“We want to generate tourism, but not as a destination, but to offer a unique experience for someone who wants to encounter nature, away from civilization”, said Dr. Steven Sanderson, president and executive director of the WCS.

A new walking trail is the latest joined work between the WCS and the Chilean Government, in order to attract people to this true southern treasure. The path will link the plateaus to the rocky coastal areas of Karunkinka, and the construction of its 34 kilometers will be finished by next December, just in time for the tourist season. It is the first one that takes to the seaside of the park, inhabited by penguins and elephant seals among other species. All this added to the 64 kilometers of trekking paths and 193 kilometers of bike roads that are currently in existence.

“Karunkinka is the center of the end of the world, and the most significant protected area in Tierra del Fuego. It’s still unknown, even though it holds peat and wetlands of great importance for climatic change”, Sanderson emphasized.

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This overpopulation is such that, as explained by the Regional Secretary for the Ministry of Agriculture, Manuel Bitsch, the guanaco population increases by 10.000 each year. Bitsch explained that guanaco hunting in Tierra del Fuego has been authorized for the last 6 years, precisely, to avoid the species overpopulation which – he stressed – affects mainly the lenga forests native to the south of this area. However, he clarified that this hunting is not recreational, but it is controlled and regulated, the animals are properly slaughtered and processed, and the meats are used both regionally and abroad.

According to the statistics managed by Agriculture, in the 70’s, when the hunting was not regulated, there were 20.000 guanacos in Tierra del Fuego, nowadays the number has reached 200.000.

“It is fundamental to highlight that the SAG in Magallanes conducts an annual census and inspections on the guanaco population in Tierra del Fuego; both tools deliver the necessary information to ensure that the control methods are not harmful and do not affect the species’ survival”, concluded Gerardo Otzen, regional director of the SAG.

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“Thousands of people come to visit the CuevadelMilodón Natural Monument every year. It is for this reason, and to avoid the tourists focusing only on the large cave, we wanted to enhance this attraction, with new signage for orientation and information as well as other new elements meant to make the visit more interesting and lasting”, said AndreaTéllez, Regional Director of Sernatur.

“This project follows the line of Conaf to put the wild natural areas at the service of the community. This is why we wanted to improve the CuevadelMilodón Monument, so that the people who visit us have access to better information” stated José Fernández, Regional Director of Conaf.

“It is a very innovative project, with the main purpose of ensuring the stay of the tourists for a longer period of time. Currently we have a “full day”, which is a half an hour visit, and this project is trying to optimize this”, commented Rodrigo Rodríguez, CuevadelMilodón Natural Monument’s administrator.

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