History of the Reserve

Inside the Patagonian jungle Neltume is located, a timber town located in a mountain setting of great natural beauty. Its name derives from Mapudungun and means "Go to Freedom" (Neltún: set free, Men: go there). In this area of ​​the mountain rage there is no Chilean or foreign presence until 1870.

By the late nineteenth century the city of Valdivia was in continuous development, which led to a significant increase in the levels of the population, to meet its needs the exploitation of forests began to be a vital economic resource.

So in 1898 the first forestry company of Neltume was founded. Neltume is one of those towns that begin to sustain with this activity. In 1942, the company installed a plywood plant for native wood and later a subsidiary for the manufacture of doors and windows. The town of Neltume begins to grow and provides jobs to nearly 500 people. Notable is the construction of a runway where in the years of the 50is planes from the former South Lipa airline landed, a company that counted among its pilots the Chilean aviation pioneer, Margot Duhalde.

The first school of this town was called "Factory Neltume" current "St. Francis of Assisi". In 1983, the countyside school "Tierra Esperanza" (Earth Hope) was founded. In the early seventies, as a result of various acts of violence that caused the government expropriated the fields, collecting them in one company: Forestry and Wood Complex Panguipulli, reporting to CORFO. This complex eventually grew to more than 3,600 workers in an area of ​​360,000 hectares and sawmills throughout the mountain range of Valdivia. In 1973, the administration radically changed the way they work by privatizing the fields and therefore the future of the area.

About ten years ago began the project of a private nature reserve in the area was developed, an area of ​​60,000 hectares of forest Valdivia, with natural hot springs, unexplored lakes and direct access from the town up to the volcano Choshuenco Mocho. This brought a new way how to see the forest, supporting the conversion of people from a destination made by wood to a vision of conservation and sustainability.

With the start of the project Huilo Huilo begins a new era for the area that is based on the beauty of its landscapes, the value of its flora and fauna and especially its magnificent native forest with a new look that made the Neltume inhabitants relove themselves, who are known for their warm reception and entrepreneurship, slowly achieving a restructuring process.

Finally, Huilo Huilo acquires timber in the creek area north of Lake Pirehueico approximately 40,000 ha, with the aim of annexing the territory of the reserve, through a land use plan under study.

Sources:

• Guerrilla Neltume Neltume Committee Report.September Stock, Editorial LOM, 2003
• Neltume Forest Development, State and Workers (1924-1990), Ricardo C.S. Rivas
• Thesis for the title of Professor of History, Geography and Civic Education and a BA in History. Universidad Austral de Chile, Faculty of Philosophy and Humanities, 2006.
• Coz Coz Parliament, Aurelio Díaz Meza. Intercultural Health Commission, Panguipulli Municipal Corporation, Health Division, 2005.
• Institutional Educational Project (PEI), Municipal Coorporación Panguipulli.Earth School Neltume expectancy, 2007.
• Conama 2003

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