Art, sport, education and nature: Celebrating five years of Patagonia National Park

Chile Chico – The entire community of Chile Chico and the surrounding area celebrated five years of Patagonia National Park by walking, cycling, kayaking, or simply meditating in the middle of the forest.

This free event was developed by the Friends of Patagonia National Park Programme of Fundación Rewilding Chile, in conjunction with local groups, who brought this special birthday to life.

One of the most impressed with this event was a homeowner, Sergio Ferreira, a Conaf park ranger from the Jeinimeni sector. “I had seen people on this side of the Park, but I never imagined today. I was expecting one or two buses, but six full buses arrived. It was tremendous. I feel happy because this is something I have longed for many years,” explained Ferreira.

This emotion is also expressed by Edelmira Pino Casanova, currently living in Chile Chico but born in Los Ñadis, near Cochrane. For me, nature is fantastic, sharing, meeting new people, everything is excellent, beautiful because I was a farmer, I grew up in the countryside, and I long to get into a forest, to walk in the hills,” said Edelmira.

The event also marked the second anniversary of the Friends of Patagonia National Park Programme, an initiative promoted by Rewilding Chile in Chile Chico, which is now seeing the achievements and impact of this program with the high level of community participation in the activities carried out in the Park. “The most beautiful thing is to see how a network of people from different backgrounds come together around a national park, especially of different ages. We see that there is a very cross-cutting community that is linked to Patagonia National Park. There is much greater knowledge and appreciation of this protected area’s contribution to the surrounding communities,” said Carolina Cerda, Director of Community Outreach at Rewilding Chile.

About the activities

For several weeks, this anniversary was planned with local organizations, with whom routes and activities were adapted to share this experience with the community.

In this way we were able to enjoy a painting workshop with the local artist Aroffesa, handicraft exhibitions with the Chile Chico Ceramists and Artelanas, learn about bio-intensive agriculture with the Jeinimeni River Orchard, learn about the properties of the flora with the specialist Fernán Silva, get into nature with our five senses through a forest bath, as well as more physical activities such as hiking, kayaking, stand up paddle and cycling.

From La Marticleta, a local organization that provides a bicycle service in Chile Chico, Maximiliano Díaz, a guide and mechanic, explained the importance of cycling in a protected area.

“For us, cycling in a park is a situation that has to be taken with a lot of responsibility because we interact with many ecosystems. We enter at a different speed, with different noises, so we always have to think about it holistically so that the experience of cycling on the trails has the least impact on those who live in those ecosystems,” said Díaz.

Also from the Chile Chico Andean Club, Celeste Muñoz, who has lived in the town for a year, said she learned about forest bathing in a session of the Diploma of Training for Tourism and Nature Guides of the Friends of Patagonia National Park Programme and the Universidad Austral de Chile and now applied it to the anniversary activities.

“All the people were calm and happy, calm anxiety and stress. I liked people’s willingness to connect with nature. When they heard the birds nearby, the flora saw that Morel was there. Stopping, breathing, pausing a bit, allows people to perceive those details,” said Celester Muñoz.

Finally, the Friends of Patagonia National Park Program thanked the community for their response to celebrating these five years, hoping the activities will continue to learn more about and value this protected area during the coming year.