Environment opens indigenous consultation for Cabo Froward National Park

The Ministry of the Environment has arranged for a consultation process with indigenous peoples for the creation of the Cabo Froward National Park, in the commune of Punta Arenas, province of Magallanes, Region of Magallanes and the Chilean Antarctic. This was done through exempt resolution No. 5,573, dated October 2, 2026, published in the Official Gazette No. 44,578, on Tuesday, October 20, 2026, Section I, pages 1 to 5 (CVE 2884946). The act, signed by Minister Francisca Ignacia Toledo Echegaray, mandates the consultation, instructs the administrative procedure, and convenes the first planning meeting.

The legal framework invoked is Law No. 21,600, which creates the Biodiversity and Protected Areas Service and the National System of Protected Areas, whose Article 64 reserves the creation of protected areas to a supreme decree from the Ministry of the Environment, signed by the Ministry of National Assets when it concerns fiscal properties. As the regulation provided for in Article 65 has not yet been issued, the consultation is governed directly by Convention No. 169 of the International Labour Organization and by Supreme Decree No. 66, of 2013, from the Ministry of Social Development, which approves the Indigenous Consultation Regulations.

A park of 161 thousand hectares

The territory preliminarily comprises three blocks of properties, with a total approximate area of 161,314.97 hectares:

• Properties donated to the Treasury by the Rewilding Chile Foundation, donation accepted by exempt resolutions No. 182 and No. 648, both of 2025, from the Ministry of National Assets: 127,302 hectares, registered on pages 1,964 to 1,965 reverse, numbers 3276 to 3279, of the Property Registry of the Real Estate Registrar of Punta Arenas.
• Cabo Froward Protected National Asset, created by exempt decree No. 467, of 2009, from National Assets: 9,888.54 hectares.
• Río Batchelor Protected National Asset, created by exempt decree No. 272, of 2008, from National Assets: 24,124.43 hectares.

The political background of the project is the Agreement Protocol for the creation of the Cabo Froward National Park, signed on March 28, 2024, between the Ministry of the Environment, the Ministry of National Assets, the Ministry of Agriculture, the National Forestry Corporation, and the Rewilding Chile Foundation.

Kawésqar and Yagán: evidence of territorial use

The provenance report was issued by the Undersecretariat of Social Services of the Ministry of Social Development and Family, through official letter Ord. No. 2387/2026, dated September 3, 2026, requested by the Undersecretariat of the Environment through official letter Ord. No. 5271/2026, dated August 21, 2026. That report concluded that the measure “is likely to directly affect indigenous peoples,” because the protected area “implies the establishment of a special legal regime that includes prohibitions, restrictions, oversight mechanisms, and sanctions.”

Regarding the Kawésqar people, the official letter records “objective evidence regarding the historical use of the territory,” with shell middens, indigenous settlements, vestiges of lithic and bone industry, harpoons, scrapers, arrowheads, and archaeological sites in the Batchelor river basin, in addition to current use concessions granted to communities of that people. In the case of the Yagán people, it identifies the concession granted by exempt resolution No. E-31.820, dated September 14, 2023, from the Regional Ministerial Secretariat of National Assets of Magallanes, to the Yagán Lom Sapakuta Indigenous Community, for five years starting from August 1, 2023, regarding Lot Y-G-1, San Juan-Río Santa María sector.

The identification of the communities, associations, and representative institutions, on the other hand, was not resolved in the act: the report referred it to the technical scope of the National Corporation for Indigenous Development.

A process that restarts after two resolutions

This is not the first attempt. Exempt resolution No. 1.323, dated March 7, 2025, had already arranged an indigenous consultation for this park; it was suspended by exempt resolution No. 3.789, dated June 10, 2025, and later revoked by exempt resolution No. 4.763, dated July 14, 2025, which terminated the process. The new act is issued in accordance with the fifth paragraph of article 13 of the Indigenous Consultation Regulations.

In addition to convening the first planning meeting, the resolution orders the preparation of the administrative file in accordance with articles 18 and following of law No. 19.880 and the sending of a full copy to a dozen agencies, including the Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry General Secretariat of the Presidency, the Ministry of Agriculture, the National Forestry Corporation, the Office of Indigenous Affairs, the Executive Secretariat of the Council of Ministers for Indigenous Affairs, the Executive Secretariat of the Interministerial Council for the Coordination of the Buen Vivir Plan, and the Executive Secretariat of the Commission for Peace and Understanding.

This step matters because it defines the procedural baseline of a regional-scale protected area: without a concluded consultation, the supreme decree of creation cannot be issued, meaning the park’s schedule is now tied to the planning with the convened communities and the ruling of CONADI regarding who should be at the table.

Source: Official Gazette of the Republic of Chile, No. 44,578, Tuesday, October 20, 2026, Section I, pp. 1-5 (official reference: CVE 2884946).