{"id":196130,"date":"2014-06-13T15:59:18","date_gmt":"2014-06-13T14:59:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.swoop-patagonia.co.uk\/?p=196130"},"modified":"2015-10-23T13:32:53","modified_gmt":"2015-10-23T12:32:53","slug":"hidroaysen-dam-update","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swoop-patagonia.com\/blog\/hidroaysen-dam-update\/","title":{"rendered":"Hidroaysen Update"},"content":{"rendered":"

Susannah joined the Swoop team a couple of months ago after travelling to Patagonia in February. After cycling the Careterra Austral she explains what the rejection of the controversial ‘HidroAysen’ project means for Patagonia.<\/em><\/p>\n

Along one of the final stretches of the Careterra Austral,<\/a> between the last major \u2018town\u2019 of Cochrane and the turning to Tortel <\/a>\u2013 the village miraculously built on wooden stilts by pioneering settlers in the 1950s \u2013 sharp-eyed travellers will see a hand-carved sign by a small track which reads \u2018Refugio Rio Nadis\u2019.<\/p>\n

\"DSCF1511\"<\/a>This little Eden, 10 km on from the road and comprising of an entirely self-sufficient farm and bunk-roomed hut with a cosy stove and interrupted views of glaciers, is so hidden that even the tourist kiosk in Cochrane<\/a> hasn’t heard of it. Those who make it there \u2013 and the guest book is full of entries from visitors from all over the world \u2013 rightly describe it as a true refuge from the modern world.<\/p>\n

But until the official rejection of the controversial \u2018HidroAysen\u2019 project by the Chilean government<\/strong> earlier this week , there was a real danger that refuge and its farm would one day be under 70 feet of water. The modern world was coming to Refugio Nadis invited or not.<\/p>\n

The announcement on Tuesday, that Chile’s minister’s of agriculture, energy, mining, economy and health voted unanimously to reject the project,<\/strong> deciding to \u201cside with complaints presented by the community,” will have been greeted with relief by some, skepticism by others.<\/p>\n

Chile has an acknowledged energy crisis which requires a solution, and the project had the potential to bring jobs and infrastructure to the area. Hydro-electric is a cleaner solution to the problem than importing fossil fuels from Argentina.<\/p>\n

But the cost to the landscape, and the resultant impact on local the tourism industry which is the lifeblood of many a family-run business here, would be substantial. In its entirety the project would have consisted of up to five dams, including one which would have tamed the mighty and majestic Rio Baker <\/a>\u2013 famed also as the location of some of the best fishing in Patagonia – and the installation of over 1,500 miles of transmission lines.<\/p>\n

As the main \u2013 indeed the only \u2018roadway\u2019 (much of the route is still gloriously unpaved) \u2013 the Careterra Austral <\/a>and its landmarks would take the greatest hit. One of the most striking features of the Carretera is the absence of any sign of man for mile after mile, but to support the lines a brigade of pylons would have to march from the south of Chilean Patagonia to the north. The leafy temperate rainforest in Pumalin National Park<\/a>, the small town of Puhuhuapi <\/a>with its pioneer-built Bavarian houses, the fishermen\u2019s lodges south of Coyhaique \u2013 all would be affected, with even the Careterra itself diverted away from a stunning stretch along major waterways. \u00a0In its entirety the lines would reach to the far south, to such pristine wildernesses as Torres del Paine National Park.<\/p>\n

Campaign objectors make the point that there are alternatives that would meet Chile\u2019s energy needs: ample wind and solar, dynamic geothermal, as well as powerful tides. The Patagonia sin Represas\u2018<\/a> (Patagonia without Dams)\u00a0website puts forward the idea that small, high-altitude hydro facilities could also do much to help meet demand without such a strong impact on the region.<\/p>\n

The news on Tuesday was tempered with rumours that the project owners would likely appeal the decision. Whatever the ultimate outcome in Patagonia the landscape is changing fast.<\/p>\n

\"unnamed\"<\/a><\/p>\n

My own trip took the form of a bike journey down the full length of the Careterra. At this speed there was plenty of time to take in the stunning scenery, but also to notice the miles of newly paved road (a guilty pleasure as it made riding easier, but a sure sign of change) and to count the \u2018Patagonia sin Represas\u2019 signs behind the diggers. Go now, while you still can.<\/p>\n

We wrote a piece back in 2011 \u00a0about the Hidroaysen project controversy <\/a>that explains the issue in depth.
\n<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Susannah joined the Swoop team a couple of months ago.
\n Here she explains what the rejection of the controversial ‘HidroAysen’ project means for Patagonia. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":196131,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[68,132,196],"class_list":["post-196130","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-careterra-austral","tag-hidroaysen","tag-patagonia"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nHidroaysen Update - Swoop Patagonia Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"What the rejection of the controversial 'HidroAysen' project means for Patagonia.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.swoop-patagonia.com\/blog\/hidroaysen-dam-update\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Hidroaysen Update - Swoop Patagonia Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"What the rejection of the controversial 'HidroAysen' project means for Patagonia.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.swoop-patagonia.com\/blog\/hidroaysen-dam-update\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Swoop Patagonia Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/swooptravel\/?ref=aymt_homepage_panel\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-06-13T14:59:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2015-10-23T12:32:53+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.swoop-patagonia.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/6a010534abfd9c970c017ee9400456970d-800wi1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"480\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"360\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Luke Errington\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@SwoopPatagonia\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Luke Errington\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swoop-patagonia.com\/blog\/hidroaysen-dam-update\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swoop-patagonia.com\/blog\/hidroaysen-dam-update\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Luke Errington\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swoop-patagonia.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/2d28a66600d0e30464d10260dea0f8bb\"},\"headline\":\"Hidroaysen Update\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-06-13T14:59:18+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-10-23T12:32:53+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swoop-patagonia.com\/blog\/hidroaysen-dam-update\/\"},\"wordCount\":672,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swoop-patagonia.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"Careterra Austral\",\"Hidroaysen\",\"patagonia\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Uncategorized\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swoop-patagonia.com\/blog\/hidroaysen-dam-update\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.swoop-patagonia.com\/blog\/hidroaysen-dam-update\/\",\"name\":\"Hidroaysen Update - Swoop Patagonia Blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swoop-patagonia.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2014-06-13T14:59:18+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-10-23T12:32:53+00:00\",\"description\":\"What the rejection of the controversial 'HidroAysen' project means for Patagonia.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swoop-patagonia.com\/blog\/hidroaysen-dam-update\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.swoop-patagonia.com\/blog\/hidroaysen-dam-update\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swoop-patagonia.com\/blog\/hidroaysen-dam-update\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.swoop-patagonia.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Hidroaysen Update\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swoop-patagonia.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.swoop-patagonia.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Swoop Patagonia Blog\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swoop-patagonia.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.swoop-patagonia.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swoop-patagonia.com\/blog\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Swoop Patagonia Blog\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.swoop-patagonia.com\/blog\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swoop-patagonia.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.swoop-patagonia.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/swoop-patagonia-logo-blog.svg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.swoop-patagonia.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/swoop-patagonia-logo-blog.svg\",\"width\":1220,\"height\":108,\"caption\":\"Swoop Patagonia Blog\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swoop-patagonia.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swoop-patagonia.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/2d28a66600d0e30464d10260dea0f8bb\",\"name\":\"Luke Errington\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swoop-patagonia.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.swoop-patagonia.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Luke-Errington-Swoop-CEO-96x96.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.swoop-patagonia.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Luke-Errington-Swoop-CEO-96x96.jpg\",\"caption\":\"Luke Errington\"},\"description\":\"Luke fell in love with Patagonia when he first trekked through the Andes some 15 years ago. In 2010 he founded Swoop Patagonia and since then has trekked, ridden and paddled thousands of miles throughout the region. At home in Bristol he's a dad of three, and a keen trail runner and adventure racer.\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/www.swoop-patagonia.co.uk\/\",\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/swooptravel\/?ref=aymt_homepage_panel\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SwoopPatagonia\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.swoop-patagonia.com\/blog\/author\/luke\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Hidroaysen Update - Swoop Patagonia Blog","description":"What the rejection of the controversial 'HidroAysen' project means for Patagonia.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.swoop-patagonia.com\/blog\/hidroaysen-dam-update\/","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"Hidroaysen Update - Swoop Patagonia Blog","og_description":"What the rejection of the controversial 'HidroAysen' project means for Patagonia.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.swoop-patagonia.com\/blog\/hidroaysen-dam-update\/","og_site_name":"Swoop Patagonia Blog","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/swooptravel\/?ref=aymt_homepage_panel","article_published_time":"2014-06-13T14:59:18+00:00","article_modified_time":"2015-10-23T12:32:53+00:00","og_image":[{"width":480,"height":360,"url":"https:\/\/www.swoop-patagonia.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/6a010534abfd9c970c017ee9400456970d-800wi1.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Luke Errington","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@SwoopPatagonia","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Luke Errington","Estimated reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.swoop-patagonia.com\/blog\/hidroaysen-dam-update\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swoop-patagonia.com\/blog\/hidroaysen-dam-update\/"},"author":{"name":"Luke Errington","@id":"https:\/\/www.swoop-patagonia.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/2d28a66600d0e30464d10260dea0f8bb"},"headline":"Hidroaysen Update","datePublished":"2014-06-13T14:59:18+00:00","dateModified":"2015-10-23T12:32:53+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swoop-patagonia.com\/blog\/hidroaysen-dam-update\/"},"wordCount":672,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swoop-patagonia.com\/blog\/#organization"},"keywords":["Careterra Austral","Hidroaysen","patagonia"],"articleSection":["Uncategorized"],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.swoop-patagonia.com\/blog\/hidroaysen-dam-update\/","url":"https:\/\/www.swoop-patagonia.com\/blog\/hidroaysen-dam-update\/","name":"Hidroaysen Update - Swoop Patagonia Blog","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swoop-patagonia.com\/blog\/#website"},"datePublished":"2014-06-13T14:59:18+00:00","dateModified":"2015-10-23T12:32:53+00:00","description":"What the rejection of the controversial 'HidroAysen' project means for Patagonia.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swoop-patagonia.com\/blog\/hidroaysen-dam-update\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.swoop-patagonia.com\/blog\/hidroaysen-dam-update\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.swoop-patagonia.com\/blog\/hidroaysen-dam-update\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.swoop-patagonia.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Hidroaysen Update"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.swoop-patagonia.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.swoop-patagonia.com\/blog\/","name":"Swoop Patagonia Blog","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swoop-patagonia.com\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.swoop-patagonia.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.swoop-patagonia.com\/blog\/#organization","name":"Swoop Patagonia Blog","url":"https:\/\/www.swoop-patagonia.com\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/www.swoop-patagonia.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.swoop-patagonia.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/swoop-patagonia-logo-blog.svg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.swoop-patagonia.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/swoop-patagonia-logo-blog.svg","width":1220,"height":108,"caption":"Swoop Patagonia Blog"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swoop-patagonia.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.swoop-patagonia.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/2d28a66600d0e30464d10260dea0f8bb","name":"Luke Errington","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/www.swoop-patagonia.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.swoop-patagonia.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Luke-Errington-Swoop-CEO-96x96.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.swoop-patagonia.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Luke-Errington-Swoop-CEO-96x96.jpg","caption":"Luke Errington"},"description":"Luke fell in love with Patagonia when he first trekked through the Andes some 15 years ago. In 2010 he founded Swoop Patagonia and since then has trekked, ridden and paddled thousands of miles throughout the region. At home in Bristol he's a dad of three, and a keen trail runner and adventure racer.","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.swoop-patagonia.co.uk\/","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/swooptravel\/?ref=aymt_homepage_panel","https:\/\/twitter.com\/SwoopPatagonia"],"url":"https:\/\/www.swoop-patagonia.com\/blog\/author\/luke\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swoop-patagonia.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/196130","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swoop-patagonia.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swoop-patagonia.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swoop-patagonia.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swoop-patagonia.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=196130"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.swoop-patagonia.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/196130\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":198646,"href":"https:\/\/www.swoop-patagonia.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/196130\/revisions\/198646"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swoop-patagonia.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/196131"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swoop-patagonia.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=196130"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swoop-patagonia.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=196130"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swoop-patagonia.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=196130"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}