Three-quarters of all land on Earth is now significantly affected by human activity, and the few remaining pockets of wilderness are themselves at risk of becoming ecological deserts. Agriculture, industry, urbanization, climate change - all these are decimating ecosystems and destroying biodiversity. 60 percent of the world’s animals have been wiped out since the 1970s.
In response, a worldwide movement is underway to rewild the countryside and restore land to nature. One initiative - right at the tip of South America - is exceeding all expectations. earthrise heads to Patagonia in Chile where two billionaire philanthropists, Kris McDivitt Tompkins and her late husband Doug Tompkins, have helped create one of the largest national parks in the world. Kris, the founder and CEO of the clothing brand Patagonia, and Doug, the founder of Espirit and North Face spent $345 million buying up vast tracts of land. In what has become recognized as the biggest land donation in history, they will soon be handing it over to the Chilean state to be run as a national park, alongside 9 million acres of land contributed by the state. Areas decimated by overgrazing are now being restored to their original wild state and vulnerable wildlife populations are being revived.
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