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Billionaire's Legacy: A Park Bigger Than Yosemite
29 Jul
Summary
- A vast national park, larger than Yosemite, was created from private donations.
- The park protects ancient alerce trees, some of the oldest living trees.
- It's considered the largest private land donation in history for conservation.
In 1991, businessman Douglas Tompkins began acquiring land in southern Chile, aiming to protect ancient temperate rainforests. This initiative evolved into a massive private conservation project, resulting in the creation of Pumalin Douglas Tompkins National Park in 2018. The park now encompasses 994,332 acres, exceeding Yosemite's size.
The park's primary mission is to conserve Chile's alerce forests, home to trees over 3,000 years old. It also shelters unique species like the pudu and the monito del monte. The extensive forests store significant carbon, contributing to climate change mitigation.
Kristine Tompkins continued the work after her husband's death in 2015. In 2017, she donated close to 1 million acres to the Chilean government. This donation formed the basis of the national park and is considered the largest private land donation for conservation ever recorded.
This conservation legacy, built over two decades, led to the protection of over 2 million acres across Chile and Argentina. Pumalin Douglas Tompkins National Park exemplifies the impact of private philanthropy combined with public stewardship in preserving wilderness.
