The American philanthropist Kristine Tompkins has a new environmental and conservation challenge: connecting the national parks of South America.
Known for her work to restore the environment and wildlife in Argentina and Chile, the conservationist talked about her new challenge. In a dialogue with the EFE agency, Tompkins detailed that she would do it through the Andes mountain range and the rivers.
“We have decided to work on a continental scale,” explained Tompkins, 74, during a visit to Buenos Aires to launch her project.
Kristine Tompkins and a new challenge in South America
Kristine Tompkins’ new goal, connecting the national parks of South America.
According to the conservationist, her plan involves “biologically reconnecting” Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay, Brazil, Uruguay through the rivers. As if they were highways.
On the other hand, Chile with Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, through the Andes. This strategy, she considered, will bear fruit in 25 years.
Tompkins’ initiative responds to the need to confront the “speed of climate change” and the impact it is having on the region.
To advance her new strategy, the head of the Tompkins Conservation foundation has already contacted authorities and organizations in Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, Bolivia, and Argentina, from where they have responded with “amazement, enthusiasm, and a desire to participate.”
“We are going to conquer this,” Tompkins told the agency. In recent weeks, she has been touring the region and contacting people who are willing to work on the project, which will have Argentina as its base.
Who is Kristine Tompkins
Kristine Tompkins, former CEO of the sustainable clothing brand Patagonia, and her late husband, Douglas Tompkins (1943-2015), creator of the brands North Face and Esprit, changed their business life 30 years ago for the protection and restoration of biodiversity in the Southern Cone.
Doug and Kris Tompkins. (Photo: Wikipedia).
Their work consisted of buying large tracts of land and creating national parks in Chile and Argentina, which they later handed over to the States for conservation. The couple thus created Tompkins Conservation, now presided over by Kristine.
Despite the initial distrust of the locals, the Tompkins protected over six million hectares of parks in Chile and Argentina through Tompkins Conservation and its partners.
“The greatest impact was when we opened these parks. Now there are trails, restaurants, camping areas, where the citizens of Chile or Argentina are welcome at no cost to visit their own land,” she recounted.
Together with their descendant organizations, Rewilding Argentina and Rewilding Chile, the Tompkins helped create or expand 15 national parks in both countries and work to recover species nearly extinct, such as the jaguar, the red and green macaw, the giant river otter, the Darwin’s rhea, and the huemul deer.
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