The Patagonia Program, part of the Bird Conservation Department of Aves Argentinas and the Bariloche Foundation (CONICET), has been nominated by important experts in restoration. It is one of the finalist conservation projects of the European Outdoor Conservation Association (EOCA) awards.
This nomination comes within the framework of a project promoted by the program, aimed at promoting environmental restoration and generating harmonious coexistence with tourist development in the lands of the famous Mount Fitz Roy.
The objective is to promote the conservation of the Río de las Vueltas Valley and its tributaries, in the vicinity of El Chaltén, to protect species such as the Torrent Duck, the Orange Chinchillón, the Chaltén Frog, among many others.
What is the European Outdoor Conservation Association?
EOCA is a European charity organization that funds conservation, protection, and restoration projects worldwide, and since its creation in 2006, it has invested over 5.8 million euros in 206 projects in 65 countries.
It has supported initiatives addressing biodiversity loss and mitigating climate change. The winning projects are fully financed.
How is the Patagonia Program conservation project?
The project promoted by the Patagonia Program alongside CONICET, and with local and provincial support, aims at the restoration of the Río De Las Vueltas, generating actions to strengthen the conservation of endemic species and threatened species of Southern Patagonia.
For this purpose, the restoration of 12 kilometers of trails will be implemented, along with a program to control invasive exotic species, such as the American Mink. All this with an active participation of the community in this process.
El Chaltén is a unique tourist destination for a wide variety of outdoor activities, and it is estimated that more than 1.2 million people visit it annually. The Patagonia Program project aims to promote a trail system that would encourage low impact from those who traverse it.
EOCA has also selected this year as a finalist in the forests category, the restoration project of tobacco trees forests in the mountains of Córdoba, promoted by the Acción Serrana association.
To support these initiatives, you can participate in the public voting organized by EOCA by following these simple steps:
- Visit EOCA’s website and register at: eocaconservation.org/vote
- Check your email to activate the registration with the code sent, if necessary, check the SPAM folder.
- Log in again to the website, you will have to vote in all categories.
- In the third and last category “Mountain”, scroll down to the end and look for the project “Protecting and restoring Austral Patagonia’s UNESCO Jewel, Argentina”. It is the only project from Argentina in this section.
Voting will be open until April 14 at 9 a.m. (Arg) and the winning project will receive the funding to carry out the proposed actions.
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