Located in the southernmost region of South America, Patagonia spans for a breath-taking 260,000 square miles. It is characterized by stunning mountains, temperate rainforests, fjords, glaciers, steppe grasslands, and a unique array of wildlife. This region is also the flagship location of a famous clothing brand with the same name. The late Founder of North Face and Esprit, Doug Tompkins, and his wife, Kristine Tompkins, former CEO of Patagonia, have left a lasting legacy in Argentina and Chile, which we are going to explore today.
Today is World Rewilding Day and weÕre celebrating by releasing this very special episode with Carolina Morgado, the Executive Director of Rewilding Chile. Carolina met Doug in the early 90s while working for a rafting company. At that meeting, Doug encouraged her to become an environmental activist to oppose a new dam that would destroy the very river she was selling tours on. Doug and Carolina stayed in touch, and in 1995, Doug asked her to become a part of Tompkins Conservation to work on important conservation and activist initiatives for Chile. She has been with the company ever since.
Now, Carolina is the Executive Director of Rewilding Chile, a fully independent NGO that branched from Tompkins Conservation, along with Rewilding Argentina. In this episode, Carolina and I explore so many topics including her serendipitous meeting with Doug Tompkins and her early career with Tompkins Conservation, the evolution of conservation and activism in Chile, the current state of Patagonia, how Rewilding Chile and the Route of the Parks came to be, and the top projects they are working on today.
And now, dear friends, here is my conversation with, Carolina.