Robinson Crusoe island sets example for the world
SANJUANBAUTISTA,CHILE: For almost a century, the inhabitants of Robinson Crusoe named for literature’s most famous castaway - knew their island’s fragile ecosystem depends on them conserving its unique wildlife.
One of three islands in the Juan Fernandez archipelago, 700km off the Pacific coast of Chile, it was discovered in the 16th century. The island chain secured its place in history as the home of Alexander Selkirk, the Scottish sailor marooned there for four years and four months, a tale he later related to Daniel Defoe, who penned his adventure book based on his story. One of the other islands in the chain is called Alexander Selkirk, the third is Santa Clara.
In 1977, the archipelago was named a biosphere reserve and almost a year ago, Chile announced the creation of the enormous Juan Fernandez Marine Park. Covering an area of 262,000 sq km of ocean, it is one of the largest protected zones in the Pacific.
It also connects to a network of marine reserves in Chile totalling some 1.3 million sq km, meaning that about 44% of the nation’s waters have some level of protection against mining and industrial fishing.
“Until 10 years ago, Chile was one of the biggest ocean exploiters in the world. Now it has become one of the leaders in ocean conservation, with the creation of huge marine parks which will really help fish stocks recover,” said Alex Munoz, who is the Latin America director of the NGO National Geographic Pristine Seas.