This Monday, Chilean president Michelle Bachelet announced the major expansion of parklands that will preserve the rainforests and grasslands in the area. Over one million acres donated by American philanthropists will join the Chilean government’s nine-acre contribution that was federally owned. National parks in Chile will represent just over 80 percent of the country’s protected areas.
North Face, Inc. was founded 50 years ago by Doug and Kristine Tompkins who also spent 25 years acquiring land in Patagonia to conserve it, today Tompkins Conservation. Doug and Kristine invested in the future of everybody. It's rare to see wealthy people being so generous and smart.
It’s the largest private land donation in the world and is equivalent to triple the Yellowstone and Yosemite parklands if they were combined. Pumalin National Park and Patagonia National Park Chile existed under the Tompkins Conservation umbrella. Two other parks and a national reserve will be expanded.
A 1,700-mile route, located between Puerto Montt and Cape Horn
Chile hopes to link all 17 of their national parks into a long 1,500-mile tourist passageway. The entire park system could bring in $270 million annually for the country and it could create 43,000 job opportunities. Bachelet has also completed negotiations with Easter Island to protect 720,000 square kilometers of the Pacific Ocean. Route of Parks Figures:
17 National Parks
More than 60 communities
1,700 miles, spanning from Puerto Montt to Cape Horn
3 regions of Chile: Los Lagos, Aysén, and Magallanes
Over 28.4 million acres protected
91% of the territory is categorized as national parkland
140 species of birds
46 species of mammals
National Parks Within the Route of Parks:
Alerce Andino National Park
Hornopirén National Park
Pumalín National Park – Douglas R. Tompkins
Corcovado National Park
Melimoyu National Park
Queulat National Park
Isla Magdalena National Park
Laguna San Rafael National Park
Cerro Castillo National Park
Patagonia National Park
Bernardo O´Higgins National Park
Kawésqar National Park
Torres del Paine National Park
Pali-Aike National Park
Alberto de Agostini National Park
Yendegaia National Park
Cabo de Hornos National Park
I sincerely hope this selfless gesture will inspire others. Certainly, today North Face belongs to VF Corporation, a $2.8B revenue multinational, but as an extensively travelling photographer, I will continue do use brands like the North Face and Patagonia, for more than one reason.
Douglas Tompkins documented in the film Mountain of Storms, the trip solidified Doug’s place as rock climbing legend. In the early 1990s, Doug sold his part of Esprit and moved down to Chile to do conservation work full time with his wife, Kristine McDivitt Tompkins, the former CEO of Patagonia, Inc. Together, over the last 25 years, Doug and Kris have protected 2.2 million acres, more land than any other individuals.