Soledad Corti Otaegui de Chile ha plantado 1 árbol en la Patagonia.
Soledad Corti Otaegui de Chile ha plantado 1 árbol en la Patagonia.
Árboles plantados
Located 23 kilometers from the city of Coyhaique in the Aysén Region, the Dos Lagunas Natural Monument was originally created in 1967 as a ‘Tourism Park’ to protect forests that safeguard soil and renewable natural resources, while highlighting its ecotourism potential.
It is one of two Natural Monuments in the Aysén Region and connects the regional capital with Argentina via the ‘Coyhaique Alto’ border crossing. Although two-thirds of its surface area is land, the remaining third defines its primary identity: it houses the ‘El Toro’ and ‘Escondida’ lagoons, which give the monument its name.
In Chile, there are only 18 areas categorized as Natural Monuments, created ‘to conserve a specific feature or a determined species of flora or fauna by declaring a region, an isolated feature, or a species as an inviolable natural monument, except for duly authorized scientific research or government inspections’ (CONAF).
In this case, the Dos Lagunas Natural Monument features a transitional environment between the Patagonian Steppe and the Aysén Deciduous Forest, ‘protecting what in ecology is known as an ecotone—that is, transition zones between two or more ecological communities. This becomes even more critical given that the area surrounding the Natural Monument is predominantly used for livestock and forestry, leading to evident ecosystem degradation and subsequent loss of biodiversity’ (CONAF).
The Dos Lagunas Natural Monument is located in a vegetation transition zone between the Patagonian steppe and semi-dense second-growth native forests, composed mainly of Lenga (Nothofagus pumilio) and Ñirre (Nothofagus antarctica), emblematic native trees of the region.
With multiple watercourses flowing around the monument, vital spaces are formed where plant and animal species representative of an ecotone thrive and move. These waterways typically align with the denser sections of the forest, creating biological corridors used by local wildlife.
The presence of multiple micro-watersheds has created a vital habitat for numerous bird species that use this area as a nesting site, notably protecting the Magellanic woodpecker, red-gartered coot, and black-necked swan. Meanwhile, mammals such as the Culpeo fox and the armadillo find shelter within its forests.
Dos Lagunas Natural Monument has experienced varying degrees of human impact over time, primarily due to livestock farming and fires, which altered its native vegetation. However, patches of native forest still remain in their natural state. Since 2016, Fundación Reforestemos—then known as Reforestemos Patagonia—has been committed to helping restore the native forest within this protected area.
At the Dos Lagunas Natural Monument Project, we carry out the following work:
Through various initiatives involving both the public and local institutions, we have planted 32,700 lenga trees (Nothofagus pumilio)—a species native to the Patagonian Andean forests of Chile and Argentina—across 16.94 hectares.
We have hosted corporate volunteering events alongside Coca-Cola, Samsonite, and Gnomo—companies that have brought their employees to experience reforestation firsthand.
As with all of our projects, we conduct monitoring during the first three to five years following planting.