Chile’s government has agreed to reroute a planned coastal highway so it skirts the biologically rich Valdivian temperate rainforests in the country’s Tenth Region. The pledge, made to environmental groups last month, is being hailed as one of the Chilean environmental movement’s most important victories. It was signed by the heads of five government ministries and the Coastal Range Coalition (CRC), a federation of 15 national and international environmental, indigenous and social organizations. Under the pact, the government agreed to a CRC proposal to shift inland some 155 miles (255 kms) of the planned 185-mile (300-km) highway from Valdivia in Chile’s lakes region south to Puerto Montt. That will keep the road entirely out of the Valdivian coastal rainforest, ranked by the World... [Log in to read more]