Native forests in Torres del Paine National Park.
© HernánTorres
by Marcela Torres
The
disastrous fire that razed 17,606 hectares (43,505 acres) of forests in Torresdel Paine National Park between December 2011 and January 2012 inspired many
people in Chile and other countries to help.
For
example, some fire fighting brigades from Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and
Australia, came to provide assistance in controlling the emergency. Other
people, in turn, raised their voices through the social networks demanding
greater responsibility in tourism and support for the reforestation of
Patagonia. Response was quick and in this entry we highlight two initiatives
that bring hope for Torres del Paine National Park.
Rotem Zinger and the “Black to Green” Campaign
Who is
Rotem Zinger? The Israeli tourist who caused the last fire in the Park. To
avoid extending the trial against him, in February 2012 Zinger settled with the
Puerto Natales Court a payment of 10 thousand United States dollars in
compensation for the damages resulting from his actions and he will have to
work as a volunteer between one and two years for the international
non-governmental organization Keren Kayemet LeIsrael –which specializes in
reforestation and has an office in Chile- taking over the role of coordinating
the campaign “Torres del Paine, from Black to Green”.
The aim
is to raise funds to reproduce at least 50,000 plants of native forest species
in greenhouses in Puerto Natales that are owned by the National Forestry
Corporation (CONAF) –government agency that manages protected areas in Chile-
in order to use them in the reforestation of the National Park. Zinger is
forced to promote the initiative through different media, particularly among
the Jewish community in Chile and its website, replicating the campaign carried
out in 2011 to reforest Mount Carmel in Israel. In addition, he will need to
present progress reports every three months to CONAF.
Although
public opinion in Chile did not initially believe he would see this campaign
through, something has already been done. On April 22 the initiative was
officially launched with a call to the Chilean Jewish community in to continue
showing its loyalty to Chile and Israel by supporting this effort to bring back
the green to Torres del Paine.
Donations
are being received in the following account:
Corporación
Keren Kayemet Leisrael FNJ Chile
RUT
65.009.118-3
Banco
Corpbanca
Cuenta
Corriente Nº 3331692
Let’s Reforest Patagonia
At the
beginning of May, a campaign called “Let’s Reforest Patagonia” was launched by
several governmental institutions and non-governmental environmental
organizations. This original initiative seeks to organize citizens to donate 1
million native trees that will be planted in the Torres del Paine and Laguna
San Rafael national parks and in the Lago Carlota and Cerro Castillo national
reserves during 2012.
How does
this work? For each US $4.00, people making donations will be able to have a
tree under their name in Patagonia. A grid is displayed on the website with
green trees and burnt trees. To make a donation, a person must click on a burnt
tree. Once the transaction has been made, the person receives a certificate
with the coordinates of the place where the tree will be planted.
So far,
the campaign has obtained funds to reforest more than 67,000,000 trees,
according to the website’s counter. Therefore, there’s still time to help
restore the beautiful Chilean Patagonia.
