Finding 142,000 hectares on the outskirts of London that could be converted into a national park is unimaginable. Yet, as Chile continues to unravel its complicated public–private land ownership issues, that is exactly what is happening in the Andes just 60km from the 7-million-strong city of Santiago.

Chilean Patagonia is full of national parks, but the majority of its people live far away and cannot afford to access them. More than a third of the population in this long, thin country live in the crowded Santiago Metropolitan Region. Access to wilderness areas, mountains or even urban green ...

 

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