Project Update: ATCF Grant Funds Trail Maintenance in the Cochamó Valley

Friends of Cochamo received a $10,000 grant from ATCF in 2020. JB Haab, program director of the Front Range Climbing Stewards and member of the board of Friends of Cochamo, gave us an update on the “From Horse Guides to Conservation Stewards, Chile” project.

“We have made major improvements to the main access trail leading into the Cochamó Valley, a U-shaped valley located in the Andes, in Los Lagos region of Chile. Not only did the trail need considerable work, but we also had many arrieros (horse packers) in the local community who were out of work and facing lost wages due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which shut down tourism in Cochamó like many other places. These arrieros built a very impressive 805 linear meters of boardwalks, a five-meter long bridge, a 15-meter guardrail, and 845 linear meters of sustainable trail. Perhaps even more impressive was how these funds helped galvanize support, spurring the arrieros and our sister organization, Organización Valle Cochamó raised more money to pay for work that went over our budget and also inspiring the next generation of conservationists to continue this work in the future.”

Conservation Making Great Headway in Patagonia

The Conservation Volunteers International Program (ConservationVIP) Project brought about a much-needed new trail to a region in the very highly trafficked Torres del Paine Park. In a park that witnesses an average of 150,000 international visitors per year, it’s paramount that conservation efforts take place to lessen the negative environmental impacts and strengthen the place for future travelers to enjoy! This project will be wrapping up at the end of February so stay tuned for a full report on all of the project successes!
 
To read about this project, it’s impacts, the origination of ConservationVIP and how this project made a difference for each of the people who contributed check out REI’s Squaring Travel with Conservation in Torres del Paine article.