Physical Environment

The study area is the Coquimbo Region is located between the 29th and the 32nd parallels. The region is subject to the effects of a subtropical high pressure system. During the winter season of the Southern Hemisphere, the Pacific Anti-cyclone system moves north, allowing for the arrival of low pressure systems from the south, bringing rainfall. However, the presence of a high pressure system over much of the year is a major factor causing the arid sub-desert character of this region, which forms the southern border of the Atacama Desert.

One of the most important aspects of the IV Region of Chile, which is representative of the arid subtropical zone, is the state of soil degradation. A major cause of this dramatic condition is the system of land-holding which is structured in three major units: modern irrigated farming, large estates, and communal holdings. While not ignoring the degrading processes resulting from the unsustainable use of irrigation water, which are becoming evident in the modern agricultural sector, the most serious problems are found in the large estate sector and even more so among communally held lands.

Both systems of land holding have their origin in the colonial era. Together they are the major users of agricultural land in the zone.. The large estates began based on exploitation of native forests which today are practically non-existent, and on growing cereal crops. Presently, many of these large estates have experienced a process of recovery owing to better land use practices, but also due to reduced pressure on the land.

As for communal agricultural holdings, given that they are composed of numerous families, the pressure on the land is much more intense. Added to this is the low socioeconomic condition of the population, which forces them to subject extreme pressure through goat herding and farming on inappropriate soils as their only means of subsistence. These communities sustain themselves mainly with goat-raising, which is managed under very precarious conditions and without having a true pastoral tradition. This, together with the pressure that is exerted on the land, has created the unique situation of today, with very intense processes of land and plant degradation.

Climate is another factor that strongly affects the situation, since there can be periods as long as three years between normal or concentrated rainfall and periods of drought. This provides an additional difficulty in livestock production, since the number of animals can increase strongly during the years of normal rains, while maintaining this animal load becomes untenable during dry years.

The coastal climate is strongly influenced by the sea, which at those latitudes is especially cold owing to the presence of the Humboldt Current. This has the effect of cooling the lower layer of the atmosphere, resulting in low lying clouds and frequent fogs that extend several kilometers into the interior.

The climate is a subtropical arid steppe (Bsn) with annual precipitation between 70 and 250 m. Four major geographic units can be identified; the Andean mountain range, the foothills, the major east-west river valleys, and the coastal lowlands.

Socioeconomic Description

One of the indices used to characterize the degree of social vulnerability of a population group is a multi-varied factorial analysis. This index considers variables related to poverty, health, nutrition, income, housing, education and social welfare. The communities of Salamanca, Combarbala, Monte Patria, Punitaqui, Río Hurtado and Canela all show a high degree of social vulnerability, characterized by high percentages of mothers with low formal education, high levels of illiteracy, high percentages of recipients of food subsidies, extreme poverty, and biomedical factors such as infant malnourishment and below normal weights at birth. By contrast, the communities of La Serena and Coquimbo show low social vulnerability.

The degree of urbanization is directly related to the degree of socioeconomic condition, in that the more urbanized centers have lower values for indicators of social vulnerability and biomedical risk. On the other hand, truly rural communities are typified by high values.

The communities of Salamanca, Monte Patria, Paiguano and Padre Hurtado have economies that are totally specialized in agriculture, which makes them highly vulnerable to the recurring risks of this sector, such as drought and price fluctuations.

Mining is an important economic activity in the region. Mining "comunas" have high indices of economic specialization, with the exception of Vicuña, which, as an urban center, also specializes in agriculture. The other "comunas" of La Higuera, Andacollo and Punitaqui, are dependent on mining as the sole economic activity. They can therefore be defined as being moderately vulnerable in economic terms given their dependence on external factors such as international demand for mineral products and price fluctuations.

Coquimbo and La Serena stand out as industrialized "comunas", without specialization in the primary production sector. Between the two, the major portion of communities of the region are located, 37.7% and 30.1% respectively.

The "comunas" which are economically more diversified (Ovalle, Los Vilos, Illapel and Combarbala) have a more sustainable productive base, so that they are classified as having a low economic vulnerability (Universidad de Chile, 1994).

Characteristics of the Agricultural System

The agricultural system of the IV Region is characterized by the presence of communal agricultural holdings, under which lands remain indivisible and owned collectively by "comuneros". These lands are generally farmed by a greater number of persons than is appropriate given the productive capacity of the land. Communally held lands are generally of low productivity, making subsistence agriculture difficult. (Chile, 1988).

The most important activity in non-irrigated areas (97 % of surface area) is goat raising, which feed on highly degraded sub-desert pasture lands. Grapes for direct consumption and for the production of alcohol are grown in irrigated zones (3 % of the surface). As well, horticultural production accounts for part of agricultural activity in irrigated areas.

The main characteristics of Coquimbo Region site are summarised hereafter:

Site name	Coquimbo Region (Chile)
Information Provider	Fernando Santibañez
Site location
Location	Arid region at the Souther Border of the Atacama desert
Province	Coquimbo
Region	IV
Country	Chile
General conditions
Altitude range	500 masl
Climate	Arid mediterranean
Topography	Ondulated and Montanious
Rock type	Granite at the coast and basaltic at the andean range
Land cover	Subdesertic steppe with xerophytic shrubs
Land Use	Mainly goat raisers
Land condition	degraded
Local contacts
Appraisal
Of what the site is representative in your context?
Which is the relevance of applying DeSurvey to the site?	To demonstrate the real degree of land degradation and its consequencies
Might the site be complementary of other conditions?	Exactly because in this area there exist a very special land ownership. It is called "comunities". Also a very special climatic condition has to be considered what is a subdesertic climatic but with high oceanic influence. As consequence of that, vegetation is rather dense considering anual rainfall.
Might the site allow comparative analysis with other sites?	Sure. It is a typical mediterranean rainfall regime, having anual rainfall from 50 mm to 350 mm.
Which is the relative impact of policy/subsidized, market and subsistence economy on land use structure?	Very high. The most part of space is occuped by a subsistence agriculture, maily goat raisers. Commercialization systems are very basic and local. This agricultural system coexist with a very modern agriculture, based on irrigation and oriented to foreing markets, maily based on table grapes.
Which are the potential users of DeSurvey products in the site?	End users: farmers, land owners, agroindustrial sector and public agencies.
Research projects in the site
Information database	Only available for DeSurvey consortium