Rodrigo A. Estevez

Artificial light at night (ALAN) is an expanding environmental pressure in urban areas, yet effective mitigation depends on public support. We investigated how residents of two Chilean coastal cities perceive ALAN, its impacts and potential mitigation measures. Respondents demonstrated asymmetric environmental literacy, recognising the societal benefits of lighting while showing limited awareness of its ecological consequences, particularly for coastal-marine ecosystems. Support for mitigation depended on preserving valued social benefits, with greater environmental literacy associated with stronger acceptance of mitigation measures. Findings suggest that perceptions of safety, aesthetic value and institutional responsibility shape policy acceptance, highlighting the need to balance nature conservation with societal objectives. Rather than viewing ALAN as a technical lighting issue, we frame it as a social–ecological governance challenge. We argue that successful ALAN mitigation will require integrating environmental education, participatory decision-making and collaborative governance to achieve lighting policies that are both publicly acceptable and ecologically effective.

Marine energies can reduce carbon emissions, diversify energy supply, and improve energy security worldwide. However, no form of energy generation is without a social and environmental impact, and these impacts can lead to tension and conflict between governments, energy providers, and communities. Understanding heterogeneity in public preferences towards marine energy is critical to formulating appropriate policies and targeted development strategies. This study used a choice experiment with the Chilean public to elicit preferences and evaluate critical attributes of marine energy projects. Through a best-worst scaling (BWS) methodology, respondents indicated which aspect of marine energy installations they considered most and least important. Data were analyzed using a scale adjusted latent class model. Using data from 1,200 respondents, five preference classes and two scale classes were identified. The two largest preference groups have markedly different preferences. The first preference class is mainly concerned about impacts on marine fauna. Individuals in this group are more likely to be younger, have higher incomes and higher education levels compared to the sample average. The second preference class is most concerned about the cost of energy supply. Individuals in this group are older, less wealthy, and have lower education levels compared to the sample average. Results also show high levels of public distrust in both energy companies and government energy institutions, highlighting the need to shift from “consultation” to binding in early-stage public participation in marine energy development. Our approach and results are relevant to other areas transitioning to renewable energy matrices that need to design sustainable and acceptable marine energy systems.

Agricultural intensification and the widespread use of pesticides have exerted long-term pressures on honey bees, negatively affecting their survival, abundance, and immunity. Understanding the perceptions of beekeepers and farmers is essential to identify collaborative actions and assess whether existing regulations provide adequate protection for bee health. Laws and regulations play a crucial role in managing apicultural health risks; however, their effectiveness depends on how well they align with ecological realities and policy objectives. This study investigates whether Chile’s regulatory frameworks provide sufficient protection for honey bees by identifying key gaps and opportunities, particularly regarding pesticide use in agriculture. A mixed-methods analysis was applied to a sample of beekeepers from southern Chile—considering variables such as gender, education level, and regulatory awareness—and complemented with a review of legal documents and semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders. Findings show that although Law No. 21,489 represents an important step toward formalizing beekeeping and reducing pesticide-related risks, its scope remains limited by weak enforcement capacity, scarce institutional resources, and insufficient regulation of systemic pesticides. Strengthening environmental governance and updating the regulatory framework through greater inter-institutional coordination, beekeeper participation, and effective control mechanisms are essential to reconcile agricultural production with pollinator conservation and ecosystem sustainability.

High Andean salares and their surrounding basins host unique ecosystems and rich biodiversity. Increasing global demand for lithium and brines in these environments have attracted significant international investment, raising both economic expectations and socio-environmental concerns. This poses major challenges for biodiversity conservation, governance models, and the management of socio-environmental conflicts. One of the main challenges for effective conservation is the lack of systematic biodiversity inventories and an integrated conservation diagnosis. In this study, we leverage range–diversity plot analysis to describe the patterns of biological diversity and species distribution in High Andean salares. We then integrate this information with estimates of available suitable habitat area and degree of human pressure, to categorize the priorities for the salt flats. Our results show that many salt flats serve as biodiversity hotspots, dominated by species with wide distribution ranges. A significant number of salt flats host rare species, indicating the necessity for focused conservation initiatives. The studied salt flats warrant prioritisation for restoration, protection, and the enhancement of public policies and social awareness initiatives. Current conservation strategies should be consistent with the Network of Protected Salt Flats as outlined in the National Lithium Strategy, thereby enhancing socio-environmental governance in these delicate socio-ecosystems.

The artisanal fishing sector in Chile faces a confluence of stressors that threaten its sustainability and the livelihoods of those depend on it. Foremost among these are the impacts of the El Niño phenomenon, illegal fishing, fluctuations in public fisheries policies, market volatility, and resources overexploitation. This study analysis the adaptive mechanisms and biographical trajectories of artisanal fishers in central-northern Chile, examining how these communities have navigated socio-ecological transformations over the past 40 years amid both climatic and anthropogenic changes. Using a qualitative research approach, we conducted 70 in-depth interviews with artisanal fishers from the region. The findings reveal a complex adaptive landscape in which individual-level responses, particularly learning and agency, play a pivotal role. Informal, intergenerational knowledge transfer among fishers fosters resilience and supports adaptation to the dynamic socio-ecological conditions inherent to artisanal fishing practices. Moreover, elevated levels of agency empower fishers to actively respond to and address the various changes impacting their daily lives.At the collective level, action spaces—such as local unions and cooperatives—play a crucial role in enabling long-term adaptation. These spaces facilitate multiple mechanisms, including the acquisition of territorial rights, productive rationalization, enhancement of organizational legitimacy, and the negotiation of access to economic resources and essential services. Additionally, engagement with governmental institutions has fostered critical linkages, expanding these organizations' capacity to channel public resources, which strengthens the broader social and economic fabric of coastal communities. However, these adaptive processes also give rise to new social stratifications characterized by dynamics of inclusion and exclusion based on organizational membership with territorial rights. Gender-based stratifications have also emerged, frequently marginalizing women from decision-making roles and resulting in disparities in resource access and opportunities.The findings highlight the importance of recognizing diverse adaptive mechanisms within socio-ecologically vulnerable communities, illustrating how both informal knowledge systems and collective structures bolster resilience against long-term socio-ecological pressures. Understanding these adaptive responses has crucial implications for developing governance frameworks that reinforce community-led strategies. Policies aimed at supporting the resilience of artisanal fishing communities must tackle the intertwined challenges of inclusion and stratification, ensuring equitable resource access while fostering sustainable fishing practices. This research advances the field of marine governance by demonstrating the pivotal role of informal, community-based adaptation strategies and provides insights for enhancing coastal community resilience amid global environmental and economic shifts.

Notably, 56 worldwide experts gathered for the Antimicrobial Assessment on Global Aquaculture Production (AGAP) series of workshops to (1) evaluate the current state of knowledge on antimicrobial use and identify existing gaps; (2) formulate strategies to identify ecologically relevant impact indicators and establish thresholds for assessment; (3) identify pivotal socioeconomic factors and effective governance mechanisms essential for implementing monitoring practices in aquaculture and extending them across sectors and countries for aquaculture sustainability; (4) develop pathways to enhance our comprehension between antibiotic use in aquaculture and antimicrobial resistance; and (5) explore potential antibiotic monitoring tools that can be universally adapted and implemented across region and sectors. The main outcomes were a roadmap for establishing investigation priorities on the relevant topics regarding antibiotic use in aquaculture, socioeconomic drivers for using antibiotics and behaviors that need more robust and transparent regulatory frameworks to guide farmers, training on antimicrobial use, and access to veterinarians and extension services agents for education. Overall, the workshop evidenced the power of collaboration in addressing complex global challenges to achieve sustainable aquaculture. Despite diligent efforts, some constraints may have inadvertently narrowed the possibility of having more experts and left some pertinent topics unaddressed, but they are needed in the discussion.

Conservation triage is an evolving strategy designed to allocate limited resources to address pressures that require urgent actions due to their consequences on biodiversity and essential ecosystem services for human well‐being. This perspective proposes a structured, ethical and inclusive conservation triage‐based framework for efficiently addressing socio‐ecological requirements in biodiversity conservation, leveraging limited resources. Based on three main pillars—conservation planning, policy and governance and co‐production of knowledge—our goal is to promote conservation triage as a pragmatic and comprehensive approach. We explore the application of conservation triage principles in Chile, following the recent establishment of the Conservation and Human Well‐being programme, a science‐based initiative promoting the conservation of Chile's unique biodiversity and informing the development of conservation policies. Synthesis and applications. This perspective offers guidance to scientists and practitioners on how to prioritize conservation efforts while taking resource constraints into account when navigating conservation triage. It emphasizes how crucial it is to integrate ethical issues, fostering a decision‐making process enriched by diverse perspectives and collaborative knowledge co‐production. Through the alignment of strategic resource allocation with socio‐ecological aspects, this approach offers insights for developing equitable and well‐balanced conservation outcomes that are transferable to other geographical and environmental settings.

Chile has a relatively long history of monitoring and managing large-scale commercial fish stocks. However, many other small-scale fisheries, particularly those operating in estuaries, usually lack basic fisheries and biological information. International experience indicates that a monitoring system designed for large-scale stocks cannot simply be resized to address the complexity, relatively low total economic value, and the large number of actors and supply chains in small-scale fisheries. This article proposes a strategy to monitor data-poor fisheries operating in estuaries. The striped mullet (Mugil cephalus), locally known as “lisa”, in the Rapel River, central Chile, was selected to establish a pilot monitoring program for small-scale fish resources. From May 2022 to May 2023, fisheries information, including fleet description, catch and effort data, and fish biological attributes such as length and weight, were collected and described for the first time in the region. Drawing insights from this case study, we propose developing a generic monitoring system tailored specifically for monitoring fish stocks in estuaries. This conceptualization is based on: i) change agents, who are individuals trained to work with both the social and biological dimensions of each coastal fish stock; ii) experienced fisheries scientists outside government agencies; and iii) local fishers' knowledge to provide constant feedback for adapting temporal and spatial scales for monitoring. This monitoring scheme is cost-effective and can be efficiently replicated in other estuarine fisheries in Chile.