Article
English, Spanish, Portuguese
ID: <
oai:doaj.org/article:73a235811b364d82a1a5118bb45f2d08>
Abstract
Within the Protected Wild Areas of the Araucanía Region, southern Chile, the Conguillio National Park inserted in the Andean precordillera is highlighted. Considered to be an area of great ecosystem importance given the diversity of environments produced by the vulcanological action specific to this mountain range, this unit forms part of the country’s selected biosphere reserve group. It is possible to find ecosystems in the primary forest of Araucaria, wetlands (including rivers, lakes and steels), holes and high summits such as Volcanán LLaima and Sierra Nevada, all of important scientific, geological, geomorphological and tourist value. Their high competition for their attractions, renowned flora and fauna gives rise to a significant influx of visitors, nationals and foreigners, especially in the summer, given the better weather conditions and the holiday season. For this reason, the environmental education and interpretation programme, which was first established 37 years ago and is currently in place as activities for its adult and child visitors, is gaining a greater sense of belonging to the visitor through an experience in an ASPE. Activities as experience seek to create new attitudes that involve visitor behaviour geared towards the sustainability of the park and appreciation of the natural environment as a fundamental part of human development. In this context, the current programme shows a sustained growth of 7 % in the number of visitors between the 2013-2014 season. The aim of this work is to show the general background of the park, the most visited paths, the most attractive species of flora and fauna or species with conservation problems, as well as the programme in terms of activities and its improvement projections.