Patagonia National Park Welcomes 24 Newly Certified Guides in Tourism, Conservation, and Trekking
The initiative considered a complete training process focused on local guides to deepen their knowledge related to protected areas, rewilding and tourism experiences.
In a ceremony held on December 18 in the Lucía Rabanal Palma Auditorium of the Liceo Bicentenario in Chile Chico, a group of nature-loving students were able to obtain their certification approved by the Chilean Association of Mountain Guides, ACGM.
“It is important what happened in these three months that the training lasted. I believe that the knowledge we acquired both from the university and the ACGM, thanks to the management of Rewilding Chile, strengthened the motivation of the participants. A group was generated that wants to be an active part of tourism in Chile Chico,” says Esteban Saldía, a student of this training and now a certified guide.
The initiative was created by the community outreach area “Friends of Patagonia Park” of the Rewilding Chile Foundation, in collaboration with Conaf, the Aysén Strategic Tourism Program, and the Universidad Austral de Chile Patagonia campus, and sought to teach a series of modules that would allow participants to train as certified guides, which is undoubtedly a vehicle for economic growth for the community, linked to the conservation of the area’s biodiversity and tourism.
>Among the classes the students received were modules on sustainable tourism and planning, destination and tourism storytelling, experience design and associativity, governance and business plan, forest legislation, among others. A complete curriculum specially prepared for this course.
“Today I am proud to see this team where these 24 qualified guides will be our allies and with them we will fulfill the same function in the national park. Here we all have the soul of a park ranger, and to have this affection for nature through their experiences and their efforts, and to share it with the community, makes me feel very happy,” says Sergio Ferreira, CONAF’s Jeinimeni sector ranger.
The diploma awarded to the residents of Chile Chico was to become “Tourism, conservation and trekking guides in nature environments of the protected area”, with which they will be able to work as guides in Patagonia National Park officially.
“As a Foundation we are very happy to be able to celebrate a new anniversary of the national park, with the qualification of these guides who will be a contribution to tourism development, conservation of this rich territory, and a new economic income for many families in the community,” says Carolina Cerda, Director of Community Outreach of Rewilding Chile.
On December 8, in celebration of the sixth anniversary of Patagonia National Park, as an act of reciprocity for the opportunity to be trained in this free course, the guides of this diploma conducted a series of guided tours in the Jeinimeni sector, where the community enjoyed all their knowledge acquired in recent months in the course.
If you want to know more about the activities developed in the national park by the Rewilding Chile Foundation, follow us on instagram @amigos_pn_patagonia.