Klaus Schmidt-Hebbel
Reforest Patagonia is a non-profit organization that strives to be a leader in recognizing and recovering the environmental value of Chile’s ecosystems. We promote cultural change in relation to caring for the environment, recovering Chilean native forests and raising awareness about the importance of healthy, strong forests. Our mission is to reforest degraded ecosystems in Patagonia and aid the recovery of areas of high environmental value while at the same time raising awareness about the importance of these places.
The main partner of this project is CONAF (National Forestry Corporation). This is why, CONAF together with Patagonia Sur select the reforestation areas in the parks and national reserves. In the same way, they decide on the native species and the kind of protection needed depending on the natural threats of the area. Once these decisions are made, Patagonia Sur and their team, who have a great forestry experience, carry on the plantation process. The forestry teams are divided into smaller plating crews formed by a forestry engineer and technician, three lines markers or "jaloneros", nine planters and trained volunteers. .
The Foundation gets funding from the support of companies and the community. Any person can buy a tree through our webpage. You can get it for USD$7. This campaign needs the commitment of those who want to preserve the Chilean Patagonia. That is why any person, group of friends or company, from Chile or around the world, can support this campaign just by visiting our website, doing a wire transfer, giving direct contributions or by singing into our partner plan.
The USD$7 price includes the plant, its storage, transport, forestry operation and the protector, either individual or hexagonal fencing.
El Bosque de Diego
Con motivo de la celebración del Día internacional del Árbol, comenzamos un nuevo proyecto para nuestra iniciativa #ReforestemosMaule. Se trata de la primera actividad de reforestación que realizaremos al interior de un área silvestre protegida de la región del Maule, esta será en la Reserva Nacional Laguna Torca.
Este proyecto tiene como objetivo incorporar vegetación natural dentro de la matriz de bosque exótico que caracteriza al sector, contribuyendo al incremento de áreas naturales y de alto valor ecológico dentro de la reserva, y a la vez de potenciar la investigación sobre el establecimiento de especies nativas.
Es importante destacar que gran parte de este proyecto se financia gracias al aporte de la Familia de Diego Schmidt-Hebbel Niehaus, quienes a través de esta icónica reforestación, han querido realizar un homenaje en su memoria. También el día sábado 13 de julio se realizó una reforestación de 150 nuevos árboles nativos junto a la familia y amigos de Diego.
By Micaela Dazzarola (micadazzarola@gmail.com)
Martín Carrasco (martinjcarrasco@gmail.com)