In December 2025, after years of hard work and tireless fundraising, a coalition of conservation groups, scientists and community members called Conserva Puchegüín was able to purchase a tract of wild land called Fundo Puchegüín, protecting Cochamó Valley and the surrounding area forever.

Cochamó Valley is just 10 percent of Fundo Puchegüín, a roughly 329,000-acre plot of Chilean land that connects over 4 million acres of protected areas across Chile and Argentina. It is a paradise of biodiversity and a major carbon sink like the Amazon and Alaska's Tongass National Forest. And because the local community has been fighting extractive development for decades, it is one of the few natural places left on our home planet.

So when Fundo Puchegüín was put up for sale at Christie's in 2022 alongside beachfront mansions and investment properties, the community rallied to save it. Now that they have succeeded, their vision for what comes next is an entirely new model of grassroots conservation.

Conserva Puchegüín's management plan is led and co-created by the local community. They went door to door to every house in the Valley, some taking two days to get to on horseback, to ensure that every voice is included. Their approach will protect wildlife and natural resources, as well as encourage responsible tourism and recreation that honors their traditional lifeways.