The global trade of species promotes diverse human activities but also facilitates the introduction of potentially invasive species into new environments. As species ignore national boundaries, unilateral national decisions concerning species trade set the stage for transnational species invasion with significant conservation, economic and political consequences. The need for a coordinated approach to species importation policies is demonstrated by the introduction of two bumblebee species into Chile for crop pollination, despite Argentina banning commercial importation of alien bumblebees based on expert opinion. The large garden bumblebee, Bombus ruderatus, was first introduced in 1982, and the buff‐tailed bumblebee, Bombus terrestris, has been continually introduced since 1997 as part of the burgeoning bumblebee trade. Both species have subsequently invaded southern South America. Today, the consequences of the growth of the bumblebee trade for agricultural pollination ranks among the top 15 emerging environmental issues likely to affect global diversity. Documented impacts of these invasions include the severe decline and local extinctions of the sole native Patagonian bumblebee, Bombus dahlbomii, pathogen transmission, flower damage and nectar robbing of native and cultivated plants. Policy implications. The South American bumblebee invasions portrayed here should alert governments to the unintended consequences of the booming international bee trade. More broadly, this case demonstrates that one country's importation decisions can have policy implications for its neighbours without consultation. Regrettably, coordinated international measures to prevent species invasions are seldom considered in South America or elsewhere, despite existing legal frameworks. The bumblebee case and others provide stark evidence of the pressing need for coordinated specific and general international policies concerning global species trade and their implementation.

International agreements combined with the recent Chilean Forestry Policy (2015–2035) represent a challenge and an opportunity for forest landscape restoration in Chile. Nevertheless, restoring over 500,000 ha using mainly native species seems like a daunting task by 2035. Here, we discuss the three major bottlenecks that currently constrain the restoration efforts of forest ecosystems in Chile. First, Chile urgently needs a national strategic plan for forest landscape restoration, which should take into account mid‐ and long‐term goals. There is also a need to prioritize resource allocation for efficient use, promoting the creation of economic subsidies for restoration that consider different types of forest ecosystems. Second, there is a great need for better nursery protocols in plant production as well as to strengthen educational programs for professional and technical training, given the lack of high‐quality personnel in Chilean nurseries. This would help increase the currently limited national plant supply, improving quality and increasing the diversity of native species suitable for forest restoration. Lastly, taking advantage of novel eco‐technological tools and promoting innovative plantation design would help to overcome the usually deficient results in the establishment phase, leading to higher survival rates and promoting better performance of native species. Beyond current experiments that are relatively efficient on a small spatial scale, the practice of forest restoration needs to become massive and successful at a landscape scale. More and better applied research is crucial for improving the impact of forest landscape restoration, so that Chile can achieve its forest restoration challenge in the next decade.

A pesar de la reconocida importancia de los incendios forestales, la investigación sobre modelación de ocurrencia de incendios es escasa en el Hemisferio Sur, y en particular en Chile. Se estudió el efecto de la heterogeneidad del paisaje en la ocurrencia de incendios forestales en Chile Central. Se ajustó un modelo que incluye variables climáticas, topográficas, de actividad humana y cobertura del suelo. La probabilidad de ocurrencia aumentó con una mayor temperatura mínima y estacionalidad de la precipitación, y disminuyó con una mayor distancia a las ciudades. El modelo clasificó correctamente un 65% de los datos de validación. Las predicciones sugieren que un 38% del área de estudio tiene muy alta probabilidad de ocurrencia de incendios, la cual aumenta bajo un simulado escenario futuro. El modelo predictivo debería ser utilizado como una herramienta para orientar aspectos urgentes de protección y prevención, lo cual debe continuar siendo discutido y evaluado.

Over the last decades, Chile has experienced a long-term drought with significant consequences for water availability, forest productivity, and soil degradation, ultimately dramatically increasing the surface of burned area. Here, we quantify the Palmer Drought Severity Index (PDSI) to ascertain the extent of “moisture deficiency” across the central-southern region of Chile from 2000 to 2023 to assess the drought’s relationship with the frequency of wildfires focusing on the impact of native forests. Our methodology quantifies the PDSI from the burned area data using MODIS MCD64A1 satellite imagery, validated by in situ wildfire occurrence records. The findings indicate that 85.2% of fires occurred under moderate to severe drought conditions. We identified 407,561 ha showing varying degrees of degradation due to wildfires, highlighting the critical areas for targeted conservation efforts. A significant increase in both the frequency of wildfires and the extent of the affected area in native forests was observed with the intensification of drought conditions in the 21st century within mesic to humid Mediterranean climatic zones where drought explains up to 41% of the variability in the burned area (r² = 0.41; p < 0.05). This study highlights the relationship between drought conditions and wildfire frequency, showing the paramount need to adopt comprehensive wildfire mitigation management in native forests.