Conaf Magallanes And Rewilding Chile Foundation Sign Collaboration Agreement

This July 11, a collaboration agreement was signed in Punta Arenas between the National Forestry Corporation (CONAF) in Magallanes and the Rewilding Chile Foundation, a legacy of Tompkins Conservation. This agreement seeks to develop collaborative work in conservation and biodiversity recovery projects in the Magallanes region, with one of the main objectives being the monitoring and protection of the huemul. To this end, they will hold biannual meetings to review the actions to be taken and define a short, medium, and long-term action plan for monitoring this and other species.

“Thanks to this agreement, Rewilding Chile will be able to collaborate and actively support the work that CONAF is carrying out today with the monitoring and protecting the huemul in the Magallanes National Reserve and Laguna Parrillar National Reserve. Then, a second stage will be evaluated together, to be developed in the Kawésqar National Park and Bernardo O’Higgins National Park, all of this for the protection of the huemul and its habitat and the control and reduction of its threats,” explains Alejandra Silva, Regional Director of CONAF. In this way, Rewilding Chile will contribute with its professional team, rangers, logistics, and resources to protecting and conserving biodiversity in the Magallanes region.

Carolina Morgado, Executive Director of Rewilding Chile, explains that since 2018 there has been an agreement for joint work between both institutions. “That year, the collaboration agreement was signed to manage State Protected Wildlife Areas of the SNASPE that comprise the so-called Patagonian National Parks Network. Today we decided to move forward with this regional agreement, which will allow us to collaborate and join forces in extending the Foundation’s Wildlife Program in the Magallanes Region and thus act in favor of protecting and conserving native species in this region,” explained Carolina Morgado.

It should be noted that in May this year, Rewilding Chile and the Ministry of Agriculture launched the “National Huemul Corridor” (CNH). This public-private initiative seeks to restore biological corridors for the endangered species listed by the prestigious scientific journal Ecography as one of the 20 crucial species in the world to lead the restoration of ecosystems.