Chile is long and narrow — and that shape packs an unusual amount of the planet into one country. For courses in biology, environmental science, geography or sustainability, that means a single week can cover ecosystems that would normally take several trips to see.
88 of the world’s 110 ecosystem types
In 2022 an international team published in Nature the IUCN Global Ecosystem Typology, a classification of all of Earth’s ecosystems into 110 functional groups — from tropical rainforests to deep-sea vents. According to ecologist Patricio Pliscoff of the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, who took part in the research, 88 of those 110 ecosystem types are present in Chile. Few countries combine such a range of climates and geographic zones.
Central Chile is also part of the Chilean Winter Rainfall–Valdivian Forests, one of the world’s biodiversity hotspots: a region with a high share of endemic plants and a large part of its original vegetation already lost — which makes it a vivid place to talk about conservation.
What students can see within a day of Santiago
The Andes: mountains and water
In the Yerba Loca Nature Sanctuary, a protected Andean valley close to the capital, students can see how snow and mountain streams feed the rivers that reach the city, how altitude changes vegetation, and learn from local arrieros how people have lived and worked in these mountains. On clear nights, the dark sky adds astronomy to the list.
Mediterranean valleys
Central Chile has a Mediterranean-type climate — wet winters, dry summers — shared with only a few regions of the world. In the Maipo Valley, the river, the canyon and the farmland make the link between geography, water and agriculture easy to see.
A forest fed by fog
Above the bay of Zapallar, Parque El Boldo protects a relict coastal forest that survives in part thanks to fog rolling in from the Pacific — a living example of how climate, landscape and vegetation interact.
The Humboldt Current
The cold Humboldt Current runs along Chile’s coast and drives one of the most productive marine systems on Earth. At Isla Cachagua, a protected natural monument, students observe a colony of Humboldt penguins from the boat — with no landing — and talk about seabirds, marine ecosystems and conservation. In the water at Las Cujas, a supervised snorkel shows the coastal marine environment up close.
Wetlands and dunes
At Ritoque, a horseback route crosses coastal forest, wetland and sand dunes before reaching the beach: four coastal environments in a single afternoon.
Turning it into course content
- Biology and ecology: compare mountain, valley, forest and marine communities; endemism and hotspots.
- Environmental science: water systems from the Andes to the city; protected areas and how they work.
- Geography: how the Andes, the Coastal Range and the Humboldt Current shape climate and settlement.
- Sustainability: agriculture, tourism and conservation pressures — and what individuals can do.
We close every program with a small, symbolic gesture: each student plants a native tree in central Chile. It is not a carbon calculation — it is a hands-on commitment to the ecosystems they spent the week learning from.
- Keith, D. A. et al. (2022). A function-based typology for Earth’s ecosystems. Nature 610, 513–518 — the IUCN Global Ecosystem Typology (110 ecosystem functional groups).
- Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile — “Nature: Chile cuenta con 88 de 110 ecosistemas del planeta” (interview with ecologist Patricio Pliscoff).
- Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund — Chilean Winter Rainfall–Valdivian Forests hotspot.
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Keep reading: How to Plan a Faculty-Led Program in Chile · Is Chile Safe for Student Groups? What Faculty Should Know · Sample 7-day program