Chile on Monday launched a program to protect the Huimul, an endangered southern deer, by creating a biological corridor that includes an area recently donated by the family of late North Face founder Douglas Tompkins.
Both the Rebuild Chile Foundation, which is inherited by the Tompkins family, and the Chilean Ministry of Agriculture said the “Huemul National Corridor” will consist of about 16 connected areas protected by the state along with other special nature conservation initiatives.
“This joint public-private initiative seeks to reduce the threats to this species and to enhance the numbers of the Huimul deer in the key conservation areas of Patagonia Park Road,” the ministry said in a statement, adding that it will also build the first Huimul Rescue, Rehabilitation and Breeding Center. In the world.
Christine Tompkins, co-founder and president of the Rebuild Chile Foundation, met with Chilean President Gabriel Boric last week to donate 93,492 hectares of land to create a new national park in the Magallanes region.
“This is one of the reasons why this park is so important not only to Chile but to the world,” Tompkins told Reuters, adding that southern Chile is an important source of carbon sequestration due to its peat bogs and virgin forests. “This is a ‘great goal’ to conserve nature and combat the climate change crisis,” she added.
The huimul is one of two species of native deer found only in the Patagonian forests of Argentina and Chile. But deteriorating environmental conditions have plunged the Huimul deer population to less than 1 percent of its original numbers, according to data from the Chilean Ministry of Agriculture.
Adult huimul deer, also known as guimul, can reach a length of about 1.55 meters and a height of between 80 and 90 feet.
centimeters, while the weight of one of them reaches 68 kilograms. They are herbivores and live for about 14 years.
Although originally found in the regions of central Chile, the Huimul deer can now be seen mainly in the southernmost regions of Aisne and Magallanes.
“Species like the Humul deer wouldn’t survive if all the areas where they live weren’t connected, and that’s a very broad vision that will be a model for many other parts of the world and it will be the way to save this species,” Tompkins said.