Since 2016, Fundación Capital Azul has been leading an ambitious science-based program to establish TURF Reserves, non-extractive areas of around 15 hectares, which are inserted within the Benthic Resources Management and Exploitation Areas (AMERB, for its acronym in Spanish) managed by artisanal fishers unions.
This voluntary alliance makes it possible to combine use and conservation in the same system. Thanks to this program, fishers lead the conservation and restoration of marine-coastal ecosystems, strengthening at the same time the role that artisanal fishing plays in the sustainability of the ocean.
In its mission to create, together with artisanal fishers, the first network of TURF Reserves in Chile to increase biodiversity, revitalize local economies and scale environmental and community benefits, Capital Azul has managed to establish five TURF Reserves in the Valparaíso region, in central Chile: in La Polcura, Zapallar, Cachagua, Maitencillo and Ventanas.