Corporación Nacional Forestal
| Corporacion Nacional Forestal | |
 Ministry of Agriculture |
|
| Environmental overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | 1972 |
| Preceding Environmental |
|
| Superseding agency |
|
| Type | Environmental |
| Jurisdiction | National |
| Headquarters | Santiago |
| Motto | CONAF, for a sustainably forested Chile ("CONAF, por un Chile Forestal Sustentable") |
| Employees | more than 1900 |
| Website | CONAF official website |
The National Forest Corporation or CONAF (Corporación Nacional Forestal) is a Chilean private, non-profit organization, through which the Chilean state contributes to the development and sustainable management of the country's forest resources. CONAF is overseen and funded by the Ministry of Agriculture of Chile.
It administers the forest policies of Chile and promotes the development of the sector with sustainable forest management.
CONAF is also the governing body of all the national parks of Chile, including those without forests or major vegetation, such as Llullaillaco National Park and others in the Atacama Desert.
CONAF was created on May 13, 1970 as the "Reforestation Corporation" or COREF (Corporación de Reforestación'). In 1972 it acquired its current powers, structure and name. In 1976 it adopted Forestín, a coypu, as its mascot.
In 1984, under Chilean law Nº 18,348, a move was made to modify the private corporation status of CONAF and make it a government agency. In October 2012 the Chilean senate considered and rejected a proposal to convert CONAF's legal nature from that of a "private corporation" to that of a public (government) agency. The rejected proposal would have created a National Forest Service (Servicio Nacional Forestal). During the legislative proceedings, testimony was made that addressed the "anomalous" nature of a private corporation performing functions that should be performed by a wholly government agency or agencies. However, as of November 2014, such a status change has not taken place.
CONAF's mission is to contribute to Chile's development through the sustainable use of forest ecosystems, the mitigation of the climate change, the promotion and enforcement of forestry and environmental laws, protect natural resources, and administrate the wildlife areas protected by the government for the generations to come.
This includes:
Although CONAF is not technically a government agency, it has similar functions and attributes. It is a "corporación de derecho privado" which in Chile is means a non-profit juridical person, and is wholly dependent of the Ministry of Agriculture of Chile.
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