Photo: David Cossio
Protecting the heart of Chile's water supply means protecting life itself.
By Camilo Hornauer
Hornauer is founder and executive president of Fundación Plantae.
Editors Note: The following is from Issue 30.
Imagine Chile without its glaciers. The rivers that supply our cities would be reduced to a trickle. Agriculture would collapse, and millions of people would face an unprecedented water crisis. This is a looming reality in certain areas of the country if we do not decide now to protect what remains. However, this possibility is more than just a fantasy; it is a real threat if we do not act to delay it. Glaciers, which hold 70% of the planet's fresh water, are retreating at an alarming rate.
This year, 2025, which the UN has declared the International Year of Glacier Conservation, is an opportunity to pause and reflect on what we are facing. We must ask ourselves: How can we use our knowledge to protect these essential reserves of life? What new agreements, public policies, and actions can we implement?
The glacier conservation initiative, promoted by Tajikistan and supported by UNESCO and the World Meteorological Organization, aims to raise global awareness of the importance of glaciers to climate balance and the water supply. World Glacier Day on March 21 marked the beginning of global activities, ranging from scientific forums to artistic interventions.
In Chile, this day took on special significance when our environment minister, Maisa Rojas, signed a decree at the La Moneda Cultural Center to establish March 21 as National Glacier Day. More than 250 people, including government officials, academics, and citizens, gathered to celebrate this milestone, which was organized by Fundación Plantae and Fundación Glaciares Chilenos with the support of Fundación Arte Precario. The event aimed to raise awareness about glaciers and bring them into the public debate. The event combined science, art, and education. A panel of experts included glaciologist Alexis Segovia, artist Cecilia Vicuña, ice swimmer Bárbara Hernández, writer and historian Marc Turel, and Senator Alfonso de Urresti. There was also an art exhibition inspired by glacial landscapes curated by Carolina Castro.
Art and culture undoubtedly play a crucial role.
At the National Museum of Fine Arts, Cecilia Vicuña's performance "Sacro Hielo" transformed the central hall into a space for connecting with nature as part of the first commemoration of National Glacier Day. Her quipu, a symbolic knot that connects information and emotions, united attendees in a ritual that highlighted the sacredness of water and memory. The Catholic University of Chile's "Imaginarios Glaciares" initiative brought glaciers closer to the public from a sociocultural and sensory perspective with projects such as "Sonido Glaciar" and an impressive photograph of the Northern Patagonian Ice Field by photographer Pablo Valenzuela Vaillant.
The World Glacier Day event on March 21 at La Moneda Cultural Center in Santiago, Chile. Photo: Mariana CanobChile is a key player in this scenario.
According to the Center for Climate and Resilience Research (CR2), Chile is home to 80% of South America's glaciers and 4% of the world's glaciers. This makes Chile one of the countries with the largest freshwater reserves on the planet.
This natural heritage, consisting of more than 26,000 glaciers, defines our geography from Arica to Magallanes and forms the basis of our water and food security. During drought years, they provide up to 90% of the water supply during the summer months in some northern and central Chilean watersheds.
Today, though, glaciers are retreating, and the climate crisis is undoubtedly their main threat. The Olivares Alfa glacier in central Chile lost 66% of its area between 1955 and 2018. In Patagonia, ice fields are thinning by an average of one meter per year, according to a 2019 study.
This loss not only reduces the available water supply, but also disrupts the ecological and climatic balance, raises sea levels, and increases the risk of glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs), which can cause catastrophic flooding and many other damaging effects.
Faced with this scenario and technological improvements, science provides valuable information. In Chile, the National Water Agency (DGA), the Chilean Antarctic Institute (INACH), the Center for Scientific Studies (CECs), the Center for Advanced Studies in Arid Zones (CEAZA), and other research centers and universities have monitored and studied numerous glacier systems for decades. Hopefully, this information is being made available to and used by the state and decision-makers to design public policies for land use planning and management, as well as water risk conservation and security, to address the current urgent situation. These tools are not only technical; they are a bridge to collective action, enabling governments, businesses, and communities to make informed decisions. In this regard, glaciology must be available for the common good because it has a social responsibility.
But being concerned and raising awareness about the urgency of the situation is not enough. Chile still lacks robust legislation to protect glaciers as strategic water reserves and fragile ecosystems. Law No. 21,435 declares glaciers a public good and mandates their monitoring, but it leaves significant gaps regarding threats and impacts that could affect them due to economic and industrial activities and global warming. In the north and center of the country, where few glaciers are in protected areas, the level of vulnerability is extreme.
As Bárbara Hernández said at the commemorative event: "Those who interact with nature have a responsibility to make its fragility visible." Her swims in Patagonian glaciers, where she faces temperatures as low as 0.5°C, are not just athletic feats; they are acts of awareness and a testament to her commitment to these ecosystems.
This is why the International Year of Glacier Conservation is a call to action, education, and legislation. It is a call to join forces, from scientists to community members. It is a call to make conservation and care a way of life because every piece of ice that melts also represents a piece of the future lost.
Water, glaciers, and life are interconnected, and their future depends on our ability to protect them. The time to act is now.
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