Protection of Chilean Patagonia Grew in 2018 but Work Remains

Photos highlight the need to safeguard more of region’s land and ocean

Article By: Francisco Solís Germani
Projects: Chilean Patagonia
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Protection of Chilean Patagonia Grew in 2018 but Work Remains

Chilean Patagonia, a region of stunning scenery, rich biodiversity, and sparse permanent settlements, has long been in need of long-term conservation. In 2018, the country’s government took great steps toward achieving that in parts of the region.

During 2018, the government published three important decrees, creating two new marine protected areas and one national park. Chile now has 21 percent of its land and 42 percent of its seas under some degree of protection.

Although more remains to be done to sufficiently safeguard the natural treasures of Chilean Patagonia, the new year begins with much to celebrate. The images below showcase the region’s delicate ecosystem and help highlight the importance of protecting it. 

Chilean Patagonia spans 266,279 square kilometers (102,810 sq. miles), an area the size of New Zealand. A photo from above shows a bay called Estero Coloane, in Isla Hoste, one of Chile’s southernmost islands, in the Alberto de Agostini National Park.
Nicolás Piwonka
Almost 40 percent of the land and sea in Chilean Patagonia—including the Señoret Peninsula on Navarino Island (shown here)—is made up of archipelago.
Nicolás Piwonka
Peatlands extend toward the horizon on Grevy Island in the Cabo de Hornos National Park. Some 70 percent of Chile’s peatland and wetland ecosystems are in Patagonia.
Nicolás Piwonka
A huemul, an endangered type of deer, stands in the Cerro Castillo National Park, one of the 18 national parks of Chilean Patagonia that together cover a total of 87,616 square kilometers (33,829 square miles), an area the size of Austria.
Tomás Munita
In the next decade, visits to Chilean protected areas, such as this forest in the Patagonia National Park, could increase by 60 percent, according to the government of Chile.
Tomás Munita
A sea shrimp peers out from beneath a seaweed leaf in the waters off Madre de Dios Island, in the region of Magallanes. During the past five years more than 50 marine species have been discovered in Chilean Patagonia.
Nicolás Piwonka
The national parks of Patagonia feature more than 51,600 kilometers (32,062 miles) of coastline, including this segment of Yendegaia National Park, which was designated in 2011 in the Magallanes region.
Nicolás Piwonka
More than 40,000 islands make up Chilean Patagonia; Cook Island, in the Alberto de Agostini National Park, is one of them.
Nicolás Piwonka
The waters of the Seno Helado fjord glow in the Kawésqar National Park. This park, which is larger than Haiti, has only one park ranger.
Nicolás Piwonka
Nearly 70 percent of the glaciers in the southern cone of the planet are in Chilean Patagonia, including this one in the Fouque Fjord, in the Alberto de Agostini National Park.
Nicolás Piwonka

Francisco Solis Germani directs The Pew Charitable Trusts’ work in Chile’s Patagonia region.