International agreements combined with the recent Chilean Forestry Policy (2015-2035) represent a challenge and an opportunity for forest landscape restoration in Chile. Nevertheless, restoring over 500,000 ha using mainly native species seems like a daunting task by 2035. Here, we discuss the three major bottlenecks that currently constrain the restoration efforts of forest ecosystems in Chile. First, Chile urgently needs a national strategic plan for forest landscape restoration, which should take into account mid-and long-term goals. There is also a need to prioritize resource allocation for efficient use, promoting the creation of economic subsidies for restoration that consider different types of forest ecosystems. Second, there is a great need for better nursery protocols in plant production as well as to strengthen educational programs for professional and technical training, given the lack of high-quality personnel in Chilean nurseries. This would help increase the currently limited national plant supply, improving quality and increasing the diversity of native species suitable for forest restoration. Lastly, taking advantage of novel eco-technological tools and promoting innovative plantation design would help to overcome the usually deficient results in the establishment phase, leading to higher survival rates and promoting better performance of native species. Beyond current experiments that are relatively efficient on a small spatial scale, the practice of forest restoration needs to become massive and successful at a landscape scale. More and better applied research is crucial for improving the impact of forest landscape restoration, so that Chile can achieve its forest restoration challenge in the next decade.

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Facing rapid loss of biodiversity as a consequence of climate change, Chile has formally pledged to restore 600,000 ha of native forest by 2035. This effort, however, has not considered the amount and quality of native plants required to meet this pledge. Thus, we examined data collected during the annual, government-conducted census of small- and medium-sized nurseries from central Chile, which account for 78% of the nation’s total plant production, to assess if current production is sufficient to meet Chile´s restoration needs. We coupled this with data collected during our series of ongoing research projects to determine if nurseries are currently meeting minimum seedling quality standards based on morpho-physiological attributes. Our four-year analysis (2016–2019) shows that the number of native seedlings has increased by only 4%, but because only 19% of nursery managers have training, just 29% of all seedlings meet quality criteria for restoration. Thus, under the current rate and quality of plant production, meeting restoration pledges desired by the year 2035 would not be achieved until 2181. This timeline can be accelerated through an urgent expansion of nursery space, implementation of a continuous program for technology and knowledge transference, and strong support through governmental policies.

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Efecto de la concentración de nitrógeno sobre atributos morfológicos, potencial de crecimiento radical y estatus nutricional en plantas de Eucalyptus globulus producidas a raíz cubierta RESUMENSe evaluó el efecto de la aplicación de cuatro concentraciones de nitrógeno (50, 100, 150 y 200 mg L -1 ) sobre atributos morfológicos, potencial de crecimiento radical y estatus nutricional de plantas de Eucalyptus globulus producidas a raíz cubierta. La frecuencia de aplicación fue semanal, manteniendo constantes los niveles de los otros macroelementos. Además, se consideró un esquema de riego al 20% de disminución de pérdida de peso de bandeja. Las variables altura de planta y área foliar alcanzaron su máximo valor al fertilizar con 200 mg L -1 , mientras que para el diámetro de cuello y número de raíces nuevas los valores obtenidos no difieren estadísticamente al fertilizar con concentraciones de 150 y 200 mg L -1 . Para el rango de concentraciones ensayadas se concluye que los mejores resultados se obtienen al fertilizar con 200 mg L -1 , ya que produce plantas con un mayor potencial de crecimiento radical y mejores atributos morfológicos, siendo la única desventaja los bajos niveles de nitrógeno foliar obtenidos al finalizar el ensayo.Palabras clave: Eucalyptus globulus, fertilización nitrogenada, estatus nutricional, atributos morfológicos.