Abstract

This paper examines the relationship between Huilo-Huilo Biological Reserve and the villages of Neltume and Puerto Fuy, located at the northwestern edge of the Municipality of Panguipulli in Southern Chile. This private reserve was created in 1994 and, besides being an important area of environmental conservation that includes about 100,000 hectares of Patagonian forest, has also been positioned as an outstanding development project based on sustainable ecological tourism. The results of our study show new forms of social exclusion and inequality derived from the process of land grabbing and tourism expansion in Neltume and Puerto Fuy. Considering the findings, we concluded that this form of green hoarding not only reflects a monopolistic commodification over nature; it also has repercussions on the production of knowledge and the configuration of new identities according to the interests of the Huilo-Huilo enterprise.