Volunteer service has played a key role in the creation and protection of parks throughout the world. Conservacion Patagonica invites volunteers to join the effort to create Patagonia National Park through lending a hand in ecological restoration and trail building. Since 2006, more than 400 people have participated in our volunteer program, gaining an introduction to large-scale conservation. During the 2011- 2012 season, approximately sixty people (about half Chilean, half foreign) donated their labor to the park's development. Ranging in age from 17 to 69, volunteers join us to learn more about conservation, participate in building a national park, learn more about the local environmental, and meet new friends.
During the 2012 – 2013 season, the volunteer program will run in five sessions, each of three weeks. These are the only dates for which we will be accepting volunteers. Volunteers must commit to the entire time period, as the program is field-based, making it impossible to arrive late/ leave early. The dates for the 2012 – 2013 program will be:
- November 9, 2012 – November 30, 2012
- November 30, 2012 – December 21, 2012
- January 4, 2013 – January 25, 2013
- January 25, 2013 – February 15, 2013
- February 15, 2013 – March 8, 2013
In the first years of the program, volunteers dismantled most of the 400 miles of old ranch fencing, allowing wildlife freedom to roam through the area. Now, with most of the fencing gone, the program is evolving to fit the needs of the Patagonia National Park project. Volunteer groups now focus on trail building, exotic plant species control, native seed collection, and restoration work at campgrounds and along trails.
To complete this work, volunteers will spend up to two weeks at a time out in the field—living in tents, cooking for themselves, away from showers, internet, telephones, and medical help. Groups backpack with their equipment and supplies to remote areas of the park, often a full day’s hike from the road access point. Some groups will move their base camps several times as the work area changes. Everyone who joins the program should have extended backcountry camping experience.
We are so grateful to all those who have contributed to the restoration and protection of Patagonia already. Their hard work has played a key role in the dramatic transformation underway in the Chacabuco Valley. We look forward to meeting many others who come to join this project.
If you are interested in applying for the volunteer program, please download the information packet below and read it carefully. Our program is not for everyone, so please consider whether this experience is a good fit. If you are still interested, complete the application at the end of the packet, and email it to info@conservacionpatagonica.org
Download application
The application deadline for our 2012 – 2013 season is May 1st for all non-Chileans (September 1st for Chileans).
Information for Volunteers:
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Volunteers from all over the World
A team of volunteers carrying fencing material down Cerro Tamanguito
Removal of exotic species along the roads
Exotic plant removal in the upper Chacabuco Valley
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