Meet the adventurer

We talk to the business mogul-turned-environmental leader who’s established 13 national parks and numerous rewilding projects across Chile and Argentina

Conservation pioneer Kristine Tompkins

Until the 1990s, you were the CEO of outdoor clothing brand Patagonia. What led you to move to Chile and devote your life to conservation?

My husband Doug [the late Douglas Tompkins, who cofounded the North Face and Esprit clothing companies before becoming a full-time conservationist] and I’d begun to see what was happening to the natural world. It was his idea to find opportunities where we could buy large tracts of land, aggregate them and turn them back over to the country in the form of national parks. It was obvious to us that it’s not enough just to conserve the land — it’s important to get people onto the land, to begin to love these places, so they can look after them long after we’re gone.

What were the initial challenges?

We were the first to do something like this, and we were foreigners, too, so were met with a lot of suspicion.

Also, there’s always conflict between those who want to protect the jewels of a place and those who’d like to cut the forest down. Two things happened that turned it around. One, we just decided we’d keep working and build infrastructure to welcome everyone. People started visiting the parks and they were shocked to see that everything we’d said we were doing was true. Two, the presidency of Chile changed: one president who wasn’t in favour of conservation rolled out, while the following president was very enthusiastic about our project. And we were learning: by then, we were four or five years into it.

What are some of the most memorable experiences you’ve had exploring Chile?

The adventures you remember are when everything goes wrong! Doug and I certainly had a lot of those, especially in the deep south, among volcanoes in southern Tierra del Fuego or in the Darwin Range on a two-week horseback ride into a completely trail-less region. Ultimately, it’s about the people you meet along the way.

In January, Tompkins Conservation helped reintroduce three jaguars to Argentina’s Iberá Wetlands, where the species had been absent for over 70 years. Why was this project important?

Keystone species are the ones that lay the foundation for all others. When we first got to Iberá in 1997, the place was crawling with capybaras, alligators and other species who’d just gone mad because there was no predator. The ecosystem was out of balance; that’s the main change we were addressing. But the other aim, just as important, is to see communities all throughout the province be proud to have jaguars back. It’s invigorated tourism, too. It’s been a great model for the social, cultural, economic and local-level benefits of rewilding species.

Many of the areas you’ve nurtured have become hot-ticket travel destinations. Any favourites?

We’ve been really involved in creating the Route of Parks in Chile, and I’d absolutely recommend that. If you’re hardy, go all the way from north to south — or you can start in the middle then go south. The thing about it is — and I’m not kidding — the whole 1,740 miles are varied: you go through pristine forests, then Patagonian grassland and so on. I could work for the tourist bureau!

If you were able to change one thing in the world of travel what would it be?

There’s an enormous gap between what the tourist industry is and where its responsibilities lie. The idea of travel companies going into fabulous places and skimming the cream off the top without leaving anything behind is a real moral issue, in my opinion. Travel companies have to help protect the very places they take tourists to. If the tourist industry isn’t contributing to the wellbeing of the ecology and communities, then it’s like fishermen overfishing the sea: you’re not going to have many places left. If we love something, we have to find a consistent way to participate in its wellbeing.

INTERVIEW: ANGELA LOCATELLI

Satopia Travel, in partnership with Journeys with Purpose, offers travellers the chance to meet Kris, co-founder and president of Tompkins Conservation, on a Hosted Experience in Argentina.

tompkinsconservation.org satopiatravel.com