ARAUCO highlights Cascada Hueima: first international certification as Mapuche cultural heritage

This is the first site in Chile certified by the Forest Stewardship Council FSC®, thanks to joint work between the forestry company and the Municipality of Lanco.

Through an initiative led by ARAUCO together with the Hueima indigenous community and the Municipality of Lanco, in the Los Ríos Region, Cascada Hueima achieved an important certification aimed at preserving the biodiversity, identity, and cultural value of the territory.

The certification was granted by the Forest Stewardship Council FSC®, a global nonprofit organization that promotes responsible forest management based on environmental, social, and economic criteria.

This initiative sets a valuable precedent for the forestry sector, as it is the first cultural ecosystem service certification awarded to a company in Chile and the second worldwide for a living memory site, broadening the traditional understanding of the benefits that forests and their ecosystems provide.

A NATURAL SITE WITH CULTURAL VALUE

In the case of Cascada Hueima, the site’s value goes beyond its natural dimension. For the local community, this territory is linked to the forest, water, teaching, and the transmission of ancestral knowledge.

In this case, the recognition falls under category SE 6, Cultural Practices and Values, specifically in the maintenance of ancestral cultural knowledge, practices, and language.

The certified area covers 1.9 hectares associated with the waterfall and its surroundings, enabling trails, viewpoints, informational panels, and signage in Mapudungun. Sensitive zones, usage rules, and measures were also defined to prevent visits from affecting the site’s spiritual character.

FSC® AND ECOSYSTEM SERVICES: A NEW WAY OF MEASURING IMPACT

According to information from the company, the Cascada Hueima site was submitted in late 2025 for certification as a High Cultural Conservation Value Area.

ARAUCO uses the FSC® Ecosystem Services Impact Verification procedure, a tool that demonstrates positive impacts generated in forests.

In addition to its forest management certification, FSC® has a tool to verify ecosystem services — that is, specific benefits that ecosystems provide to society.

Simply put, ecosystem services are the benefits that ecosystems provide to people and communities. These can include carbon capture, water regulation, biodiversity conservation, soil protection, recreational value, or cultural value.

Cascada Hueima stands out precisely for its potential as a cultural project verified under an international standard.

CULTURE, NATURE, AND TERRITORY

The initiative also connects with the work ARAUCO carries out through its Mapuche Program. In addition to Cascada Hueima, the company is working with the Lilcoco community on identifying and developing a cultural trail.

These projects share a common goal: to ensure that natural spaces are also understood as places of memory, identity, and community relationships.

In the case of Cascada Hueima, joint work with the indigenous community and the municipality is enabling progress toward shared management of the site’s cultural value, forming part of a sustainable strategy by ARAUCO linked to biodiversity and natural capital through its FSC® certification as a company.

This recognition shows how conservation can integrate biodiversity, ecosystem services, culture, local participation, and international standards. It also opens up a broader conversation about the role of forestry companies in territories where production, nature, communities, and history coexist.