Adriana Hoffmann facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Adriana Hoffmann
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Hoffmann in 1991
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| Born |
Adriana Elisabeth Hoffmann Jacoby
29 January 1940 |
| Died | 20 March 2022 (aged 82) |
| Nationality | Chilean |
| Other names | Adriana Hoffmann Jacoby |
| Alma mater | University of Chile |
| Known for | Describing 106 species of cactus |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Botany, ecology |
| Institutions | Defensores del Bosque Chileno |
| Author abbrev. (botany) | A.E.Hoffm. |
Adriana Elisabeth Hoffmann Jacoby (born January 29, 1940 – died March 20, 2022) was a famous Chilean botanist, environmentalist, and writer. She worked hard to protect Chile's beautiful forests. From 2000 to 2001, she was the executive secretary of Chile's National Environment Commission, known as CONAMA.
Adriana was a strong supporter of managing forests wisely. She wanted to make sure they could last for a long time. Since 1992, she led a group called Defensores del Bosque Chileno, which means "Defenders of the Chilean Forest." This group worked against illegal logging, which is cutting down trees without permission.
Hoffmann wrote more than ten books about the plants of Chile. She also identified and named 106 different types of cactus.
Biography
Adriana Hoffmann was born in Santiago, Chile, in 1940. Her parents were Lola and Franz Hoffmann. She grew up in a place called Providencia and went to Liceo Manuel de Salas school. Later, she went to the University of Chile. She first studied agronomy, which is about farming.
Adriana traveled to Germany with her mother. There, she decided to change her studies to biology. She focused on botany, which is the study of plants, and ecology, which is the study of how living things interact with their environment. After finishing her studies, she returned to Chile. She married an engineer named Hernán Calderón. They lived outside Chile for a while before coming back in the 1970s.
Throughout her career, Adriana Hoffmann traveled all over Chile. She carefully recorded different plants and described new species. By 2008, she had found and named 106 new types of cacti.
In 1992, Hoffmann became the leader of Defensores del Bosque Chileno. This was Chile's biggest group working to protect forests. In 1994, she started another group called Agrupación de Defensores del Bosque Nativo. Famous singers, poets, and other important people joined this group. By the mid-1990s, Adriana Hoffmann was known as one of Chile's top environmental activists.
Hoffmann also helped lead the Lahuen Foundation. This group works to save forests and created a special nature area called El Cañi Sanctuary. She was also involved with many other important groups. These included the Chilean Science Society and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. Her work with Defensores del Bosque included creating programs to teach teachers about the environment.
In March 2000, President Ricardo Lagos chose Hoffmann for an important job. She became the executive secretary of the National Environment Commission. This was an important environmental agency in Chile. While in this role, she helped create the national hiking trail network called Sendero de Chile. She also worked to make a system to check how new projects might affect the environment better. She also helped with environmental education and tried to improve the air quality in Santiago.
During her time in this role, some businesses criticized her for her strong environmental views. Some environmental groups felt she didn't have enough power. She resigned in October 2001 after a controversial fuel source was approved despite her objections. She felt she no longer had the full support of the President. After leaving, she went back to working with Defensores del Bosque.
Adriana Hoffmann passed away on March 20, 2022.
Environmental advocacy
During a time when Chile's government allowed timber companies easy access to forests, Hoffmann noticed a problem. She saw that many native forests were being wasted. Trees were often cut down and just exported as wood chips. In 1995, she said, "We've seen with our own eyes how [timber companies] take huge trees and shred the whole thing."
When she joined Defensores del Bosque, Hoffmann pushed for changes in how Chile managed its forests. She strongly believed in sustainable forest management. This means using forests in a way that protects them for future generations. She argued that ecotourism (tourism focused on nature) and making valuable products like furniture from wood could bring more money in the long run.
In the 1990s, Hoffmann wrote articles about ecology for the newspaper El Mercurio. She spoke out against trade agreements that might lead to native forests being replaced by commercial tree plantations. She also criticized the Chilean government for not having a clear plan for its forests.
Hoffmann became friends with an American businessman named Douglas Tompkins. He was a preservationist and helped fund Defensores del Bosque. She defended his efforts to create a large nature reserve in the Chilean Lake District. She once said that if his investment had been anywhere else, he would be seen as a hero.
Awards and honors
In 1997, the United Nations recognized Hoffmann as one of the 25 leading environmentalists of the decade. This was for her hard work to protect Chile's forests. In 2003, she received the Luis Oyarzún Award from the Austral University of Chile. This award was for her research on Chilean plants and her environmental education work. In 2009, she received a Fellow Award from the Cactus and Succulent Society of America.
Hoffmann also served as a judge for the United Nations Environment Programme's Sasakawa Prize.
Works
Hoffmann wrote more than ten books and illustrated guides. These books were about the plants, medicinal plants, and other plant resources of Chile. One of her important books was La Tragedia del Bosque Chileno. This book included text and photos that showed the problem of illegal logging in Chilean forests.
- Papers
- Books
See also
In Spanish: Adriana Hoffmann para niños
