More than 16,000 hectares (nearly 40,000 acres) were destroyed by a fire that forced the closure of Chile’s Torres del Paine National Park between December 29, 2011, and January 4, 2012, and caused permanent environmental damage in one of the most beautiful places in the world.

Breaking away from the common aspiration to travel in a warm and tropical destination can be difficult – but Patagonia makes it EASY. Mixing immense natural beauty, rich wildlife and satisfying activities makes Patagonia a must for active travellers. Traveling throughout Patagonia results in boundless vantage points of ice-tipped mountains, granite cliffs, and icebergs. Turquoise tinted glaciers, river valleys, tangled pine forests, and spongy grassland plains reward all who visit.

EcoCamp Patagonia is located at the very tip of South America, in the heart of Torres del Paine National Park in Chile, with a unique view of the majestic granite towers. The region’s first fully sustainable accommodation south of the Amazon and the first of its kind in the Patagonian wilderness, EcoCamp offers upscale camping in geodesic domes inspired by the region’s ancient nomadic inhabitants. Guests enjoy guided treks and wildlife excursions by day and Chilean food and wine at night.

By Marcela Torres

Co-management of protected areas by the State and local communities is one of the best ways to guarantee that tourism will provide economic and social benefits to many people who would otherwise be marginalized, and at the same time that it ensures protection of the environment on which these communities rely on for their income. An excellent example is the Soncor Sector of Los Flamencos National Reserve, in the Atacama Desert of the Antofagasta Region, in northern Chile.

Situated in the heart of Torres del Paine National Park in Chilean Patagonia, EcoCamp Patagonia has gained an award-winning reputation for its eco-friendly policies and innovative use of green technology. EcoCamp Patagonia, owned and operated by the Chilean in-bound tour operator Cascada Expediciones, is carbon neutral, 100% renewable energy, and carefully designed to minimize environmental footprint. EcoCamp’s dome design was inspired by the ancient nomadic Kaweskar inhabitants, who relocated within the park without leaving a trace.

By Jason Wire

Aysén is Chile’s third-largest region, about the size of Tennessee, and the most sparsely populated. It’s among the most remote and undisturbed areas of Patagonia, and could be changed forever by the largest hydroelectric project in the history of Chile. This is not just another forest. This is the largest river in Chile. These are among the most powerful rapids on the planet. These are the wildest and most pristine rivers within the wildest and most pristine area left on earth.

By Kim Lisagor

It’s a sad day in Patagonia. Despite a grassroots opposition effort that had spread across the globe in recent years, the Chilean government finally caved to corporate pressure and approved a $7 billion dollar hydropower project that will destroy one of the world’s most pristine places. The Aysén region’s last two free-flowing rivers – rivers so pure you can drink the water without consequence – will be dammed to create up to 2.75 gigawatts of electricity, enough to power hundreds of thousands of homes.

Travel is one of the biggest industries on Earth, and our economic power as travelers is enormous. When we’re mindful of where our money is going, we turn that power into political activism. Deciding which countries to visit—and where to eat, sleep and tour when we get there—are not trivial concerns. The way we travel has a real impact on the environment, human rights, and the way our home countries are perceived by people in other lands. Each year, Ethical Traveler conducts a study of developing nations and publishes the report “The World’s Best Ethical Destinations”.

By Eva Mossberg, TIES Travel Ambassador
Temuco, located 670 km south of Santiago, is the capital of the Arauncanía Region of Chile. The name means “water of temu”; “temu” is the name of a tree used by the Mapuche Indians for medicinal purposes. It is a town with poetic history: this is where Nobel Poet Pablo Neruda lived as a young man before travelling away from his disapproving father to Asia and beyond to further his career as a writer.