Goldman Sachs and Wildlife Conservation Society in an Unprecedented Ecological Alliance to Preserve Chilean Wilderness

The Chilean lands contain the world's southernmost old-growth forest, including extensive stands of lenga trees, which are a type of southern beech. A number of other rare ecosystems of high conservation value are found there, including peat bogs, rich alpine meadows, river systems, grasslands, and snow-capped mountains. In addition, the land supports an unusual complex of three different sub-Antarctic wetland systems covering one third of the land. This is probably the only place in the world where all three major peat bog systems ("turbas") are aggregated into a single large area.

It is a major milestone in the vital, emerging role of the private sector in saving wild lands and wildlife—and underscores the increased possibilities for conservation success when the private sector is engaged. In fact, the protection of wildlife and wild lands worldwide ultimately depends on such engagement—the work of non-profit organizations such as the Wildlife Conservation Society, and government entities can only go so far. Goldman Sachs has taken a leadership role by demonstrating how commitment to conservation from the private sector can help to ensure a future for the natural world.

The Chilean lands are home to at least 77 bird species, including the Magellanic woodpecker (a distant cousin of the fabled and likely extinct ivory-billed woodpecker of the Southern United States), firecrown hummingbird, and austral parakeet, and 23 species of mammal, including guanaco and the culpeo fox. The guanaco—a South American relative of the camel—migrates up to 60 kilometers (37 miles) through the landscape from the coastal steppe to the hilly regions. The area also contains more than 700 species of plants, including the largest remaining blocks of old-growth lenga and mixed sub-Antarctic forests in the world.

Separated from the mainland of South America by the Straits of Magellan, the Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego (which translates to "land of fire") was named by Ferdinand Magellan in 1520 when he spotted bonfires made by Ona or Selk'nam indigenous people to ward off the cold. More than 300 years later, Charles Darwin wrote about Tierra del Fuego's native people and unique wildlife he encountered while on his historic scientific expedition aboard the H.M.S. Beagle.

Goldman Sachs Charitable Fund decided that WCS's 100-plus year history of science-based, innovative conservation work throughout the world, including more than four decades of continued conservation activities in the "Southern Cone" of South America made them the ideal choice to receive the Chilean lands. WCS is known globally to be in it "for the long haul". They are committed to long-term involvement in the areas in which they work, and are equally known for working with local people to find real solutions to conservation issues.

In 1903 naturalist William Beebe embarked on his first international expedition to study birds in Mexico. Thus began WCS's century of protecting wildlife and wild lands in Latin America.

WCS has been working to conserve the wildlife and wild lands of the Southern Cone of South America since the 1960s, when WCS scientists began working to protect Argentina's Magellanic penguins, South American sea lions, southern elephant seals, Andean flamingos and southern right whales. During the 1980s and 1990s, WCS expanded its activities in the region to include other marine sites, and recently helped to establish the Patagonia Coastal Zone Management Plan. In terrestrial regions, WCS is working on the Patagonian steppes to safeguard habitats of fox, puma, mara, and Andean cat.

WCS works with Chilean organizations in Bernardo O'Higgins National Park, a spectacular protected area known for its fjords, glaciers, and sub-Antarctic rainforests. WCS also supports blue whale conservation in southern Chile and research of southern sea birds found in this diverse region.

With approximately 45 conservation projects ongoing today in Latin America, WCS brings a wealth of knowledge and experts: from leading authorities on the culpeo fox to WCS's field veterinarians who have conducted pioneering studies of guanaco and other South American species for nearly a decade.

WCS is committed to developing the reserve in cooperation with a distinguished Advisory Board composed mainly of renowned scientists and members of the private sector, principally Chileans. The first agreement adopted by this Board was to name the reserve "Karukinka," meaning "our land"—the original name given to this area in the language of the Selk'nam, a now-extinct indigenous people of Tierra del Fuego Island.

This new model of conservation is based on the promotion of public-private cooperation, local-global interaction, and national and international participation to develop new mechanisms of economic sustainability that allow the implementation of conservation initiatives in Chile. Karukinka reflects both domestic and trans-Andean efforts for the conservation of flora and fauna in the wild, establishing an articulated network of protected and productive areas.

WCS has established five conservation goals for the reserve: Management of the Property; Control of Invasive Species; Research and Monitoring; Sustainable Development; and Conservation Beyond Karukinka.

To date, WCS has already established a permanent presence of park rangers that enables us to protect key areas in Karukinka; started large-scale experiments to evaluate the effect of beaver control on the recovery of ecosystems; begun research on guanaco ecology and analysis of the guanaco's migratory processes on Tierra del Fuego; developed a Public Use Plan which emphasizes research, education, and tourism for conservation; and supported conservation of the huemal deer in Bernardo O'Higgins National Park—the largest and least protected park in Chile.

This year's highlights include the addition of a 40,000-hectare (98-acre) strip of land along the coast to the reserve and the opening of hiking trails and a new lodge for visitors.

Goldman Sachs Charitable Fund acquired the property in December 2003 as a result of a legal settlement with the Trillium Corporation, which had planned to establish a logging operation on the island. Upon receipt of the Chilean lands, Goldman Sachs Charitable Fund announced its decision to protect it from logging, choosing instead to establish a conservation project. Goldman Sachs Charitable Fund interviewed all the major global conservation organizations based in the United States. At the end of this deliberative process, the Wildlife Conservation Society was chosen as the best partner, based on its record in Latin America, its success in working with local communities, and its vision for conservation.