The now 71-year-old president of Tompkins Conservation and her late husband Doug Tompkins were attempting a feat of conservation never before done on such a large scale, spending more than $345 million to buy large swaths of land in Chile and Argentina, restore the grasslands, the forests, and the waterways — and then give them back to the people.
In 2018 and 2019, Kris Tompkins finished this chapter of her life’s work by handing over nearly one million hectares to the Chilean government. This was added to the four million hectares of their own land that formed five new national parks and enlarged three existing ones. A contract with the Chilean government assures that Tompkins Conservation stays involved for the next ten years to guide and support the ecosystem restoration. In Argentina, Kris signed over her land under the condition it would remain protected for at least 99 years, thus creating or significantly enlarging six national parks. Her gifts at the time marked the largest private land donation in history and helped conserve a total of 14.7 million acres of land and 30 million marine acres.
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