From the temperate forests of Concepción to Aysén, the Darwin frog has become one of the first controversies faced by the new government. The withdrawal of nearly 50 environmental decrees from the Comptroller's Office not only sparked anger but also a widespread outcry from the public. "Progress cannot come at the cost of our natural heritage," said Evelyn Matthei, who joined a series of criticisms from civil society, the scientific community, and even some businesses regarding the government's actions.
The Ministry of the Environment had to provide explanations, stating that the withdrawal of decrees is a common procedure when a new administration takes over. The complaints were not in vain, and the Darwin frog became one of the first cases where the government responded urgently to community pressure by reintroducing the protection decree. This reintroduction, along with the fact that the Comptroller General of the Republic proceeded to process it, should not be seen as a gesture of political goodwill.
It is, let’s be clear, a victory of social pressure and citizen persistence. For those of us who have spent years in the field, tracking this unique and vulnerable amphibian, seeing how the decree was withdrawn months ago felt like institutional abandonment that practically sentenced a species to extinction due to sheer administrative negligence. The Rhinoderma darwinii is not only a symbol of our biodiversity or an evolutionary curiosity that amazes the world with its mouth-brooding; it is the most sensitive thermometer of the health of our temperate forests.
Its fragility is our own. What changed this time was not a sudden awakening of consciousness in the halls of ministries, but the deafening noise of a scientific and civil community that refused to accept silence as an answer. The reintroduction of the document to the Comptroller's Office demonstrates that when activism is based on evidence and indignation is channeled into institutional demands, the State has no choice but to rectify and start working in favor of natural heritage.
With the green light from the Comptroller's Office, the Recovery, Conservation, and Management Plan (Recoge) finally gai…
Today we celebrate that the Darwin frog has a stronger legal shield, but our work as guardians of the territory is just beginning, because nature does not understand bureaucratic timelines, but urgent actions. Nevertheless, this small victory leaves a bittersweet taste when we look towards our coasts, where the Humboldt penguin remains trapped in the limbo of state bureaucracy. It is deeply regrettable that, despite promises of protection, its conservation decree has not yet been reintroduced, leaving an emblematic species of our coastline exposed to constant threats without a current management plan to support it.
We will not let our guard down or cease to apply pressure, because environmental ethics cannot be negotiated in parts: if today we celebrate the triumph of the frog in the forest, tomorrow we will demand with the same strength that the State fulfill its outstanding debt with the sea and its inhabitants.