Chile’s Cochamó Valley has been called the “Yosemite of South America.” (Photo by Rodrigo Manns)
The Cochamó Valley in southern Chile’s lakes region has been coveted by conservationists since the mid-1990s, thanks to its ancient stands of alerce trees (Fitzroya cupressoides) and its spectacular Andean surroundings, which have inspired some to call it the “Yosemite of South America.” Now, the Chilean conservation group Puelo Patagonia, U.S.-based The Nature Conservancy, two U.S. foundations—the Freyja Foundation and the Wyss Foundation—and the global outdoor-gear seller Patagonia have joined forces to preserve a spectacular swath of the Cochamó district. Launched in May, the campaign aims to raise US$63 million to buy a 133,000-hectare (329,000-acre) private landholding called Puchegüín, considered a conservation linchpin that will ensure protection of Cochamó’s wild, environmentally precious landscapes into perpetuity. “Cochamó’s beauty, its immensity, its vast ancient alerce forests with capacity to store carbon and mitigate climate change; its wide variety of endemic and endangered species; its... [Log in to read more]
