Valdivian Coastal Reserve

As part of a much larger native evergreen forest that is one of only five temperate rainforests on Earth, this 59,690-hectare reserve in the Valdivian Coastal Range in southern Chile helps to safeguard an ecosystem that, over the past century, has been reduced by 50 percent.

Two of the planet’s longest living tree species grow only here.

Olivillo trees can live 400 years and survive in large stands on the western slopes of this range. Alerce trees have life spans of 3,600 years or more; experts estimate that just 15 percent of the original alerce forests remain.

This forest provides habitat for a diverse and unique community of wildlife, including one of the world’s largest woodpeckers and its smallest deer, a small tree-dwelling marsupial considered by scientists to be a living fossil, and threatened species such as the Endangered southern river otter (Lontra provocax). Additionally, at least 58 bird species have been identified here.

The Global Conservation Fund along with The Nature Conservancy and World Wildlife Fund collaborated to purchase the property on which the reserve is located and to support a Chilean partner to take on responsibility of managing and protecting the Valdivian Coastal Reserve.