What does it take to make a new National Park?
The story of the future Patagonia National Park offers a modern-day example of how you create a great park.
What makes a great park? By that, we mean a flagship park that protects a large, biologically critical area, invites visitors to experience the natural world, and contributes to the local economy. Parks like this, such as Yosemite, Yellowstone, and Glacier in the U.S, Banff in Canada, and Torres del Paine in Chile, do not appear effortlessly. Parks thrive in reality, and not just exist on paper, when people visit, explore, and advocate for them. Building public access and engaging local communities represent essential components of our work. At the same time, we're creating a 21st century wilderness area from a degraded sheep estancia; ecosystem restoration and wildlife recovery programs ensure that this park protects more than scenery.
The goal is to donate a fully functional new park to the Chilean state with healthy ecosystems, thriving wildlife populations, and outstanding visitor facilities. Our programs to build capacity in conservation workers, educate local schoolchildren and engage neighboring communities build the base of knowledge and support that will allow the park to flourish in the future.
Our work
Our team protects land, restores ecosystems, recovers wildlife, creates trails and campgrounds, builds the park headquarters, and works with neighboring communities. Our volunteer and intern programs provide hands-on experience to interested conservationists. Through these programs, Conservacion Patagonica seeks to secure the long-term success of the park and magnify the positive benefits of land conservation.
A model initiative
One of the few parks being created on this scale in the world, the future Patagonia National Park represents a contemporary parallel to the U.S's Yosemite National Park. The park will anchor ecotourism in the Aysen Region, putting this unexplored region on the map for travelers from Chile, Argentina, and beyond and thereby promoting a mode of development that takes advantage of, and protects, the area's incredible natural character. The future Patagonia National Park will form a new chapter in the global history of national parks as key attractions of nations and focal points for environmental awareness.
