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Photo Credit: Dietmar Temps

Patagonia is one of the last wild places on earth. Thanks to some courageous and motivated people its probably going to stay that way for a while.

A group called “Conservacion Patagonica” is dedicated to creating the Patagonia National Park and has already placed 460,000 acres of Patagonian habitat into permanent protection. This group is a motivated NGO that has already created an Argentinean park and has been working on its Chilean sister for years now. This group was founded by Kristine Tompkins, the former CEO of the Patagonia clothing company and husband of Douglas Tompkins. Douglas Tompkins and Yvon Chounaird, the founder of the Patagonia clothing company, went on an adventure to Patagonia over thirty years ago and it made a lasting impact on both of them. Yvon named his company after this place and Doug and his wife dedicated their lives to protecting it. Yvon’s and Doug’s story has recently been made into a surf/travel documentary called ’180 degrees south’, which is due to release in the spring of 2010.

This movie and this philanthropic organization are doing great things by raising awareness about the need to protect and conserve this area. Please check out the Conervacion Patagonica website to learn more and see how you can help. Also, check out the trailer for the documentary by woodshed films at their website. Currently, at the time of this post, I am in Patagonia helping this organization for a few weeks. Stay tuned for an update on my experience with this group.