“I knew that this trip would be amazing but I had no idea how truly life-changing it would be. The three weeks that we spent working on the estancia proved to be both challenging and inspiring. The seven of us worked as an amazing team knowing that the work we were doing was the beginning of something grand! It is overwhelming to think about how the work of so many passionate individuals has and will continue to truly make a difference! This place that we are all working to protect truly is ‘the last refuge.’”
Help create a new national park in pristine Patagonia, Chile when you volunteer with our Patagonia National Park Project.
In this groundbreaking project, volunteers will contribute to the creation of a new national park in the Patagonia region of southern Chile. As a volunteer, you will work with scientists and park staff to collect data and carry out restoration work for one of the largest and most ambitious conservation projects in the world.
In 2004, a nonprofit foundation purchased a 173,000-acre sheep ranch in the rugged Patagonia region on the Argentina-Chile border. This dramatic landscape of Patagonian steppes and Andes Mountains rises only 60 miles west of the fjords and islands off southern Chile’s Pacific Coast. The goal of the project is to transform the ranch into Latin America’s newest national park, one that will be roughly the size of Yosemite National Park. In order to convert the pastureland back to its natural habitat, scientists are now studying the native plants and animals and putting together a restoration strategy.
As a volunteer, you will work hands-on with Chilean Natural History Museum scientists and local guides to help assess the region’s immediate needs. You will assist in conducting scientific research, and in eradicating non-native plant species and replacing them with indigenous vegetation. You will also help repair the damage done by sheep herds by removing fences, thereby preserving the habitat for native species and allowing greater movement for native wildlife. Through these efforts, you will lay the foundations of a new national park and help preserve Patagonia for generations to come.
As a volunteer you can:
Collect scientific data in the field.
Eradicate non-native plant species.
Collect seeds and plant indigenous vegetation.
Remove old sheep fences.
Learn about the plant and animal species of the area.
Our Partners
In 2000, our Chilean partner organization dedicated itself to preserving as much of Patagonia as possible. Their success was swift and stunning. In 2001, the group purchased Estancia Monte Leon, a ranch in Southern Argentina. They then donated the property to the Argentine National Parks to become the first coastal national park in the country—Monte Leon National Park. The project was heralded as a landmark model for conservation and is now being attempted in Chile.
In 2004, the same nonprofit purchased Estancia Valle Chacabuco, a 173,000-acre sheep ranch in the Chilean Patagonia. Despite damage caused by overgrazing, the area still boasts all of its original flora and fauna, including the nearly extinct huemul deer. With the help of volunteers, the nonprofit organization plans to work over the next seven to 10 years to convert this new private preserve into a national park, providing protection and continued longevity to the region’s natural treasures.
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