AdventureSmith is proud to have joined Exito Travel and Sustainable Travel International in donating to the development of a lenga tree nursery in Torres del Paine National Park in Chile through the Torres del Paine Legacy Fund. Voted as the fifth most beautiful place in the world by National Geographic, Torres del Paine is a trekker’s paradise. Since 1985 though, more than one fifth of Torres del Paine has been affected by man-made wildfires. Three especially devastating fires have occurred in the past 10 years, resulting in the loss of over 30,000 hectares of land.
Patagonia’s iconic lenga trees, native to Torres del Paine, have suffered the most from these fires. The new lenga tree nursery will be built in partnership between the Torres del Paine Legacy Fund and AMA Torres del Paine. Expected results on the project include an increase in the availability of seedlings to perform needed reforestation in the park, a reduction in the cost per lenga tree seedling planted in the park and increased awareness among visitors to Torres del Paine around forest fire prevention.
Through AdventureSmith and Exito Travel’s collective partner efforts, $17,852 was generated to be put towards the reforestation project, which currently has $58,000 in current commitments with a goal of $80,000 to see the project through. Our donations help secure the down payment on two greenhouses that were delivered to Torres del Paine in December. The Legacy Fund plans to have the nursery built by February 2016.
We are proud to be among the many helping to reforest Patagonia, and if you’re inspired to help or learn more about this project, visit the Torres del Paine Legacy Fund.
This post is among AdventureSmith Explorations’ extensive collection of travel guides. Find more on the AdventureSmith Travel Blog.
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I look forward to a future when Lenga trees are available for sales to homeowners like myself who would like to have Lenga trees in the homesite.
Thanks for reading, Joanna. They are indeed beautiful trees, and if you ever want to travel to see them in a home away from home, we’d be happy to tell you about some lovely properties we work with in Torres del Paine!