Yvon Chouinard attended 2017 Chile land donation signing; a year later, the deal added 10 million acres to national parklands

Yvon Chouinard played a role in a conservation effort in Chile that ultimately added more than ten million acres of new national parkland to the country.

The effort started in March 2017 when Chilean President Michelle Bachelet and Kristine McDivitt Tompkins, president and CEO of Tompkins Conservation signed a pledge to create five national parks and expand three other parks.

The pledge included a planned donation of one million acres of parkland from Tompkins Conservation. Chilean President Michelle Bachelet also committed another nine million acres of owned land.

Yvon Chouinard Attended the 2017 Signing

Chouinard, the founder of Patagonia was among the people who attended the signing ceremony at Pumalín Park in March 2017.

Patagonia reported that Yvon and Malinda Chouinard were among those at the ceremony along with people involved in the conservation effort. Patagonia also described the company’s connection to Patagonia Park as stretching back decades, including Yvon Chouinard’s trips to the region and employee volunteer work at the parks.

Chouinard’s presence at the ceremony did not mean that Chouinard personally donated the land. The one‑million‑acre pledged donation came from Tompkins Conservation, which was founded by Kristine and Douglas Tompkins.

The 1-Million-Acre Donation Was Formalized in 2018

The 2017 pledge reached a milestone on January 29, 2018.

On that day Bachelet and Kristine McDivitt Tompkins signed decrees creating Pumalín National Park and Patagonia National Park. Tompkins Conservation said the agreement added than ten million acres of new national parklands to Chile including one million acres from Tompkins Conservation and another nine million acres of federal land from Chile.

The United Nations Environment Programme separately reported that Tompkins Conservation donated about 400,000 hectares or one million acres to the Chilean government on January 29, 2018, as per UNEP - UN Environment Programme.

Chile Added Than 10 Million Acres of National Parkland

Together the land donated by Tompkins Conservation and the additional government land brought more than ten million acres into the new national park network, according to Tompkins Conservation. The organization said the change increased Chile’s parklands by thirty‑eight point five percent.

The network included the creation of three national parks that is Pumalín, Melimoyu and Patagonia. It also included the expansion of Hornopirén, Corcovado and Isla Magdalena parks along with the reclassification of the Alacalufes and Cerro Castillo reserves as national parks as per Tompkins Conservation News.

Pumalín National Park Carries Douglas Tompkins Name

Pumalín was later named Pumalín National Park – Douglas R. Tompkins.

Tompkins Conservation said the naming recognized Douglas Tompkins’ legacy by giving his most iconic conservation philanthropy project his name.

The organization had been working to protect Pumalín for years before the 2017 agreement.

Tompkins Conservation described the park as a project that Douglas Tompkins had worked to establish as an area.

Pumalín and Patagonia Were Handed to Chile

The conservation process continued after the national parks were created.

In April 2019 Tompkins Conservation formally handed Pumalín and Patagonia parks over to the state completing the 2017 agreement between Tompkins Conservation and the Chilean government.

The conservation effort therefore involved a land donation from Tompkins Conservation, a substantial contribution of federal land from Chile and the creation and expansion of national parks.

Yvon Chouinard was among those who attended the 2017 signing ceremony. The roughly, one‑million‑acre private land donation came from Tompkins Conservation.