Puchegüín has more than 58,819 hectares of primary temperate forests —in alarming decline worldwide—, playing a crucial role in the fight against climate change. Of this total, 17,737 hectares are forests of Patagonian cypress, the longest-living species on the planet, which make up almost 10 % of Chile’s cypress forests.

This territory is an area of great biological wealth: its forests are home to numerous endemic and endangered species, such as the huemul deer, the Patagonian vizcacha, the Darwin’s frog, and the monito del monte, one of the few marsupials in South America.

Additionally, Puchegüín is home to a unique mountain community with a deeply rooted gaucho culture, characterized by its self-sustaining lifestyle based on small-scale agriculture and livestock farming, as well as rural tourism.

Finally, Puchegüín is a critical source of water resources, as it has an extensive hydrographic network that includes 507 hectares of glaciers, 372 km of riverbanks, peat bogs, 150 hectares of wetlands, as well as 41 km of lake and lagoon shores. All of the above makes it essential for the potable water supply for rural communities living in the Puelo and Cochamó river basins throughout the year, as it houses strategic headwaters that ensure the availability and quality of water resources for human consumption, productive activities, and energy generation in local communities.

Discover what Puchegüín protects and its conservation objects here.