A vocation for sustainability

The wealth of the seas and islands of Juan Fernández is not only due to the benefits of nature, but also to inhabitants’ responsible care for the archipelago. Their approach has been recognized by international organizations such as UNESCO and its Man and the Biosphere program, granting the category of World Reserve in 1977 (ratified and expanded in 2019) which has meant the State and community’s commitment to the protection and conservation of the terrestrial, coastal and marine ecosystems and the ecologically sustainable development of economic activities.
Today, Juan Fernández concentrates the attention of various actors interested in understanding the interactions between social and ecological systems and managing changes related to the different areas of sustainability - social, economic and environmental - along with an active local community that is proud to perpetuate a way of life in balance with nature.

An example of this is the case of the fishermen of Juan Fernández. In the late 19th Century, they organized themselves to self-impose limits on lobster extraction to the months between October and May, with a restriction of lobsters below a certain size and females with eggs. Without these restrictions they would have most probably wiped out the production of this species.
In more recent years the generation of one of the largest marine protection areas in the world was undertaken by the community and local authorities working together with NGOs, members of the international scientific community, the government and other actors in the territory, with an interdisciplinary approach for a common goal – the enhancement and protection of the pristine ecosystems of the Juan Fernández Archipelago, which is vulnerable to the threat of human activity and industrial fishing.