# Borde costero

In Chilean law borde costero (lit. "coastal border") is defined as; "the said strip of territory that include the public land, the playas, the bays, gulfs, straits and interior channels, and the territorial sea of the republic, [which] makes up a geographic and physical unit of special importance for the integral and harmonic development of the country." The land area within the highest tide, or annual lake level high, and up to 80 m inland from this level is known as the playa (lit. "beach") of borde costero. The concept of the playa is based on article 594 of the Chilean Civil Code and this condition is independent of the actual ground type.
The decree formally defining borde costero and many of its regulations was issued in December 1994. Its scope is based on an interpretation of the Chilean Civil Code. Borde costero is considered a sui generis definition without equivalents in legislation outside Chile. The Subsecretariat of the Armed Forces is tasked with granting concessions in borde costero except in rivers and lakes that have not been declared navigable for ships over 100 tons where municipal administrations do so.
The Chilean regulations regarding borde costero have been criticized as failing to balance competing land use interests such as port facilities, real estate development, and environmental and landscape conservation, leading to a total dominance of the two former. Regulations are also criticized for lacking citizen participation mechanisms. The coast of Valparaíso Region in particular has been the site of socio-environmental conflicts, and environmental and landscape degradation attributed to real estate development allowed by the borde costero regulations. Various coastal wetlands and dunes in Valparaíso Region have been urbanized since 1994, for example, those in the area between Concón and Reñaca.
In May 2023 the National Commission on the Use of Borde Costero announced that the concept of borde costero will be replaced for that of zona costera. Reportedly the change has been made to widen the geographical scope of regulations beyond beaches and 80 m inland from the highest tide.
Additional decrees, laws and treaties regulating borde costero :
| Translated name | Code | Issued by | Year |
| Organic Law of the General Direction of the Maritime Territory and Merchant Marine | DFL Nº 292 | Ministry of Finance | 1953 |
| On Marine Concessions | DFL Nº 340 | Ministry of Finance | 1960 |
| Establishes Norms About the Acquisition, Administration and Disposal of the Assets of the State | DL Nº 1.939 | Ministry of Land and Colonization | 1977 |
| Regularizes the Situation of Irregular Occupations in the Borde Costero it Points Out and Introduces Modifications to the Decree Law No. 1.939 of 1977 | Ley Nº 20.062 | Ministry of National Assets | 1977 |
| Substitutes the Navigation Law | DL Nº 2.222 | Ministry of National Defense | 1978 |
| Establishes the Rewritten, Coordinated and Systematized Text of Law no. 18.892 General Law of Fishing and Aquaculture | D.S. Nº 430 de 1991 | Ministry of Economy | 1991 |
| Regulation of Aquaculture Concessions and Authorizations | D.S. Nº 290 de 1993 | Ministry of Economy | 1993 |
| On the General Rules of the Environment | Ley Nº 19.300 | Ministry General Secretariat of the Presidency | 1994 |
| Regulation of the Areas of Management and Exploitation of Benthonic Resources | D.S. Nº 355 | Ministry of Economy | 1995 |
| Prohibits the Access of Vehicles to the Beaches of the Coast | O.M. N°2 de 15 de enero de 1998 | Ministry of National Defense | 1998 |
| Official Inventory of Lakes Navigable by Ships over 100 tons | D.S. Nº 11 de 1998 | Ministry of National Defense | 1998 |
| Official Inventory of Rivers Navigable by Ships over 100 tons | D.S. Nº 12 de 1998 | Ministry of National Defense | 1998 |
| Establishes the Official Inventory of Artisan Fishermen's Coves | D.S. Nº 240 de 1998 | Ministry of National Defense | 1998 |
| Modifies the Official Inventory of Artisan Fishermen's Coves | D.S. Nº 337 de 2004 | Ministry of National Defense | 2004 |
| Replaces Regulation of Maritime Concessions | D.S. Nº 2 de 2005 | Ministry of National Defense | 2005 |
| Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention, 1989 | D.S. Nº 236 | Ministry of Foreign Affairs | 2008 |
| Creates Coastal Marine Spaces of the Indigenous Peoples | Ley Nº 20.249 | Ministry of Planning | 2008 |
| Regulations of the Coastal Marine Spaces of Indigenous Peoples | D.S. Nº 134 | Ministry of Planning | 2008 |
| Modifies the Official Inventory of Navigable Lakes (Cahuil) | D.S. (M) Nº 380 de 2008 | Ministry of National Defense | 2008 |
| Modifies the Official Inventory of Artisan Fishermen's Coves | D.S. Nº 237 de 2009 | Ministry of National Defense | 2009 |
| Modifies the Official Inventory of Navigable Rivers (Caucau) | D.S. Nº 56 de 2009 | Ministry of National Defense | 2009 |