Given its great latitudinal extension and steep altitudinal gradients, cultural heritage and landscapes found along the length of Chile are outstanding. However, this valuable and diverse heritage has been continuously suffering from exposure to environmental threats -both natural and human-made-, and in the context of global climate change its vulnerability is increasing rapidly.

There are currently six sites declared World Heritage Site by UNESCO in Chile, they all have a cultural character and there are two representative examples in the List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage. These sites and cultural expressions are representative of the vernacular heritage, where its values “embody intangible richness (…) representing the full integration of its architecture in the landscape and environment” (UNESCO, 2000); productive landscapes located in “hostile environments” where it is possible to see the “vulnerability of the structures and the impact of recent earthquakes” (UNESCO, 2005); and “unrivalled” cultural landscapes that “established a powerful, imaginative and original tradition of monumental sculpture and architecture” (UNESCO, 1995).

In this context, alongside the tangible aspects of bioregional change, will be important changes in the non-material culture, which informs and reflects human settlements patterns. In other words, the fundamental values and expression of current local communities and its relationship with its territory will be transformed. Thus, how these forces can be met is challenge that should be addressed by communities and also by local governments, planners, conservationists and by interdisciplinary groups of specialists.