Chile is moving forward with plans to establish a new national park at the country’s southernmost tip, a sparsely populated region often described as the “edge of the world.” The proposed protected area, located near the Strait of Magellan on the Brunswick Peninsula, would span roughly 150,000 hectares of subantarctic forests, peatlands, glaciers, and coastal ecosystems. The park is intended to protect vital habitats for threatened species such as the huemul deer, as well as rich marine life including whales, sea lions, and orcas. Large portions of the land have already been donated to the state by conservation organisations, paving the way for formal designation.
The proposed park is expected to strengthen Chile’s broader conservation network in Patagonia by connecting existing protected areas into a larger ecological corridor. Beyond wildlife protection, the initiative also aims to support carefully managed eco-tourism, with plans for low-impact visitor infrastructure that could bring sustainable economic benefits to nearby communities. By securing long-term protection for one of its most remote and fragile landscapes, Chile is reinforcing its commitment to biodiversity conservation in the face of climate change and growing environmental pressures. More