Founded: August 09, 2018
Area: 994,332 acres
Donated area: 724,854 acres
Ecosystem: Temperate rainforest
Estimated carbon sequestration: 229.3 million metric tons
Location: Los Lagos Region

Pumalín means “watery place” in the language of the Huilliche people (“Pu” is place, and “malín” is marshland or flooded area). This spot is a beautiful mosaic of ancient forests that abruptly give way to fjords, rivers, granite walls, glaciers, volcanoes, waterfalls, and lakes suspended in mountain heights. It’s also home to 25% of the thousand-plus-year-old alerce trees (Fitzroya) still growing in Chile today. The temperate, or Valdivian, rainforest was untouched by the ice that covered most of this region 14,000 years ago, which kept these unique forests and their many endemic species protected for millennia. Here, Douglas Tompkins began carrying out his vision of conserving Chilean Patagonia––a vision still alive today in the Route of Parks of Patagonia.

During the park creation process, we also carried out various eco-restoration efforts. For 15 years, this included a native forest restoration project, using the native species nursery garden Alerce 3000 as home base. Located in Vodudahue, this project was the first of its kind, and it led to the production of more than 160,000 native trees, all of which were planted in the park. This included 45 thousand alerces, 23 thousand ciprés de las guaitecas, and more than 27 thousand ciprés de la cordillera.

Beginning in the year 2000, the project also included the propagation of different species, increasing production to more than 60 thousand plants annually. Seeds were collected in the reforested areas, helping to carry on this spot’s unique genetic legacy. These efforts led to the restoration of nearly 400 acres of forest with 23 native species, 60% of which were alerce, ciprés de las guaitecas, and ciprés de la cordillera, prioritizing reforestation in areas where there had been human settlements, logging, and agriculture that had long degraded the ecosystem.