Ecological Restoration in the Chacabuco Valley

This ecological restoration project is located in Chilean Patagonia, specifically in the Aysén region, where Conservación Patagónica acquired the 69,000-hectare Valle Chacabuco Ranch in 2004. This ranch was later expanded to 81,000 hectares to become part of the future 292,000-hectare Patagonia National Park, along with the Jeinimeni and Tamango parks. The grasslands had been degraded by decades of uncontrolled sheep and cattle overgrazing in this transitional ecosystem between the dry Argentine steppes and the temperate rainforests west of the Andes. Key actions include the removal of more than 600 km of fences and barriers to restore the ecosystem's natural functioning, allowing the return of fauna such as guanacos, culpeo foxes, armadillos, Andean condors, and pumas. Other actions include the control of invasive species, the planting of native seeds such as coirón grass, and the gradual exclusion of livestock. Volunteers and biologists support these interventions, in collaboration with organizations such as Conservation Land Trust, Fundación Pumalin, Fundación Yendegaia, and the Foundation for Deep Ecology, promoting sustainable agriculture, community development, and ecotourism. The privately funded project stands out for its ambitious scale in restoring Patagonian grasslands, one of the most extensive in the world, and contributes to the international grassland conservation agenda, having been donated to the Chilean government in 2018 to create the 304,527-hectare Patagonia National Park.