Bahia Ilque is located in the midst of one of the two last remaining great temperate rainforests on Earth, the other being on the pacific northwest coast of North America. Three per cent of the world's remaining primary forest is located in the temperate zones, and one-third of this is in Chile. Boise Cascade wants to chip native forests throughout the lakes region of northern Patagonia. If production increases via Cascada Chile or similar projects, our forests will be gone that much sooner. Chile is the world's third largest exporter of wood chips, after Canada and the U.S., yet wood chipping accounts for less than one per cent of Chile's Gross Domestic Product.
Tourism is worth seven times more than wood chipping to Chile's economy.
Wood chipping on the massive scale proposed by Boise Cascade could greatly damage Chile's growing tourism economy by destroying one of Chile's prime attractions - native forests. Tuesday's rally served to put Boise Cascade Corporation on notice that they are being watched, and citizens around the world will not stand for wholesale corporate exploitation of native forests. The rally at their headquarters included speakers, informational flyers and entertaining street theatre.