Conservacion Patagonica works to create national parks in Patagonia that save and restore wildlands and wildlife, inspire care for the natural world, and generate healthy economic opportunities for local communities.

We love Patagonia: it’s one of the wildest places left on Earth, where there’s a chance to protect ecosystems at scale and demonstrate how conservation can benefit communities. Yet this region has come under attack, as outside industries seek to exploit these precious natural resources for short-term gain. Looking globally, we see that the loss of biodiversity and the destruction of ecosystems threaten to eliminate thousands of species and destabilize the ecosystems on which humanity depends. As conservation biologists affirm, our best shot at reversing this trend is to protect large tracts of habitat areas, recover damaged ecosystems, and work with local communities.

Our strategy? Creating national parks, in collaboration with neighboring communities, and local, regional, and national governments. Why? Because these flagship national parks will…

…save and restore wildlands and wildlife

Under ever-increasing pressure, wildlands and wildlife disappear by the day: human activity now dominates 43 percent of Earth’s land surface and affects twice that area. The planet is now experiencing the most massive wave of extinctions since the loss of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago. The potential loss of as many as 30 to 50% of all species by mid-century severely threatens the stability of all ecosystems and life on earth. By creating a new, large-scale protected area, we're making strides towards reversing these trends--while saving one of the planet's most stunningly beautiful places.

Conservacion Patagonica heeds the recommendation of conservation biologists worldwide: protect large tracks of productive habitat that will support healthy wildlife populations and provide space for adaptation to a changing climate. Patagonia remains one of the world's last vast expanses of open space, offering a rare opportunity to conserve key habitat on a biologically significant scale. In the creation of Patagonia National Park, our current major initiative, our land conservation goal is securing permanent protection for 650,000 acres in this biologically unique area.

Ecosystem restoration forms the vital complement to securing protection for land. As wild as Patagonia is, human misuse has left lasting scars on the landscape. Restoring it to health requires taking active measures to revive damaged areas and protect threatened species. The goals of our restoration initiatives are to reverse trends of desertification and exotic species intrusion, to restore grasslands to health, and to ensure that all native species of the region thrive in and around the future Patagonia National Park. One of the world's largest grasslands restoration projects, our effort to revive the Chacabuco Valley serves as a key initiative for the Patagonia region, where desertification represents the most pressing ecological issue.

…inspire care for the natural world

In creating the future Patagonia National Park, we seek to create as powerful an impact on people as on the land. Setting aside land and restoring native ecosystems is vitally important, but perhaps even more critical is propagating the conservation ethos throughout the broader community. Direct experience with the natural world is an essential first step to cultivating the environmental imagination, and promoting lasting care for the natural world.

National parks are a wonderful place for the public to encounter and more deeply connect with wild nature, inspiring them to take action to promote greater environmental protection worldwide. In the future Patagonia National Park, we are working to create public infrastructure that will not only provide visitors with an enjoyable experience, but will also help them learn about the incredible efforts that go into restoring and protecting the land and wildlife that they encounter during their visit. In this way we hope to secure lasting partners in conservation that will ensure the protection of this park, and others like it around the world.

…generate healthy economic opportunities for local communities

Parklands have formed the keystone of thriving, sustainable local economies in communities throughout the world. Securing lasting protection for wild places depends on communities supportive of protected areas and people dedicated to conservation. Creating a park here in the remote Aysen region will not only promote deeper commitment and concern for conservation in visitors, neighbors and workers, but will also bolster the regional economy through ecotourism and conservation jobs.

Conservacion Patagonica has worked to engage the area’s local communities to participate in and profit from the transition toward a more viable future economy with roots in park management and conservation. We have offered training and jobs to former gauchos as park rangers and conservation workers. A new local school provides an education and a gathering place for the area’s youngest residents. Reaching out to and including the regional population in park development promotes the advancement of tourist infrastructure among existing local communities, ensuring that tourist money stays in the region to invigorate the local economy.

Every step along the way, we seek new opportunities to make the Patagonia National Park project a prosperous, exciting, and lasting boon to the people who call Patagonia home.

Wetlands, grasslands, lakes, rivers and mountains—the future park protects a range of critical habitats

The Patagonia Steppe Ecosystem is one
of the most underprotected in Chile

Stunning San Lorenzo, one of Patagonia's
highest peaks, is one of the iconic
landmarks seen from the park

Guanacos and other wildlife thrive
in this large protected area

Tracking and monitoring pumas allows us
to understand predator/prey relationships
in an ecosystem in flux

Community participation

A play about the animals of Patagonia

Trekking in the future Park