Knowing and understanding how the environmental systems of Viña and the region work is an essential and permanent process in Las Salinas. For this reason, on January 24 we made a tour of environmentally fundamental spaces for the city, along with professors from the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso, Salvador Donghi and Luis Álvarez. The tour began where we analyzed the relevance of the dunes in local ecosystems, both in terms of flora and fauna, as well as the importance of the sands in the area. There we found native flora species, several of which we have planted and are monitoring at the site. This vegetation grows and maintains itself naturally thanks to the water provided by the coastal watercourse and to the weft that these same species generate naturally and that allows them to protect each other… exactly what we aspire to in the Plant Laboratory and in the future Ladera Park. There too, on the border with Reñaca, we learned about a successful case of the use of vegetational floors as a form of landscaping, in a square located in . The biological association of scrub and forest allows us to convert this public space into a welcoming place and a rich ecosystem. We continued our tour visiting the and then the , specifically the Las Salinas rock, both with a natural wealth worth visiting. During the afternoon the teachers showed us one of the most unexpected places. Steps away from the subway, fully immersed in the city but almost hidden, is a clear example of the biological triangle that allows the formation and movement of the sands through the city: a , with a permanent water flow thanks to the protection of the water in the subsoil (the falling water was purely mineral, from a rain 40 years ago that remained stagnant in the subsoil, where it caught the minerals); the , from where the sand comes out with its main component quartz, which is fractionated thanks to gravity and water traction; and the , which comes from the slope and allows the displacement, dragging and cushioning of the sand on the coastal shores, from where the marine current transfers and relocates. It is worth mentioning, the same type of sand that we saw in the dunes at the beginning of our visit… magical! However, we were able to see how the estuary, being intervened for urban purposes, is reduced to its minimum expression, preventing the correct transfer of sand. A day that allows us to continue understanding how it is necessary that in all our activities, especially at the moment of developing the Las Salinas neighborhood project, we know, understand and respect the biological environment that surrounds us.
