New Zealand Celsias

The morning of May 4th, 2012 marked the official launch of Reforest Patagonia, a nonprofit, public-private campaign whose aim is to plant one million native trees (lenga, ñirre, and coigüe species) in six national parks and reserves in Chile’s Patagonia before the end of this year. 

Supported by companies like Coca-Cola and LAN Airlines alongside various branches of the Chilean government and over 65 of Chile's most recognized journalists, personalities, and celebrities, the campaign is the first of its kind in Chile and is slated to recover over 2,000 acres of protected wilderness in 2012 alone. 

Reforest Patagonia's Director, Matias Rivera comments that “in the past 100 years, more than 7.5 million acres of native forest in this area have been destroyed by fire and human intervention– the worst being in December, 2011 in Torres del Paine National Park, which motivated this native-tree reforestation campaign.”

Reforest Patagonia has drawn considerable attention in Chile especially due to theinnovative virtual forest platform through which trees are purchased. The platform is powered 100% by social media, gaming, and location-based technology– characteristics that have propelled the initiative to local fame. Each tree costs USD$4 and contributions are made principally through PayPal.

A new forest feature was recently rolled out where individuals, companies, schools, etc. can create their own forests and compete amongst other participants in their category.

Projected to reach the first 100,000 tree milestone in the coming weeks, Reforest Patagonia is now expanding internationally, seeking support from individuals and organizations outside of Chile. To learn more about the initiative please visitwww.reforestpatagonia.com or join the Facebook page.