Meeting science and culture in extreme environments

Economic losses derived from climate change do not spare remote areas for which tourism is an important sustainability tool.

Scientific knowledge represents an opportunity for both enabling users to participate in conservation and transfer updated data into education while integrating patrimonial knowledge.

COPAS Coastal is a 20 year experienced oceanographic center that has been working in fjords and channels of Chilean Patagonia sin 2008. Data gathered over the years has translated in a good understanding of the oceanographic features and vulnerability to climate change of these pristine areas that include some of the fastest retreating glaciers in the world. Oceanographic arrays of sensors and buoys provided data on currents and temperature variability while diversity surveys helped build a complete ecosystem model that could be translated into cultural patrimony.

This is the essence of the CIAYT experience (center of environmental and touristic interpretation) in Caleta tortel in Patagonia. Inaugurated in 2024, it has effectively boosted local tourist activity while integrating tour operators into climate change outreach and awareness therefore increasing sustainability. Effective educational and cultural tools, technology and patrimonial landscape combine in a unique transfer of knowledge that is constantly being updated by scientists and maintained by local communities.