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 Torres del Paine National Park between December
2011 and January 2012 inspired many people in Chile and other countries to
help.
For example, some firefighting 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.
Let’s do it! Hope is not lost yet!
This entry was originally posted by the author on June 6, 2012.
