Mataquito-Huenchullamí

The Mataquito-Huenchullamí WHSRN Site covers approximately 2,091 acres (846 hectares) and is located in the communes of Licantén and Curepto, in the provinces of Curicó and Talca, respectively, in Chile´s Maule Region. It is a territory between the mouths of the Mataquito and Huenchullamí rivers that includes an extensive sandy beach about 9.3 miles (15 kilometers) long, dunes, and wetlands of different sizes. 

Part of the area has been internationally recognized as Key Biodiversity Area (KBA), key site in the Pacific Americas Shorebird Conservation Strategy and Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA).

The site has records of 146 species of resident and migratory birds, representing almost 30% of the country’s total bird diversity. It is also a spawning ground for fish such as Fine Flounder (Paralichthys adspersus), Patagonian Blennie (Eleginops maclovinus), and Corvina (Cilus gilberti).

At least 26 species of shorebirds have been recorded at the site. Species such as the American Oystercatcher (Haematopus palliatus), Snowy Plover (Anarhynchus nivosus) and Southern Lapwing (Vanellus chilensis) complete their life cycle on beaches, dunes and wetlands in Mataquito-Huenchullamí. In addition, different migratory Austral and Nearctic shorebirds, such as the Rufous-Chested Dotterel (Zonibyx modestus), Two-Banded Plover (A. falklandicus), Whimbrel (Numenius phaeopus) and Sanderling (Calidris alba), among others, make use of these ecosystems in their post-breeding periods. 

The designation of Mataquito-Huenchullamí as a site of Regional Importance of the Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network is based on the presence of at least 1% of the biogeographic population of the American Oystercatcher (H. palliatus pitanay). Information available on the eBird platform, and gathered through different monitoring schemes, shows that the site has hosted up to 1.7% of the population of the pitanay subspecies in the last decade and at least 1.4% at present. 

The human community have occupations range from tourism services such as lodging and restaurants, to traditional activities such as fishing and industrial activities such as forestry. Agriculture and livestock farming are also important in the area. 

During the summer season, the population increases considerably on the coast, as Mataquito-Huenchullamí and adjacent areas are sun and beach tourism spots, and favorite seaside places for the inhabitants of the Maule Region and other areas of Chile.

The municipalities managing this territory have shown great environmental vocation, promoting various initiatives for the conservation of coastal ecosystems, such as the installation of signs, control operations for free-ranging dogs, and the creation of municipal ordinances for wetland conservation. In this regard, there is currently an Intercommunal Wetlands Committee that includes government offices, municipalities, unions, and civil society organizations.

Thanks to volunteer work, ROC has sustained different monitoring schemes in the area.  At least three of them are carried out annually, the most long-standing being the Neotropical Waterbird Census, which is coordinated internationally by Wetlands International and by the ROC in Chile. These surveys have been conducted biannually since 2009 in the case of the Mataquito River and since 2011 in the case of the Huenchullamí River, covering sections of the mouth, estuary, beaches, and dunes.

In February 2014 ROC implemented collaborative shorebird surveys between Arica and the south of Chiloé Island to identify sites of importance for shorebirds and estimate their populations. The results were published in 2017 in the “Atlas de las Aves Playeras de Chile: Sitios Importantes para su Conservación”, in which the Mataquito River is considered as a site of importance,  due to the presence of five important species: Whimbrel (N. phaeopus), Southern Lapwing (V. chilensis), Black-Necked Stilt (Himantopus mexicanus), Lesser Yellowlegs (Tringa flavipes) and American Oystercatcher (H. palliatus).

During 2019, through collaborative efforts between Agrupación Defensa y Conservación Maule-Mataquito and ROC, the breeding activity of the American Oystercatcher and the Snowy Plover was monitored in La Trinchera beach and Huenchullamí river mouth in the context of the Red para la Protección de las Aves Playeras – RPAP (Network for the Protection of Shorebirds).

Likewise, since 2021, ROC has been implementing surveys within the Migratory Shorebird Project framework. These surveys are accompanied by the assessment of environmental factors that allow gathering data sets to evaluate impacts on shorebirds due to habitat loss, pollution, and climate change. 

In 2014, 2019, and 2024, the area was also part of the Coastal Shorebird Survey, simultaneous counts over a wide geographic area to clarify large-scale estimates of shorebird abundance and densities. 

Currently, this coastal zone in the Maule Region does not have official protection, which makes it more difficult to consolidate and project conservation efforts in the area over time. Among the main challenges for the area’s conservation are the regulation of different activities and threats, such as tourism, the presence of unsupervised dogs, vehicle traffic, and unregulated sports activities. 

In addition, the communities of Mataquito-Huenchullamí must ensure the sustainable development of the area’s economic activities, such as fishing, aquaculture, and tourism. 

Changes in temperature and precipitation regimes, as well as the increased prevalence of storm surges and other meteorological events have effects on the habitat and the state of the area’s ecosystems and become major challenges for shorebird breeding success in the area. 

Municipalities and civil society organizations have led various conservation actions. These include progress in the control of free-ranging dogs, installation of signs and beach cleaning. They have also undertaken environmental outreach campaigns in the press and local media, mural painting, and others. Since 2022, ROC and municipalities have been implementing a program of environmental monitors where monitors travel the beaches of Mataquito-Huenchullamí each summer, providing information to visitors about shorebirds, coastal ecosystems, and their importance for biodiversity and human communities.