Photo: Francisco Espíldora
Winter festival celebrates Cerro Castillo National Park anniversary
To commemorate the protected area's first anniversary, we organized a series of free, community-focused activities emphasizing biodiversity conservation.
Cerro Castillo, created as a national reserve in 1970, became a National Park through an agreement between the State of Chile and Tompkins Conservation in 2018. Six years later, various local organizations came together to celebrate the park’s natural heritage.
Neighbors competed for first place in the sled race, showcased their creativity in snow sculpture creation, and explored the park’s biodiversity on snowshoe walks. These activities aimed to celebrate and highlight the importance of biodiversity and conservation. We invited everyone to the Portezuelo Ibáñez area to enjoy these entertaining winter activities for the whole family.
“I am very happy to have come. This is a great activity that brings together children, families, and sports we don’t usually have access to, such as snowshoeing. We learned about the local wildlife through playful activities like snow sculptures. It was a comprehensive activity for all family members,” commented Violeta, a Cerro Castillo resident.
We began the commemoration on Friday, July 25th, with the Santiago Wild Fest on Tour, Ladera Sur’s environmental and wildlife film festival. We screened several interesting documentaries and continued on Saturday, July 26th, with outdoor activities in the Portezuelo area.
“We invited everyone to connect with the beauty and biodiversity of our National Park, a refuge for the endangered huemul species. Through this community celebration, we aim to encourage the communities surrounding the protected area to protect this valuable ecosystem,”
“We invited everyone to connect with the beauty and biodiversity of our National Park, a refuge for the endangered huemul species. Through this community celebration, we aim to encourage the communities surrounding the protected area to protect this valuable ecosystem,” explained Carolina Cerda, director of community outreach at Fundación Rewilding Chile.
José Luis Pérez, Provincial Chief of Conaf Coyhaique, highlighted that this celebration exemplified how we can celebrate in harmony and with respect for the environment, thus promoting environmental education.
We organized the anniversary celebration with Conaf and Fundación Rewilding Chile through the Amigos del Parque Nacional Cerro Castillo program, with the collaboration of the Municipality of Río Ibáñez, Nols, Quelequen Rugby Club, Corporación de Turismo Parque Nacional y Villa Cerro Castillo, Club Andino de Cerro Castillo, and Ladera Sur.
