Photo credit: Rafael Pérez
Chile is the World's Best Green Destination, according to the World Travel Awards, and its National Parks are earning more green medals as they achieve world-class conservation and sustainability standards, some of which are even leading the way by adding clean energy for self-sufficiency. Catch up on what's happening with national parks in the south of the world.
Chile is a long and narrow country that is becoming greener every day. So green, that for two consecutive years it has been chosen Best Green Destination in the World at the World Travel Awards - the Oscars of Tourism - and year after year it rises higher on the list of favorite destinations for Ecotourists around the world. Why? Largely because of its 42 National Parks. More than 20% of the country's territory is part of a National Park or protected area.
From the north, with the desert, to the extreme south, with its glaciers, Chile decided to protect and care for its natural jewels to keep its native beauty intact, as well as the endemic species of flora and fauna found there, which are of special educational, scientific and recreational interest for all mankind. Forests, salt flats, ancient ice, and much more, are available for everyone to enjoy in a context of respect and care for the environment whose framework is given by the National System of Protected Wildlife Areas of the State of Chile, in order to achieve long-term conservation of the nature of these places.
Chile today has global leadership in conservation due to its recognized capacity and willingness to create new protected areas: since 2017 to date alone, for example, six national parks have been created, totaling almost 3.8 million new hectares (almost the size of Switzerland) and it is making significant progress in meeting the current international goals proposed in the Convention on Biological Diversity.
In the list of the greenest
This year, for the first time, two Chilean parks were selected to be certified to join the select "IUCN Green List", the Green List of Protected Areas of the International Union for Conservation of Nature, the highest international standard in Conservation and Tourism. To belong to it is synonymous of success in the management of protected areas and its objective is to raise to the maximum the standard of management of the parks that compose it. Those selected with pincers, which will be added to a list of only 78 places in the world, were the Vicente Perez Rosales National Park, in the Los Lagos Region, the oldest and one of the most visited in the country, which is part of the Temperate Rainforests of the Southern Andes Biosphere Reserve. It is surrounded by imposing volcanoes such as Osorno, Tronador and Puntiagudo, where, in addition, the famous Petrohué waterfalls and the immense Todos los Santos Lake are located. The other chosen was the Cerro Castillo National Park, one of the most beautiful routes in Patagonia, where this imposing massif is located with hanging snowdrifts that form lagoons of turquoise waters between forests of trees and shrubs such as lenga, ñirre and calafate and where huemules, red foxes, pumas, guanacos and the Patagonian chingue (Patagonian chingue) pass through.
Patagonia Park, a beacon of green energy
The Patagonia Parks Route, composed of 17 National Parks between Puerto Montt and Cape Horn, is a green lung for the world. After the Amazon, it is the place with the highest carbon storage in South America. That is why it has long been a destination for travelers seeking an adventure in nature and a luxury retreat where the word Sustainability is a true mantra. One of those at the forefront in the matter is Patagonia Park, which has become a beacon of clean energy with its own hybrid hydroelectric and solar renewable energy generation network. Its system is designed to cover a large part of Patagonia National Park's energy demand with a projected 25% expansion, thus avoiding the need to use diesel generators for backup and achieving the long-awaited absolute decarbonization of this area where condors, guanacos, pumas and deer roam free but protected.
Photo credit: Linde Waidhofer
Chilean parks, allies in the fight against climate change
The UN declared this decade as the 10 key years to restore ecosystems to face the climate crisis. In this sense, the creation of protected territories such as National Parks plays a fundamental role not only because forests and soils are great carbon sinks for greenhouse gas emissions, but also because they are home to various native species that are necessary to achieve a balance for Chile and the planet.
That is why in Chile the National Parks are innovating with rewilding (or ecological restoration) programs, one of the most effective solutions to counteract the species extinction crisis and the climate crisis. Chile understood that the creation of territories protected from extractive human intervention is key to achieve real integral conservation for the well-being of the entire planet. That is why Chile continues to create and strengthen its National Parks that make it a green destination at the forefront and an oasis for ecotourism lovers worldwide.
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