Chile’s President, Gabriel Boric Font, held a meeting with the founder of Rewilding Chile, Kristine Tompkins, accompanied by Environment Undersecretary Maximiliano Proaño. During the meeting, Tompkins proposed a donation of 93,492 hectares (231,024 acres) of land located in Cape Froward, Punta Arenas, for the creation of a national park.
The proposal also includes the reclassification of the national assets of Cape Froward and the Batchelor River sector by the State.
This is one more step in Chile’s national policy to confront the climate crisis and the loss of biodiversity. It promotes the joint management of the conservation of a valuable ecosystem by the State, local communities and civil society, with the technical assistance of the Rewilding Chile Foundation.
The president also expressed interest in exploring the option of adding a “mirror” marine protected area to the land-based park. The nature of protection, delimitation and governance should consider participatory processes such as indigenous consultation mechanisms.