sanchez, a manager for the Gondwana Project, a forest management and mapping organization based in Punta Arenas, Chile. By contrast, the smallest harvest proposed by Trillium/Savia was 2,000 hectares per year.<br />
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"Me, I think there should be a lumber industry, but one for local consumption," Sanchez says. He feels large-scale logging is as damaging to the economy as it is to the forest. Large companies employ few local residents with little promise of long-term employment, he notes.