The Conservation Right Foundation
A new affirmative property right for the conservation of nature
The conservation right grants a faculty to conserve the environmental patrimony of a property, or its ecosystem functions, as an asset in its own right. Chile enacted it in 2016. We help bring it to other countries.
The conservation right in brief
“The conservation right is a real right that consists in the faculty to conserve the environmental patrimony of a real estate or of certain attributes or functions thereof.”
Law No. 20.930, Article 2 (Chile, 2016)
Unlike a conservation easement, it is not a restriction on land. It is an affirmative right: the owner keeps the land, and the titleholder — any natural or legal person, public or private — holds the faculty to conserve. Ecosystem attributes and functions are deemed immovable property, so a single function can be conserved, valued and transferred.
Conference in Coyhaique: 10 years of the conservation right (Spanish).
What you will find here
The Conservation Right
Definition, key features, the comparison with conservation easements and the legislative history of Law No. 20.930.
Library
Articles, legislation and bulletins, in English where available — from the 2003 article that first proposed the right to the 2023 reference analysis.
Comparative design
How the conservation right could fit other legal systems: a country-by-country compatibility matrix, a model law and model deeds.
News
- November 2026Bulletin 1 — A Brief Legislative History of the Conservation Right
- 3 November 2026Masterclass at the University of Chile: 10 years of Law 20.930
- October 2026Conference in Coyhaique: 10 years of the conservation right (video, Spanish)
- 2019IUCN: The Conservation Right, a New Property Right for Sustainability
About this site
This website, conservationright.org, is developed and promoted by the Conservation Law Center of Chile (Fundación Centro de Derecho de Conservación) to spread knowledge about, and educate on, a new model: an affirmative property right over ecosystem assets. It innovates on the traditional property-law tools for conserving nature, which are restrictions or burdens on land in the form of easements or covenants. One of the Center’s objectives is to cooperate with other jurisdictions to promote this model, which is consistent with current goals of building a self-sustaining natural capital economy.
© 2026 Conservation Law Center of Chile (Fundación Centro de Derecho de Conservación) · conservationright.org