The 16 churches of Chiloé in southern Chile, recently inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List, represent the only example in Latin America of a rare form of ecclesiastical wooden architecture. They were built on the initiative of the Jesuit Peripatetic Mission in the 17th and 18th centuries and bear testimony to a successful fusion of indigenous and European culture and technical expertise. Most of these churches are in immediate need of restoration and maintenance. The present paper summarises experience and impressions acquired by the authors during a trip made to Chile in June 2002. The purpose of the trip was to establish contacts with people and organisations that are linked to the care and maintenance of the traditional wooden churches of Chiloé. In this context it has been of mutual interest to find out in what possible ways Scandinavian resources and know-how could be utilised and implemented in the process of restoring and maintaining these churches. The recently developed Maintenance Management System (MMS), capable of structuring condition surveys and assessments, as well as being an aid to plan and follow up conservation and maintenance work, might prove a suitable and elaborate alternative to traditional systems of building management and documentation. In addition, a brief description is presented of various tasks identified that could tentatively be the basis for mutual exchange of know-how, culture and traditions as well as of researchers, students and other resources, between the partners in Chile and in Sweden and Norway. These tasks address issues linked to aspects of both the physical maintenance of these churches and of their socio-cultural significance today and in the future.