A national park larger than Yosemite was born after Ohio-born fashion moghul donated 725,000 acres in 1990 to save wildlife and forest

A fashion entrepreneur who helped build iconic American brands eventually walked away from the business world and devoted his wealth to protecting wild landscapes. Douglas Tompkins began buying land in Chile in 1992 to preserve its ancient temperate rainforests. His conservation effort eventually helped create Pumalín National Park, covering nearly 1 million acres, including about 725,000 acres donated by Tompkins Conservation. Larger than Yosemite, the park now protects ancient forests, fjords and remarkable wildlife in Chilean Patagonia.

From fashion to conservation

Douglas Tompkins, who lived from 1943 to 2015, was a business leader associated with iconic American brands including The North Face, Esprit and Patagonia, Inc. Along with his wife, Kristine McDivitt Tompkins, he eventually shifted his focus from business to conservation. Tompkins Conservation's official website says the couple devoted their funds, time and passion to addressing biodiversity loss, ultimately believing that creating large national parks was one of the most effective ways to protect ecosystems.

Tompkins began building what would become Pumalín in 1992, acquiring large areas of land to protect Chile's pristine temperate rainforests.

The park is larger than Yosemite

Today, Pumalín Douglas Tompkins National Park covers about 994,332 acres, making it larger than Yosemite National Park. Tompkins Conservation donated approximately 724,853 acres of that area to Chile. As per information on Tompkins Conservation’s official website, the park stretches from the Andes towards the Pacific fjords and lies along Chile's scenic Carretera Austral. Its landscape includes temperate rainforests, volcanoes, glaciers, lakes, waterfalls and dramatic coastal areas.

The park's forests are particularly significant because they protect the endangered Alerce, or Fitzroya cupressoides, a tree species that can live for thousands of years. Tompkins Conservation says Pumalín protects 25% of Chile's remaining Alerce forest, with some trees more than 3,000 years old.

Ancient forests and rare wildlife

Pumalín is home to a wide range of plant species, many of them endemic or represented by unique subspecies. According to La Ruta de los Parques, the forests feature Alerce, Luma, Tepa, Canelo, Tineo, Tiaca, Coigüe, Ulmo, Olivo, Mañío and Notro trees. The park's wildlife is equally diverse. According to La Ruta de los Parques, visitors may spot Commerson's dolphins, cormorants, penguins, herons and kingfishers around the fjords. The forests provide habitat for birds including the Chucao, Hued Hued and Rayadito, as well as mammals such as the Pudú deer, foxes, colocolo cats and pumas. Pumalín is also home to the Monito del Monte, described by La Ruta de los Parques as Chile's only marsupial.

From private land to a national park

The transformation of Pumalín from privately protected land into a national park was part of a much larger conservation effort. In January 2018, Chilean President Michelle Bachelet and Kristine McDivitt Tompkins signed decrees creating Pumalín National Park and Patagonia National Park. Tompkins Conservation said the move was part of a network that would add more than 10 million acres of new national parklands to Chile.

The following year, Tompkins Conservation formally handed Pumalín and Patagonia to the Chilean state. The organisation described the process as the conclusion of the largest private land donation in history. In 2018, Chile also officially named the park Pumalín National Park – Douglas R. Tompkins, recognising the conservationist's role in creating it.

A conservation legacy across Patagonia

Pumalín was only one part of the Tompkins conservation vision. Tompkins Conservation worked with the governments of Chile and Argentina, local organisations and communities to establish and expand national parks across Patagonia.

A 2017 agreement between Tompkins Conservation and Chile helped establish five new national parks and expand three others, with more than 1 million acres donated by Tompkins Conservation alongside Chilean government land. A landscape once acquired privately for protection ultimately became a national park belonging to the public.