‘I can’t think of a place more pristine’: 133,000 hectares of Chilean Patagonia preserved after local fundraising | Chile

A. A wild valley in Chilean Patagonia has been preserved for future generations and protected from logging, damming and unfettered development following a significant fundraising effort by local groups, the Guardian can reveal.

133,000 hectares (328,000 acres) of untouched wilderness in the Cochamó Valley has been purchased for $63 million (£47 million). NGO Puelo Patagoniaand ownership of the wild areas was officially transferred to the Chilean non-profit Fundación Conserva Puchegüín on December 9.

The currently protected ecosystem is 383 times the size of Central Park in Manhattan and 800 times the size of Regent’s Park in London.

The lush, forested Cochamó Valley is home to waterfalls, emerald rivers, hummingbirds and vultures. Ancient forests date back to around 4000 B.C., four centuries before the rise of the Roman Empire. It has groves of warning trees that sprouted around 1000 years ago.

The newly acquired lands contain 11% of the remaining alarm forests on Earth. Due to their sturdy, water-resistant trunks, alarm wood cut from the tree was shaped into ship masts and telephone poles.

Sparsely populated with a few remote residential camps and rustic campsites, the Cochamó Valley is surrounded by 970-metre (3,200 ft) granite cliffs that attracted climbers seeking the first ascent of the rock faces at Cerro Trinidad in 1997.

In 2012, farming families and lone cowboys living in the valley joined forces with tour operators, NGOs, climbers, backpackers and explorers. Fierce opposition to $400 million hydroelectric plan This included 150-foot transmission towers, access roads and the complete disruption of the rural way of life along the Manso River. The communities then worked together to stop a high-end holiday home development and plans to open a road through the valley.

“Our goal was to turn threats into opportunities,” said José Claro, president of Puelo Patagonia.

Claro described how successive large-scale projects were prevented by Puelo Patagonia and the local community working together.

Conservation campaigns have highlighted Cochamó’s importance as a biological corridor that can connect to the surrounding 1.6 million hectares of protected land in Chile and Argentina. A coalition of domestic and foreign NGOs known as Conserva Puchegüín has begun recruiting donors to fund long-term conservation strategies.

The valley receives more than 3 meters of rain per year, making industrial agriculture almost impossible. It is difficult to graze cattle because the mountain slopes are almost vertical.

Other than a few cave drawings attributed to indigenous peoples in modern-day Argentina who migrated along the riverbanks, this corner of northern Patagonia reveals few signs of long-standing human habitation.

These unlogged forests and free-flowing turquoise rivers are paradise for field biologists. The area is full of ferns the size of beach umbrellas. Thickets of native bamboo make it nearly impossible to split the bush in this temperate rainforest, even with a machete.

Dense bush prevents many large mammals from migrating through the valley. Local deer species known as Pudu Because of their adaptation, they are rarely longer than 40 cm.

“You think the trees are being cut down or the valley is flooding. It’s very scary,” said Alex Taylor, CEO of Cox Enterprises, who was first introduced to Cochamó in early 2025 by fly fisherman Yvon Chouinard, founder of the Patagonia clothing company.

Taylor returned to Atlanta with the idea for the James M Cox Foundation, which would support preservation of the valley. Other trustees accepted and approved the $20 million donation.

“From a forest biodiversity standpoint, it’s almost like the spiritual center of the universe,” Taylor said. “I can’t think of a place more pristine than this.”

The successful fundraising campaign to purchase the land is the beginning of what is likely to be a decades-long project to preserve the farmers’ lifestyle and the valley’s rich biodiversity.

“How can we ensure that traditional life and practices that have been going on for more than a century are not disrupted?” said Alex Perry, Patagonia’s Latin America general manager, who has funded local conservation groups in the Cochamó Valley for more than a decade and donated $4 million in 2024 through the company’s nonprofit owner, Holdfast Collective.

“How can we ensure that this model is replicable, scalable, and attractive to the next generation?”

Although 133,000 hectares of land may eventually be donated to the Chilean national park system, recently adopted environmental legislation in Chile has created a system that ensures permanent protection of designated areas even if the land remains privately owned.

As the valley’s popularity among hikers, climbers and horseback riders grew, a limit of 15,000 visitors per year was set. Reservations no longer required and a master plan consisting of hiking trails, base camps and horse stables is being developed with the direct participation of local communities.

“The beauty of the Pucheguín project is that it comes with an endowment,” said Anne Deane, president of the Freyja Foundation, which has helped finance land purchases in the valley and recruited additional funders including the Wyss Foundation. “Cochamó will become increasingly popular, so it is very important to have an operating budget to support it.”

A survey of wildlife in the area was launched using camera traps and collaborating with local residents. A small herd of the endangered huemul deer, the national symbol of Chile, was recently discovered.

There are no roads in the valley and electricity is produced house by house via solar and wind. The homes generally consist of rough cabins placed along the riverbank, allowing small motorboats to navigate up and down the Puelo River. Pack horses still carry most food and supplies.

The Cochamó conservation project was inspired by the landmark conservation efforts of Kris and Doug Tompkins, who left successful leadership roles at the Patagonia and Esprit clothing companies, respectively, to move to a remote cabin in Patagonia and devote 25 years and $300 million to creating national parks in Chile and Argentina.

The Tompkins conservation group purchased huge tracts of land and then negotiated with the Chilean government to expand its existing parks (now known as Tompkins). Rewilding Chile – Helped protect more than 5.7 million hectares of wildland.

The path to becoming a park in Cochamó may be different. The inadequate funding for national parks in Chile (highlighted by the recent deaths of five hikers in the Torres del Paine national park) has persuaded many conservation advocates to look at creating private parks that combine conservation with low-impact commercial activities such as family farms or small farms. solar powered craft brewery.

Cochamó’s plans would place at least 80% of it at protected national park-level status, while the remaining 20% ​​would be zoned for multiple use, allowing local people to make a living from tourism and traditional activities such as family farms and smallholders.

The connection between conservation and community was evident during a recent walk in Cochamó.

A Chilean cowboy carrying a horse loaded with fruit, vegetables and canned food stopped to share the news. Her horse was pregnant. The neighbor’s dog Rex needed medicine. The distant bridge washed away by flood waters has almost been rebuilt.

Stopping to chat in the cool fern forest, the cowboy talked excitedly that evening about the German tourists his father had helped build and whom he would guide down the mountain on a path that his children could one day continue to use and preserve.