Patagonia National Park: a reserve to protect Argentina's environmental, cultural and archaeological heritage

Just four years ago, the National Congress sanctioned the law creating the Patagonia National Park, an initiative that could be taken with the tenacity of several organizations interested in saving the Macábébiano, a bird endemic to Santa Cruz in danger of 39; extinction.

This protected area, of great natural beauty, contributes to the conservation of other endemic species such as orange chinchillon, reptiles and mountain flora. In turn, the plateau and its surroundings present, almost intact, many archaeological sites of great heritage value. As if all this were not enough, the region also includes the only glacier that does not come from the South American mountain range.

As was the case with the creation of other protected areas, one of the key elements was the Flora and Fauna Argentina Foundation, created by the North American multimillionaire philanthropist Douglas Tompkins, who died in December 2015 in an accident in his beloved Patagonia. . Over the years, this institution has purchased and donated about 34,000 hectares, which are now part of Patagonia National Park. To this we must add some 85,000 hectares acquired later and 55,000 others in the course of purchase to give to the national state.

In these lands is the emblematic Cave of the hands of the Pinturas River, declared World Heritage Site for its wonderful pictograms made by the first hunters-gatherers of Patagonia and forming part of the provincial park Cueva de las Manos.

The plateaus, cañadones and steppes, along turquoise lakes and streams, as well as verdant forests offer a wonderful combination of colors and landscapes. This added to the opportunity to visit the archaeological ruins, to cross a cougar or to see the legendary macá, makes the site a treasure for ecotourism.

One of Tompkins' big dreams was to see all of this territory, as well as the Patagonia National Park being created in Chile in a large binational park. The express wish of the Argentine authorities of the National Parks Administration and their Chilean counterparts is to make it possible.

Sofia Heinonen, president of the Flora and Fauna Argentina Foundation, translates this desire into words: "We must create a unique binational tourist destination between the two countries, thus creating the Yellowstone of South America".