Words by Carolyn McCarthy, Global Communications Coordinator at Tompkins Conservation
Tompkins Conservation, together with its partner Rewilding Argentina, has helped to conserve more than 14.2 million acres in the Southern Cone, a region comprising the southernmost areas of South America. In doing so, they have created national terrestrial and marine parks and rewilded extirpated species as a strategy to combat the climate and biodiversity crises. After the passing of Douglas Tompkins in 2015, the foundation continues under the leadership of co-founder and president Kristine McDivitt Tompkins.
In 1997, Douglas and Kristine Tompkins, American business leaders turned conservationists, landed on a postage-stamp island in northeast Argentina, near the borders of Paraguay, Brazil and Uruguay. The Iberá wetlands rank among South America’s largest, the watery heart of a thirsty continent. Colonized in the 16th century, the region had been hard on wilderness, much of which was converted into ranches and pine plantations. Doug saw potential. Alongside him, Kristine felt the heat and insects and hoped for a fast exit.
Instead, Doug purchased the property and began to acquire adjacent land, kicking off the largest wetlands restoration project in the Southern Cone. The organization they started in Argentina, now known as Rewilding Argentina, eventually donated 360,000 acres which would become Iberá National Park in 2018.
Doug’s vision had the potential to go even further. “Soon enough,” said Kristine Tompkins, “it became evident that Iberá was a gold mine of biodiversity. But much of that had gone extinct.”
It was time to see though restoration to the next level via rewilding.
In 2007, the first native species to be restored was the giant anteater, through the rescue of young orphans from other parts of northern Argentina. Since the rehabilitation and reintroduction of 72 individual giant anteaters, their population has more than doubled. They were followed by pampas deer, a group that was translocated to Iberá has become Argentina’s largest population. Rewilding Argentina has since brought back collared peccaries, bare-faced currasows, green-winged macaws, red-legged seriemas, and a pair of giant river otters which await full release. Yet, the most important step in re-establishing a healthy and functioning ecosystem has yet to be taken.
“The jaguar occupies the top of the food chain in Iberá,” according to Sebastián Di Martino, director of the foundation’s rewilding program. “Its presence is vital to achieve a healthy and complete ecosystem with a full complement of species serving their ecological role.”
So, after a seventy-year absence, jaguars (Panthera onca) will be coming back to Iberá this year, when Rewilding Argentina will release five young jaguars into the wetlands.
With an historic range all the way from North America to Argentina, the population in Corrientes province disappeared as they were hunted and lost habitat. In 2015, Rewilding Argentina built the Jaguar Reintroduction Center, the largest onsite feline breeding center in the hemisphere, the first step in bringing this keystone species back.
On the way to fulfilling their ecological role, the jaguars also represent a leading attraction for nature-based tourism in this little-known region of Argentina. With the creation of the national park, gateway communities whose populations were in decline have already increased opportunities for employment as guides, rescuing equestrian and boating traditions in the wetlands, as tours, hotel services and restaurant offerings expand.
Today, exploring the wetlands by boat or on foot, one comes upon snapping caiman and families of capybara, the world’s largest rodent. Both species have sizable populations that would provide an important food source to the jaguars. In the evenings, the wetlands come alive with the calls of hundreds of bird species, swamp deer and maned wolf.
Two decades after Doug Tompkins’ first foray to the region, the wetlands are once again pulsing with life.
Our original Natural World Heroes campaign marked the 10-year anniversary of Natural World Safaris. To celebrate a decade of adventure in the natural world, we interviewed 10 extraordinary heroes that specialise in the destinations, wildlife and habitats that we take our clients to.
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Thirty years ago, Kristine Tompkins and Douglas Tompkins left the corporate world to start a trailblazing conservation journey, rebuilding ecosystems in Argentina and Chile. Today, the work initiated by Tompkins Conservation is being continued by offspring organizations Rewilding Chile and Rewilding Argentina. Their mission is to restore and rebuild the natural world.
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Today, exploring the wetlands by boat or on foot, one comes upon snapping caiman and families of capybara, the world’s largest rodent. Both species have sizable populations that would provide an important food source to the jaguars. In the evenings, the wetlands come alive with the calls of hundreds of bird species, swamp deer and maned wolf. Two decades after Doug Tompkins’ first foray to the region, the wetlands are once again pulsing with life.
It’s the dead of winter on the Patagonian steppe, which means that the tawny colors are faded, red-rock canyons are dry and snow covers the meseta, high tablelands bordering Chile. Emiliano Donadio is leading a team tracking pumas (Puma concolor) with radio collars. After walking cross country for several miles, they spot two cubs with their mother near the carcass of a guanaco, a native South American camelid. Quick as they’re spotted, the pumas streak across the landscape, their escape assisted by the camouflage of winter hues.
For Donadio, working with the pumas has been a process. In the province of Santa Cruz, where raising livestock has been the livelihood of the past century, pumas still bolt when they see a human figure. Not so in Torres del Paine National Park, some 500 miles south, where the species has become a magnet for wildlife watchers. Donadio thinks they could also become an attraction here.
By garnering the support of the local community, nature-based tourism is also a conservation strategy. He explains, “The top predator of Patagonia, the puma plays a fundamental role in maintaining the natural dynamic in the ecosystem it inhabits. Pumas prey on large herbivores, favoring the growth of vegetation and the removal of sick animals, thus containing the spread of disease, and providing food to endangered scavengers like the Andean condor.”
In the newest section of the park, Cañadon Pínturas, new trails span across the steppe and twist down into the canyon where ancient rock art tells the story of nomads who roamed the region for over a thousand years. The park is adjacent to La Cueva de las Manos (the Cave of the Hands), a UNESCO World Heritage Site, where pictographs of guanaco hunts demonstrate the longstanding relationship humans and wildlife have shared in this place, though these days this South American camelid is at only ten percent of its original population.
While the guanaco are known to winter in the lower canyon floors and summer on the vast mesetas, using radio collars will give Donadio and his team more precise information on their migration patterns that could be very useful. The team is also studying other Patagonian wildlife, including the vizcacha, Andean condor, and Austral rail, to collect valuable data that willhelp in their conservation.
Back on the steppe, the pumas continue their retreat over the rugged terrain. In previous weeks, the family has been observed playing, feeding and resting. Though they emit a regular radio signal, on this day they prove elusive, as concerned about their own survival as those following behind them.
In his last job, Daniel Velazquez managed 5,000 sheep on the land that would eventually become Patagonia National Park in 2018. Like many of the large ranches throughout Patagonia, Estancia Valle Chacabuco was overgrazed and no longer turning a profit. When Kristine Tompkins purchased the land in 2004, she saw the potential for something different: returning the valley to its lush grasslands, with deep beech forests, lakes and alpine peaks. Located between two national reserves, the ranch acted as a barrier preventing wildlife from fully using the vast expanse that could be at their disposal.
Today, 400 miles of fencing has been removed, along with the livestock, and fragile ecosystems have begun their long recovery. Thousands of guanacos graze the valley, preyed upon by a population of pumas that are frequently sighted. There’s also Andean condors, flamingos that take up seasonal residence in the lagoon, armadillos and a host of other animals. Tompkins Conservation Chile’s rewilding program works with puma, Andean condor, Darwin’s rhea and huemul. Darwin’s rhea, locally known as ñandu, almost went extinct in the park, but is coming back thanks to a reproduction center located within the park, where over sixty chicks have been raised and released.
Explore the awe-inspiring wilderness of Patagonia; visit the Perito Moreno Glacier, kayak through Lake Argentino and visit the wonderful town of Bariloche. Travelling to Argentina would not be the same without a visit to Patagonia. Marvel at the stunning landscapes of Southern Patagonia including the awe-inspiring Perito Moreno Glacier before visiting Northern Patagonia’s extraordinary Lake District region including the quaint artisanal chocolate producing town of Bariloche.
From 6000 per person
A complete Argentinean adventure; experience the breathtaking Iguassu Falls, the verdant wetland and wildlife haven of Esteros del Ibera, the marine wildlife of the Valdes Peninsula and the characterful city of Buenos Aires on this ultimate safari across Argentina. Visit relaxed Bariloche and enjoy chocolatier workshops and a day hike and spend time on a traditional Argentinian ranch.
From 14000 per person
A wild safari throughout Argentina's most prolific wildlife areas, from the Valdes Peninsula to Esteros del Ibera. Starting with the roar of cascading water at beautiful Iguassu, you then head to Esteros del Ibera, where you may see capybara and caiman in Argentina’s answer to the Pantanal as well as abundant birdlife and perhaps even a glimpse of the elusive Jaguar!
From 8000 per person
Head out into the wild in search of Patagonia’s elusive apex predator, with your own private puma tracking guide, in this Classic Chile Safari. Take part in an array of activities in and San Pedro de Atacama and spend time in the Atacama Desert, visiting the likes of The Valley of the Moon.
From 13000 per person
Not far from the oasis of San Pedro de Atacama, experience Chile’s dramatic Atacama desert; surrounded by volcanoes, salt flats, ravines and lagoons.
Yet the park’s most distinguished species is its most endangered. The huemul is an Andean deer reduced to a population of 2000 individuals worldwide. Patagonia National Park protects 10% of the total population, and has seen its own park population triple as threats, such as dogs and hunters, have been eliminated, and the huemul territory has expanded. For a glimpse of the rarest of mammals, it’s essential to join Daniel Velazquez on a long walk in the woods. He spends most of his time monitoring this shy herbivore, following it off the trail through steep mountain pitches of lenga forest. In a quiet clearing we observe a collared doe with her fawn, grazing in the underbrush. They register his group’s presence, but do not move away. Here, deep in the cool austral forest, it’s possible for people and wildlife to coexist.
