This paper examines the effect of protected areas on water quality, particularly water purification. We focus on the impact these areas have on the concentrations of four water-related pollutants, including phosphorus, nitrogen, arsenic, and sulfates, from 1967 to 2018 in Chile. We construct buffers of several distances around water monitoring stations and consider those that intersect with at least one protected area upriver as treated. To estimate these effects, we employ a variety of estimation methods. Overall, the results show consistent suggestive evidence of a negative short-term effect on nitrogen concentrations, localized within a maximum distance of 10 km, ranging from -18.4% to -32.6% at different buffer sizes, equivalent to an average reduction of -.14 to -.26 mg/L. For phosphorus, arsenic and sulfates concentrations we found no significant effect. Additionally, there are potential differences in baseline concentration levels between treated and control water monitoring stations (WMS). This research aims to comprehend the potential influence of PAs on water quality by using novel estimation techniques and comparing different methodologies, filling the literature gap on this topic in the Chilean context.

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Forest fires are caused by intentional action or by natural reasons, and the degree of exposure has been increasing due to the combination of both. Climate change is exacerbating these events. The case of Chile is a good example: intentional factors are at the origin of 55% of fires, then are aggravated by heat waves and water stress among other climate-related factors. This document estimates the cost of the 2017 forest fire season, which affected 518,174 hectares, being the largest in the recent history of Chile. The cost of the fire is estimated in terms of natural capital, for plantations and native forest, and the effect on carbon fixation. Considering the replacement cost for plantations at non-productive ages and the potential productive volume for mature trees, losses of natural capital in plantations are estimated at US$ 1,046 million. On the other hand, the 68.2 million tons of CO₂eq emitted by the fire and the 547 million tons of CO₂eq of absorption capacity lost due to the fire, are valued at US$ 2,983 million and US$ 18,666 million respectively.

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