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An audacious plan to preserve vast swaths of South America's wild lands

Part 3 of the TED Radio Hour episode Approaches to life: Improvise, pivot or plan

In the 90s, Kristine Tompkins and her late husband began buying swaths of land in South America. Their plan to create national parks through private enterprise had no precedent. That didn't stop them.

About Kristine Tompkins

Conservationist Kristine Tompkins is the president and co-founder of Tompkins Conservation. She's also the former CEO of Patagonia, a company she led for 18 years. Kristine, with her late husband, Douglas Tompkins, protected more than 15 million acres of parkland in Chile and Argentina.

Through Rewilding Argentina and Rewilding Chile, Tompkins Conservation has created or expanded 15 national parks in Argentina and Chile, including two marine parks, and is working to restore dozens of endangered or locally extinct species, such as the jaguar, red-and-green macaw and giant river otters in northeast Argentina.

Tompkins served as Patron for Protected Areas for the UN Environmental Programme from 2018 to 2022 and was the first conservationist awarded the Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy.

This segment of TED Radio Hour was produced by Matthew Cloutier and edited by Sanaz Meshkinpour. You can follow us on Facebook @TEDRadioHour and email us at TEDRadioHour@npr.org.

Web Resources

Related TED Bio: Kristine Tompkins

Related TED Talk: How community-led conservation can save wildlife

Related TED Talk: Let's make the world wild again

Related NPR Links

Business: The founder of Patagonia is giving his company away to help fight climate change

Environment: Bringing the wild things back to campus

WBUR: Inside the rewilding movement

Copyright 2024 NPR

Manoush Zomorodi is the host of TED Radio Hour. She is a journalist, podcaster and media entrepreneur, and her work reflects her passion for investigating how technology and business are transforming humanity.
Matthew Cloutier is a producer for TED Radio Hour. While at the show, he has focused on stories about science and the natural world, ranging from operating Mars rovers to exploring Antarctica's hidden life. He has also pitched these kinds of episodes, including "Through The Looking Glass" and "Migration."