by Sophie Jensen from University of Puget Sound
What is Tamango?
Tamango is one of the many regions of Parque Nacional Patagonia (PNP) and was officially absorbed into the Parque in 2019, where it is now managed by CONAF (Chilean National Forestry Administration). In 1967, Reserva Tamango was formed to protect Lago (lake) Cochrane, its watershed, and the endangered deer, called Huemul. Tamango is just under 7000 hectares, and ranges from, at lake level, to 1,722m, at the top of Mt. Tamango.
What is Least Acceptable Change (LAC)?
LAC is a difficult concept to explain, so I turned to one of the student LAC research leads for an explanation. Kira Corasanti, of the University of Vermont, explains that
“With the amount of tourists coming into Tamango, we want to measure what the current impact on the natural environment is, in order to ensure that in the future, the least amount of impact occurs.”
In other words, LAC is measuring what the most acceptable amount of change could be, and how best to limit change over time.
What was the Methodology?
In partnership with CONAF, the 11 students of Round River Conservation Studies (RRCS) and 3 instructors of RRCS split into four groups. Our goal was to walk every meter of each of the 11 trails, which when combined make up a 43 km trail system. Each group was assigned different trails to walk, with two groups backpacking, and two groups doing day hikes from base camp. In order to measure impact, each group took data at each kilometer marker on the condition of the trail being walked, measuring width, depth, and soil type. Each group also took data on social trails, waste/trash sites, undesignated campsites, trail experiences (waterfalls, water crossings, viewpoints, etc.), indicator species (Huemul, Chilean Flicker, Striped Woodpeckers, and Magellanic Woodpeckers), and areas where the trail was in poor condition.
Research: Day 1 (November 25)
On this day, teams 1 and 2 left basecamp at around 11:00am, and backpacked up to Campsite Cangrejo, while teams 3 and 4 were left at basecamp for a day without surveys.
Research: Day 2 (November 26)
This is the first day that my team, team 4, surveyed. Along with team 3, we left our basecamp at about 9:30am, and set out for Tamango. Arriving at about 10:00am, both teams signed in with the rangers and checked our maps before we were off. Our goal for the day was to survey the first half of Los Carpinteros trail and the beginning section of the Los Ñirres trail, hiking until we met up with Team 3. Due to the high number of people using the Los Carpinteros trail there was a lot of data points to collect, resulting in it taking almost three hours to travel just under 5km. At 12:40pm, we met up with team 3, and after a quick lunch, began the 5k hike back to the car, this time around, it only took us 45 minutes! We then returned to base camp and finished the day with homemade pizza and a movie.
Research: Day 3 (November 27)
Early bird catches the worm as they say, and for those of us spending the night at base camp this proved to be the case. Waking up at 6:00am, we (teams 3 and 4) made breakfast and promptly left basecamp at 7:00am to catch a boat that would take us to Playa Paleta. After a 45-minute drive, and a 20-minute boat ride, we reached Playa Paleta by 8:15am. Here, we linked up with team 2, who promptly hopped on the boat to catch a ride back to basecamp for a well-deserved rest.
Our goal (team 4) for the day was to survey the Los Coigues trail and the remainder of the Los Carpinteros trail. We hiked along quickly, taking many data points, and only stopping to eat lunch at a lakeside beach, finishing the 12k day at 2:30pm. As we drove back to basecamp to return to the other 3 teams, I was left feeling grateful that I was able to spend the past days in beautiful Tamango, surrounded by wildflowers and songbirds, doing research I enjoyed.
