As group of more than 50 scientists from at least eight countries, we published this open letter addressed to the representatives of the Chilean Parliament, demanding them to approve the “Law for the protection of peatlands”. This bill is to be voted soon in the chamber of deputies. In the middle of a state of climate emergency and with 53% percent of Chilean municipalities declaring a state of hydrological crisis, the open letter demands a complete protection of these ecosystems, prohibiting the extraction of peat and mosses.
The signing scientists call upon the Chilean government to put itself in the front raw of the combat against climate change by approving this pending law. Peatland ecosystems are very effective carbon sinks and water reservoirs. A law which protects them and banns their exploitation would allow the conservation of their tremendous ecosystem services for the hydrological cycle and decelerate climate change.
Click here to read the letter in Spanish or English.