{"id":10817,"date":"2025-03-17T15:49:58","date_gmt":"2025-03-17T15:49:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/puelopatagonia.cl\/?post_type=noticias&p=10817"},"modified":"2025-04-09T21:49:16","modified_gmt":"2025-04-09T21:49:16","slug":"descubriendo-la-riqueza-natural-de-mi-comuna-programa-busca-conectar-a-escuelas-rurales-con-el-valle-cochamo","status":"publish","type":"noticias","link":"https:\/\/puelopatagonia.cl\/en\/noticias\/descubriendo-la-riqueza-natural-de-mi-comuna-programa-busca-conectar-a-escuelas-rurales-con-el-valle-cochamo\/","title":{"rendered":"Students from Cocham\u00f3 and Puelo visited the Cochamo Valley for the first time."},"content":{"rendered":"

“Descubriendo la riqueza natural de mi comuna” es una iniciativa gestionada por organizaciones locales que busca acercar a los estudiantes de las escuelas de Cocham\u00f3 y R\u00edo Puelo a los paisajes y a la naturaleza del lugar donde viven, a trav\u00e9s de talleres te\u00f3ricos y pr\u00e1cticos que terminaron con un campamento educativo en La Junta, coraz\u00f3n del Valle Cocham\u00f3 que recibe miles de turistas al a\u00f1o, pero que gran parte de su propia comunidad a\u00fan desconoce.\u00a0<\/em>
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The Cocham\u00f3 Valley is a natural paradise recognized worldwide for its incredible landscapes, featuring millennia-old Alerce forests, rivers, glaciers, and the stunning granite cliffs that are unique in the world. It is one of the most visited hiking and climbing destinations in our country, attracting more than 15,000 tourists each year. According to records from the Visitor Center, a large portion of the visitors to this place are Chileans, yet only a small percentage are residents of the Cocham\u00f3 commune.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With the aim of helping children and young people from Cocham\u00f3 get to know the place where they live, the initiative \"Discovering the Natural Richness of My Commune\" was created. It seeks to connect the students from the R\u00edo Puelo Rural School and the Juan Soler Manfredini Elementary School of Cocham\u00f3 with the landscapes, nature, history, and the importance of protecting the valleys where they live. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A world-class paradise unknown at the local level.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"There are many people who have lived here their entire life and don't know one of the most important places in their commune in terms of its natural richness,\" says the teacher Leopoldo Mu\u00f1oz, a member of the Cocham\u00f3 Valley Organization's board and someone who has dedicated more than 40 years to education. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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It all started within the framework of the Cocham\u00f3 Valley Nature Sanctuary and the Conserva Pucheg\u00fc\u00edn project, when members of the Cocham\u00f3 Valley and Puelo Patagonia Organization visited the 11th-grade students of the Juan Soler Manfredini School to learn about their perception of the natural areas surrounding them. During the discussion, the members asked, \"How many of you have been to La Junta (Cocham\u00f3 Valley)?\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Surprisingly, after the question, only three students raised their hands. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This is how the organizations launched this program, which focuses on enhancing the local identity of young people from the schools in Cocham\u00f3 and R\u00edo Puelo regarding their commune and territory. \"One of the challenges we had with the Cocham\u00f3 Valley Nature Sanctuary was connecting this place with the community. We thought that one of the first ways to do this is through the schools, as they are the future generation that can lead the conservation of the commune,\" highlights Mu\u00f1oz. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sobre lo anterior, Andr\u00e9s Amengual, director de Puelo Patagonia que particip\u00f3 del taller con los alumnos, menciona la importancia de involucrar a los j\u00f3venes en la protecci\u00f3n de la naturaleza. \u201cResulta contradictorio pensar que mientras se lleva adelante una campa\u00f1a mundial de recolecci\u00f3n de fondos para proteger su tierra, la mayor\u00eda de los ni\u00f1os de Cocham\u00f3 no conocen la parte m\u00e1s bella de su comuna”. Adem\u00e1s, se\u00f1al\u00f3 que fue \u201cuna revelaci\u00f3n ver que tan pocos ni\u00f1os se pon\u00edan de pie: hab\u00eda que romper esa tendencia e ir en sentido contrario por lo injusto de la situaci\u00f3n,  pero tambi\u00e9n porque es la comunidad el principal agente de protecci\u00f3n del entorno\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The program consisted of four theoretical and practical workshops covering topics such as biodiversity and local geography, camping, first aid, and hiking techniques, and concluded with a three-day Environmental Education Camp in La Junta. Community collaboration has been key to making this happen. From the camping accommodations in La Junta, the guides provided by the Arrieros del Valle Cocham\u00f3, transportation from both schools, the guides and instructors from the Cocham\u00f3 Mountain Club, to the management of food, materials, and workshop facilitators by the Cocham\u00f3 Valley and Puelo Patagonia Organization, all these efforts made the project possible. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Patricia Almonacid, secretary of the Cocham\u00f3 Valley Organization and a former student of the Cocham\u00f3 school, was in charge of leading the Biodiversity workshop. The workshop focused on showing students the natural heritage of their commune, so they could recognize the different species that inhabit the Cocham\u00f3 Valley when they take their trip there. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For her, conducting this workshop holds special value, as \"when I studied here, I didn\u2019t have the opportunity to have a space that helped us value the place where we live,\" she says. \"In fact, it\u2019s when you leave that you truly realize the significance of the incredible place we inhabit,\" she emphasizes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Preventing the migration of young people from the countryside to the city: a social challenge in Cocham\u00f3.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What Patricia describes is not an isolated fact. According to a study by Balloon Latam conducted in 2019 in the commune, it is observed that young people migrate from the countryside to the cities for reasons related to education or work. This coincides with data from the 2017 CENSO, which reveals that 16.7% of the population in Cocham\u00f3 are under 15 years old\u2014a figure lower than the regional and even national average.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\"We know that it is difficult for older adults to stay in isolated places, which is why they often have to leave. That\u2019s why part of what we promote at Puelo Patagonia is that nature tourism and small-scale livestock farming can be activities that motivate young people from Cocham\u00f3 to stay,\" says Andr\u00e9s Diez, executive director of Puelo Patagonia and spokesperson for the Conserva Puchegu\u00edn campaign. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After its successful first edition at the end of 2024, the organizations are already planning the program for this new year and even hope to expand the initiative to other areas of the commune. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Learn more about this project here<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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