A technical and legal assessment that comes before any of the strategies below. We assess your land before any earthworks and give you a water, topographic and botanical feasibility report, with an eco-social view that treats your own requirements as a central input.
We recommend it if you are thinking of buying land, about to start building or want to apply for sustainable projects, and need expert guidance before you invest.
Large properties
Ecological restoration
It seeks to recreate the exact ecosystem that nature put in that place: bringing back, for instance, a native coastal sclerophyll forest after a fire, with all its flora and fauna.
What is it?
The technical process of giving the land back its original, historical native vegetation, the vegetation that was there before human intervention. We rebuild the native coastal forest or scrub with its exact species.
Ask for it if
You have a ravine, a damaged native forest or a private conservation area on your property, and you want to give it back its biodiversity and its real ecological value.
Ecological rehabilitation
Its main aim is for the land to become environmentally functional and productive again, even if its composition changes: replanting an eroded ravine so that it holds water and mudslides stop, without necessarily using the exact species of the original forest.
What is it?
A fast technical intervention to heal land that is suffering serious damage. We focus on restoring its vital functions straight away, such as stopping erosion or quickly bringing moisture back into the soil.
Ask for it if
Your land has very dry soil, has been damaged by livestock, eroded by the wind or has critical problems that stop plants from growing.
Rewilding
Rewilding is the final step after rehabilitation and restoration. Its goal is not only to recover the landscape but to give nature back its autonomy so that it can sustain itself, mainly through the return of key fauna.
Three critical phases
To get there, the work starts with three phases:
- Threat control. Human pressures are removed, livestock fencing comes down and invasive exotic species are strictly controlled.
- Connectivity and habitat. Patches of native vegetation —using pioneer plants— and watercourses are restored to create biological corridors that offer shelter and food.
- Reintroducing “ecosystem engineers”. The key species that shape the landscape come back, such as those that disperse seeds and keep scrub in check or those that regulate populations, and with them the land's natural balance.
Real Right of Conservation
It lets a private landowner take long-term measures to protect the ecology, landscape, culture, history and sustainability of their land, while still owning it, living on it, enjoying it, selling it or leaving it to their heirs.
It is especially useful when a property owner wants to secure, in law, the environmental conservation of the land —or part of it— even against future owners.
What is it?
A real right, governed by Law No. 20,930 —published on 25 June 2016—, consisting of the power to conserve the environmental heritage of a property, or only certain attributes or functions of it.
The owner grants it, freely and voluntarily, in favour of a natural or legal person, public or private, who becomes its holder. It is a right separate from ownership: the land is still yours.
Put simply: you remain the owner, but you accept that an independent right exists over your property whose purpose is to keep certain environmental conditions in place.
What is it for?
So that the conservation of a piece of land does not depend on the goodwill of whoever holds it at any given time. A personal intention —“this forest is not to be touched”— becomes a registered encumbrance that stays with the property.
The law makes it inseparable from the property, transferable and inheritable: if the land is sold or inherited, the right remains and binds the new owner. It lasts indefinitely unless the parties agree on a term.
The holder is the one who makes sure it is honoured, and the law does not allow the owner to prevent or obstruct that.
What can it establish?
The contract has to set at least one of these three things:
- Restrict or prohibit uses: that the property, or part of it, is not used for real estate, commercial, tourism, industrial, agricultural, forestry or other defined purposes.
- Require care: taking charge —or hiring someone— for the upkeep, cleaning, decontamination, repair, safeguarding or administration of the land.
- Require management: carrying out or supervising an agreed management plan, for sustainable use of its natural resources.
Whatever is agreed has to be specific. The law voids contracts with generic encumbrances, or ones that merely require compliance with rules that already exist. A DRC that says “conserve the surroundings” protects nothing.
Why we usually recommend it
- Long-term protection. It secures the conservation of the property in law, even after it is sold or inherited.
- It is flexible. It can cover the whole property or only part of it, and the restrictions are designed around the characteristics of the land.
- It protects specific attributes: forest, landscape, biodiversity, watercourses, ecological corridors.
- It survives a change of owner. It is far more solid than a simple contractual commitment to conservation.
- It sets out in advance which activities are allowed and which are restricted.
- It may carry a tax benefit if donated to a registered non-profit recipient, indefinitely or for at least 20 years.
Real uses
Some of the ways it is used in Chile today:
- Protect one part, live on or farm the rest: a forest, a ravine, a wetland or a riverbank is encumbered, and the rest of the property stays available to live on, grow crops or build.
- Secure a legacy: so that what a family has conserved for years stays conserved when the land is inherited or sold.
- Agreements with conservation organisations: foundations that act as holders, oversee compliance and contribute management know-how.
- Company commitments on land they own, with an outside holder guaranteeing that what was agreed is honoured.
- Donations with a tax benefit, when the requirements of the donations law are met.
How is it set up?
By public deed, signed by the owner and by the holder. The contract has to identify both, identify the property with its boundaries, state whether it is free of charge or for consideration, set out the encumbrances and their duration, and carry an attached plan signed by the parties showing the property or the part that is encumbered.
It takes effect from its registration in the Mortgages and Encumbrances Register of the property registry, the Conservador de Bienes Raíces, which must be requested within 60 calendar days of signing.
That plan is where the survey comes in. The protected area has to be drawn with its boundaries, and whatever is not properly delimited on the plan is hard to defend later.
Donating it with a tax benefit
The law on donations to non-profits, as amended by Law No. 21,713, has its own rules for the DRC:
- It is donated to a non-profit entity entered in the public register of recipients.
- It has to be indefinite or for at least 20 years. Below that term there is no benefit at all.
- Only the part of the property that is encumbered is valued, never above its market value, and always with an independent expert report.
- In perpetuity or for 100 years or more, the benefit is calculated on the full value; for a shorter term, in proportion to that term.
- The benefit lowers the tax cost basis of the property. And if the right ends before the donated term, the share of the benefit corresponding to the time left is treated as income in the year it ends.
What it is not, and worth knowing
It does not transfer or expropriate the property. The land remains the owner's, with the restrictions they agreed to.
It does not turn a subdivision into conservation on its own. In recent years it has also been used as a selling point in plot subdivisions. What separates a serious DRC from a label is that what it protects is specific, that the area is properly delimited and that the holder has the means to enforce it.
It is not untouchable. Real rights created earlier —a prior mortgage, for example— take precedence over it, and if that mortgage is enforced the DRC may be extinguished. It also ends with the expropriation of the property and, unless otherwise agreed, if the legal entity holding it is dissolved.
How we draft and register it: Setting up a Real Right of Conservation
Restoration or rehabilitation: the difference
Both are recovery strategies, but they do not aim at the same thing. The underlying difference is the end state you want the ecosystem to reach.
- Main goal
- Ecological restorationBring back the original or historical condition of the native ecosystem, as it was before the disturbance.
- Ecological rehabilitationBring back ecosystem functions and services, even if the final composition is not identical to the original.
- Species approach
- Ecological restorationRequires strict use of the native and endemic species that belonged to the site before the damage.
- Ecological rehabilitationAllows native species to be mixed with others that are not, as long as they play a functional role.
- Ecosystem integrity
- Ecological restorationAims to rebuild the whole structure: flora, fauna, microbes and soil health.
- Ecological rehabilitationFocuses on solving critical problems, such as stopping soil erosion or restoring the water cycle.
- Complexity and time
- Ecological restorationA long-term process, more complex and under strict adaptive management.
- Ecological rehabilitationA shorter, faster process, designed for human uses or to mitigate direct damage.
Smaller properties
Environmental valuation of your land
An ecosystem assessment before you sell: we help owners and estate agents raise the value of their land and shorten the time it takes to sell.
Many buyers look at a plot full of vegetation and only think about what it will cost to clear or level it. We turn the nature the land already has into its biggest selling point: a piece of untouched land presented as an ecological, intelligent project ready to live in, clearly set apart from the competition.
What does it involve?
We deliver a technical and visual report designed for the buyer, which includes:
- Optimal ecological zoning. We identify the best areas to build, with views and liveability, without spoiling the surroundings or the native flora.
- Integrated landscape engineering. Water management, microclimate design and soil management strategies that translate into direct savings on civil works for the future owner.
- Visual masterplan. A conceptual sketch so the buyer can see and picture the land's real potential from the first visit.
If you are the owner
- Protect your investment. Do not sell your property short: back the price with technical data.
- Sell faster. Attract committed buyers looking for sustainable projects that are ready to go.
- Negotiate less. When you already provide building and water solutions, you take apart the usual arguments for a lower price.
If you are an estate agency
- Exclusivity and differentiation. Raise the standard of your portfolio against other agencies in the area.
- Easier closing. Show the land with a visual masterplan that wins the client over from the first meeting.
- Higher commissions. If the final value of the property goes up, so does your commission.
How do we start?
If you have not closed the sale yet and want to get the most out of your property, the process is simple:
- On-site assessment. We visit the property to analyse its topography, water and pioneer vegetation.
- Building the assessment. We prepare the technical report and the visual masterplan, in clear commercial language.
- Handing over the sales kit. You receive the digital and printed material, ready for your listings and guided visits.
Technical gardening
Specialised services for Curanipe, Pelluhue, Buchupureo and the surrounding area, with complete solutions built around the coastal climate, sustainability and functional design. Choose the one that best suits your land.
Service 1 · Guided technical gardening session
An intensive three-and-a-half-hour session on site, co-led by a professional landscape designer, to transform the health, structure and look of your garden in a single morning or afternoon. It is not basic upkeep: it is specialised technical work.
What we do during the session
- Professional pruning: formative and remedial pruning of shrubs, fruit trees and coastal trees.
- Precision mowing: done with the utmost care so as not to damage the plants already established on the land.
- Strategic transplanting: safely moving species to areas with better soil and effective protection from the sea wind.
- Sustainable approach: the work is guided by permaculture principles, low water use, erosion management, living fence design and agroforestry.
The added value: the landscape designer makes decisions on the spot. If the garden needs it, the session is redirected towards a new layout and redesign of the space, to improve the visual harmony and function of the landscape, at no extra cost.
Price · Technical gardening session
Includes the three and a half hours of service, professional tools and pruning supplies.
| Area | Base rate | Travel | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pelluhue / Curanipe | USD 90 | No charge | USD 90 |
| Pullay | USD 90 | USD 11 | USD 101 |
| Buchupureo | USD 90 | USD 16 | USD 106 |
Shown in US dollars for guidance, converted at CLP 945 to the dollar (reference rate, July 2026). Services are quoted and invoiced in Chilean pesos.
Service 2 · On-site landscape advice and redesign
A strategic half-day session on site to assess, rethink and plan the full aesthetic and environmental potential of your property. Ideal if you have just bought land or want to renew your garden completely.
What we do during the visit
- Reading the landscape: we analyse sun exposure, the strength of the sea wind, soil quality and the state of the existing vegetation.
- Reorganisation assessment: which elements to keep, which to move —the pioneer plants— and how to structure the spaces for better circulation.
- Co-design: we connect your ideas with technical solutions suited to the coastal climate.
What you receive: a couple of days later, a digital technical report summarising what we observed, the suggested zoning and the recommended planting palette.
Price · Advice and redesign
Includes the half-day visit and the technical report afterwards.
| Area | Base rate | Travel | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pelluhue / Curanipe | USD 127 | No charge | USD 127 |
| Pullay | USD 127 | USD 11 | USD 138 |
| Buchupureo | USD 127 | USD 16 | USD 143 |
Shown in US dollars for guidance, converted at CLP 945 to the dollar (reference rate, July 2026). Services are quoted and invoiced in Chilean pesos.
Immediate work module: you can turn this visit into a mixed session by adding USD 63, to carry out the priority tasks on the spot: urgent transplants or structural pruning.
What comes next
A consultancy is rarely a standalone commission: it almost always turns up alongside other decisions about the site.
- Land survey Measuring the site before intervening: area, slopes, water and access.
- Property master planning Where each use goes, so that what gets built does not clash with what is being restored.
- Functional landscape A landscape that, as well as looking good, produces, protects and regenerates.
- Firescaping Where the property borders forest, the ground around the house is designed to slow the spread of fire.
None of it has to be decided now. But if you are going to work on a piece of land, it helps to know from the start what you intend to do with it.