Documentary “Like – Wil”
The history and motivation behind the request for the Weki – Wil Native Peoples’ Coastal Marine Space (Ecmpo) was captured in a micro documentary recently released in the towns of Buill and Ayacara, Los Lagos Region, in front of the local community and representatives of the Undersecretariat of Fisheries (SUBPESCA) and regional CONADI.
It is a seven and a half minute audiovisual piece that, on the one hand, reflects the concern of the inhabitants of the Huequi peninsula regarding industrial activities that threaten the marine-coastal biodiversity of the place and the ancestral uses that are practiced there. , and – on the other hand – shows the communities’ desire to achieve inclusive and sustainable development, based on respect for their ancestral customs and nature.
“This Ecmpo was born from the conservation tradition that has existed over time in this place. We seek to safeguard customary uses and, at the same time, protect resources and the natural environment. (…) From the beginning we worked with the communities to generate the Ecmpo request and achieve its admissibility, and thus stop the entry of the large aquaculture industry that came to our territories,” says Juan Catín, president of the indigenous community of Buill. .
The Weki – Wil Field covers 66,349.6 hectares in two polygons located between the Comau and Reñihué fjords, Chaitén commune, Los Lagos Region. It is an area that concentrates a high marine-coastal biodiversity thanks to the quality of its waters, including large cetaceans and penguin colonies, and has – in addition – a biocultural memory that intertwines the cycles of the forest, beaches and seas closely with the local cultural practices of your families.
Your application was submitted to SUBPESCA on October 30, 2020 by the indigenous communities of Huequi and Buill, and accepted for processing on May 28, 2021. It is currently awaiting a visit from CONADI to accredit the customary uses that they want to protect, such as navigation, fishing, shellfish, diving and seaweed extraction, among others.
“This figure has a tremendously powerful reach at the national and global level: it promotes a horizon of common inclusive development in the face of a scenario that has chronically excluded indigenous peoples throughout history,” says Ricardo Álvarez, anthropologist and head of the Local Scale Conservation area of the Austral Patagonia Program of the Austral University of Chile. This micro documentary, Álvarez adds, contributes significantly to making visible the efforts of indigenous communities to validate their life models, and their desire to continue inhabiting their coastal areas.
The Ecmpos are administration figures that emerged in 2008 from the approval of Law 20,249, which legitimizes the presence of indigenous communities on the coastal edges, recognizing and protecting their customary uses. This means that a significant part of marine-coastal governance falls to those who inhabit the coastline. It is an inclusive figure, as it respects the legal rights granted prior to the request, and incorporates into its administration plan different local actors and organizations interested in developing activities on the coast in a sustainable manner and taking care of good environmental and social.
“It is the inhabitants themselves who make decisions about their territories. That is, at no time is the authority that the localities have over their spaces taken over (…) We are unifying as communities, as Native and non-Native Peoples. We are not one, we are a whole, and that whole is what we want to preserve over time,” adds Catín.
“Preserving the way of life that exists here must be done with the entire community, regardless of whether it is indigenous or not. I think we should all be aware that conservation is important,” says Teresa Agüero, a tourism technician from the Community of Buil.
The declaration of the Weki-Wil Ecmpo will benefit more than 300 people belonging to the local indigenous communities, but also the more than 1,300 people belonging to the Huequi peninsula (Poyo, Huequi, Ayacara, Chulao, Quetre, Reldehue, Buill, Reñihue , among other locations).
“The Ecmpo totally benefits the communities, whether indigenous or not, it benefits the same. We can continue doing our same activities, we can continue fishing, we can continue our economy linked to the sea,” concluded César Gallardo, a tourism entrepreneur from the Huequi peninsula.
The micro documentary was made with the support of the Patagonia Mar y Tierra Group.