During my year studying in Chile, I have spent much of my time exploring the country’s remarkable network of protected landscapes. What I did not expect was to arrive in Cochamó just as another major project was being born. 

A month after my first visit, the 133,000-hectare landscape I had walked through became the focus of one of Chile’s most ambitious recent conservation successes. The project was called, “Conserva Puchegüín” and it was spearheaded by a small local non-profit Puelo Patagonia.

Curious how a locally led campaign had protected a place of such scale, I began looking into the story behind the valley. This photo essay explores the ecological and cultural importance of the Puchegüín property, the effort to protect it, and the challenges of conserving a place that is both inhabited and wild.

Click below to see the full story of Conserva Puchegüín… so far.