Introduction
The Omora Biocultural Conservation Program is a pioneering initiative "linking biological and cultural conservation with social well-being from the southernmost end of the Americas." Begun as a local effort at the Omora Ethnobotanical Park in 2000, the program today is an international and interdisciplinary venture, whose partner institutions in the United States and Chile work to integrate the ecological sciences and environmental ethics.
As a long-term socio-ecological research, education and conservation program in the Cape Horn Biosphere Reserve, the Omora Alliance is developing innovative ways to address intertwined environmental and social problems such as global ecological change, invasive exotic species, cultural homogenization and sustainable development.
The program’s success in not only studying biocultural diversity, but also in addressing concrete conservation challenges and engaging in the decision-making process to affect quality of life for all beings demonstrates the ability of academia and society to work together to achieve meaningful goals.
