6:The Tropical Island

On 27°09´South latitude and 109°27´West longitude, 3.700 km to the west of the South American coast, Easter Island is located 3° of latitude to the south of the Tropic of Capricorn in front of Caldera (Chile).

Its rains and temperatures regime determines a warm subtropical climate smoothed by the effect of the ocean that surrounds it, but without the influence of cold marine currents as it happens in the continental coast of the country. It rains abundantly in the island (more than 1.000 mm) and the average temperature is high (20.5°), all the year.

Originally the island must have had a leafy vegetation. The men and the animals destroyed it to survive and they did not know how to replace it.

Easter Island is the only Chilean territory with warm tempered subtropical climate. The oases of the North of the country have in some cases temperatures and tropical vegetation but do not have tropical rains. In other cases there are tropical rains but the temperature and the vegetation do not correspond to that climate, fundamentally, due to the height.

Being Easter Island the "only thing" in Chile in this sense, it seems possible to face that reality and to obtain some special benefits out of it.

The Tropical Island can represent for our country a botanical garden in which, in all its extension, all type of vegetal species can grow, very carefully selected from the ecological point of view, out of the varied vegetations that there exist in the world, choosing the most beautiful, colorful and exotic ones in the tropic of each continent.

This outdoors botanical garden, in its appropriate climatic atmosphere, would be a highly interesting compact sample for tourists and investigators.

The Tropical Island can complement the botanical garden with an outdoors zoo with fabulous animals, birds and insects of the same climatic condition, both terrestrial and aquatic, thus obtaining an spectacle unique in the world. A great investigation field for entomologists, zoologists and ecologists would be open.

The incomparable isolation of the island, allows to maintain a suitable control of the species and the study of its habits without outer contaminations and with relative advantages in the control of its handling.

During the last century, a certain number of vegetal species, animals, birds and insects from the continent have been introduced to the island that, mostly, do not contribute to anything. Tiuque birds, sparrows, rabbits, eucalyptuses, guavas, pines, do not seem to be real contributions, nor enrichments.

Parrots, flamingoes, butterflies, pheasants, peacocks, birds of the paradise, canaries, etc., in a free environment, plus a great exotic animal range in a semi-free environment in parks with tropical forest and floral species would make of this island an incomparable living museum at world-wide level.

The possibility of a aquarium with marine species does not discard animals and vegetables of equal characteristic.

The authority of the Tropical Island must maintain a special coordination with the Archaeological and Scientific Island and put its accomplishments at the service of the Tourist Island as attractions. It must coexist with the Territorial Island, the farming And Forest Island, the Fishing Island and the Transpacific Island.