Landmark Partnership Preserves Pristine Wilderness in Tierra del Fuego

In 2004, the firm entered into a landmark public-private partnership with the Wildlife Conservation Society to establish the Karukinka Natural Park on the island of Tierra del Fuego, Chile.

In 2004, Goldman Sachs and the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) announced an unprecedented partnership to protect in perpetuity a vast tract of wilderness at the southernmost edge of South America, on the Chilean side of the island of Tierra del Fuego. This first of its kind public-private alliance created a nature preserve for the Chilean people that today spans over 735,000 acres, with the vast majority of acreage having been donated by Goldman Sachs to WCS for its conservation as a major ecological resource.

The naturalist Charles Darwin described Tierra del Fuego’s uniqueness in the 1830s while on his historic scientific expedition aboard the H.M.S. Beagle, saying, “A single glance at the landscape was sufficient to show me how widely different it was from anything I had ever beheld.” Home to alpine meadows, old-growth forests, peat bogs, snow-capped mountains, and extraordinary wildlife, the land was donated to ensure the conservation of this uncommon landscape and its wildlife for future generations.

Together, Goldman Sachs and WCS worked with Chilean conservationists and other partners to establish the park, develop a sustainable use plan and preserve the region’s unique ecological characteristics. The park – named Karukinka – has become a model for protecting endangered terrestrial and marine landscapes, combating invasive species and running successful public-private partnerships for conservation.

 

This article was originally published as part of a series commemorating the 150th anniversary of Goldman Sachs’ founding in 1869.