Atacama desert, a unique ecosystem that has become the world’s garbage can

The Atacama Desert in northern Chile is a receptacle for tons of used clothing, as well as cars and tires from around the world, threatening its unique ecosystem. Tons of clothes are dumped on the arid hillsides surrounding the municipality of Alto Hospisio, in the Tarapaca region, about 1,800 km north of Santiago. In the neighboring city of Iquique, thousands of dismantled vehicles from the US, Japan or Korea pile up, while elsewhere in this more than 100,000 km² desert, the landscape is disfigured by hundreds of tires.

For over forty years, Chili has specialized in the trade of used clothing, between consumer discarded clothing, destocking and charity work from around the world. According to Chile’s customs, in 2021, about 46,285 tons of used clothes entered the country. Clothes, like cars, enter through the free zone of the port of Iquique. They are intended for the market in Chile or other Latin American countries. Most of the cars are re-exported to Peru, Bolivia or Paraguay. However, many end up on the streets of Iquique or on the surrounding hillsides.

More than half of the clothing and footwear produced, at low cost and on the chain, mostly in Asia, ends up scattered in the desert due to regional congestion. Periodically, the landfills of these places are set on fire to reduce nuisances, producing thick clouds of toxic smoke. “These fires are very toxic because of the plastic that comes out of them.“AFP said lawyer Pauline Silva, who filed a complaint against the Chilean state in an environmental court in March.

“Environmental risk”

Originally from Iquique, Me Silva condemns, in particular, the passivity of the state in front of these dumps, which he assures are “environmental risk“and”a threat to human health“. Although considered one of the world’s driest deserts, with some areas receiving less than 20 millimeters of rain per year, the Atacama is home to a unique ecosystem. In its driest part, near the coastal city of Antofagasta, scientists, including Chilean biologist Cristina Dorador, have discovered extreme life forms: microorganisms that can live almost without water or nutrients despite sunlight. They believe that these microorganisms may hold the secrets of evolution and survival on earth, but also on other planets.

In some areas near the coast, fog allows vegetation and vertebrates to thrive, explains Pablo Guerrero, professor of botany at the University of Concepcion and researcher at the Institute of Ecology and Biodiversity (IEB). “The existence of life in these places is, in a sense, a random event.“, he notes, referring to the region where the ecosystem is located.very fragile“. “Any change or decrease in the rain and fog regime immediately affects the species that live there.“.

Extinct species of cacti

Dozens of purple-dominant flower species bloom when rainfall is above average. Their seeds, buried beneath the sand, can survive for decades, waiting for minimal water to germinate and then flower. Due to climate change, as well as pollution and urban development, some species of cactus have disappeared. “Unfortunately, this is a phenomenon that we have been seeing on a large scale and systematically worsening in recent years.says Mr. Guerrero.

The vast majority of people think of the Atacama Desert as just that.”barren hills“where”mining sitelaments Carmen Serrano, president of the environmental organization Raices Endémicas. This vast expanse, sometimes rocky, sometimes sandy, is home to the world’s largest copper mines as well as lithium mines, two activities that consume a lot of groundwater.