Environmental Degradation and Vegetal Performance in Atacama Salt Flat
Yinuo Wang
Vegetation serves several critical functions in the biosphere at all spatial scales, and it is one of the main elements in nature (Michael, 2006). The Atacama Desert, in northern Chile, is the driest desert on earth, and it is also where the world's largest Lithium extraction site is located. With the development of the mining industry and community construction, there were adverse changes in the Atacama Salt Flat (ASF), such as environmental degradation pollution and limited access to the old pastoral territory. Significant environmental degradation over the past 20 years, includes (1) decreased decline, (2) decreased trend of soil moisture, and (3) increased drought conditions in national reserve areas. Vegetation is one of the main elements affected by this, something that local people have identified for some time. My project consists of the constitution of a special environmental protection zone where a series of infrastructures to help vegetation growth will be implemented. The infrastructure of work by creating microclimates and promoting soil regeneration by slowing down floodwaters. The purpose of the proposal is to protect the environment against the environmental impacts resulting from the ongoing expansion of the lithium mining industry.
Intervention Plan