Patagonia

Rio Pascua (Gary Hughes)

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Organize an action at your local Home Depot to protect Patagonia!

The Patagonia Campaign supports our partners' efforts to fight dams on two rivers in Chilean Patagonia--one of the Earth's most treasured wild places.

The HidroAysen project involves 3 dams on the Pascua River and 2 dams on the Baker River that would flood globally rare forest ecosystems and some of the most productive agricultural land in the Aysen region. (See map).

Electricity from these dams would be sent thousands of kilometers north to serve Chile’s biggest cities and its mammoth copper industry. More than 2,000 kilometers of transmission lines would require one of the world's longest clearcuts--much of it through untouched temperate rainforests found nowhere else on the planet.

US retailer The Home Depot is the largest buyer of timber products from the main Chilean interest promoting the dams. The Home Depot has been asked by thousands of people, including socially responsible investors, to stop buying timber from suppliers that plan to destroy the rivers and forests of Patagonia. Our campaign is also focusing on Italian electric utility Enel, the main European partner involved in the project.

Tell Enel to protect Patagonia's Rivers!

Yet HidroAysén is not necessary! Chile is a country with many energy options. Studies by The University of Chile and other partners have found that more than 25% of Chile's future energy needs could be satisfied by more efficient use and energy sources such as solar, geothermal, and wind. International Rivers and our partners are calling for the Chilean government to invest in cleaner alternatives and to keep Patagonia wild.