Ecobreves – CHILE: Unprecedented Campaign for Reforestation in Patagonia

By IPS Correspondents and - - Reprint | | Print |

SANTIAGO, May 14 2012 (IPS) - A campaign jointly organized by public and private agencies aims to plant one million trees in the Chilean region of Patagonia, which has lost more than three million hectares of native forest in the last 100 years through fires and logging. "Reforestemos Patagonia" (Let’s Reforest Patagonia) is the most ambitious native species reforestation initiative in Chilean history. Over the next year it plans to plant three different varieties of trees from the Nothofagus genus – lenga beeches, Antarctic beeches and coihues – in the Torres del Paine and Laguna San Rafael National Parks and the Lago Carlota, Cerro Castillo and Lago Rosselot Reserves.

“These forests are home to many endangered species, and recovering them is crucial in order to restore biodiversity, combat global climate change and protect our fragile environment,” Matías Rivera, executive director of the campaign, told Tierramérica.

Those who want to participate in the initiative can contribute one or more trees by visiting the campaign website at http://www.reforestemospatagonia.com.