A project that will bring 5,000 children from the Magallanes region to visit Torres del Paine, upgrading the Base Torres trail to international standards, the first doctor’s office and the first fire station inside Torres del Paine National Park were just some of the new initiatives that Las Torres Patagonia, a local sustainability pioneer, presented at the 2025 Sustainability in Action event.
Torres del Paine, April 27, 2025. – On Thursday, government and regional authorities, industry associations and two international leaders in responsible tourism gathered at Las Torres Patagonia, pioneers in sustainability, to learn about the conservation practices at the heart of this family company’s business model. The event set out to insprire other industry players to take this path of responsibility, chart new paths toward recovering biodiversity, prevent overtourism and minimize negative impacts on this Patagonian destination.
Las Torres Patagonia, a family business with more than 30 years of experience in the heart of Torres del Paine National Park, shared details about the initiatives it has been working on since 2013 when the family decided to move their livestock and commence sustainability efforts. The company also announced its intention to cooperate with the public sector on new improvement measures.
People cannot protect what they do not know. Under that premise, the company decided to take on environmental education as a conservation strategy, signing a 10-year agreement to bring 5,000 children from the Magallanes region to visit Torres del Paine National Park. “They are the next generation and will have to take the lead in protecting this place,” explained John Ojeda, Conservation and Sustainability Manager at Las Torres Patagonia.
Another current initiative is reconstructing the Base Torres trail, a property shared by Las Torres Patagonia and Chile’s National Forestry Corporation (CONAF). “Overtourism is the greatest challenge facing the Base Torres trail. We have to share this with the world without harming it,” Ojeda said.
Mauricio Ruiz Bustamante, CONAF Director for the Magallanes region, explained that the Base Torres trail is the most popular in Chile, making even more critical the public-private partnership to upgrade the trail to international standards with signage, new routes, heliports for rescues and additional public restrooms.
This family business has been working toward its dream of integrating with nature by reforesting after major fires, monitoring pumas and recovering biological corridors. The daily puma visits to Las Torres Patagonia are evidence of their success in this area. “[The pumas] are no longer afraid of the space occupied by humans,” reported Josian Yaksic, Chief Executive Officer at Las Torres Patagonia. Given this new reality, he was emphatic about the urgency of working with SAG, CONAF and specialized foundations to develop protocols for approaching these animals.
Jeremy Sampson, who is from the United States, the CEO of The Travel Foundation and co-author of the Glasgow Declaration, urged the industry to exercise “lighthouse leadership” in the face of the growing pressure on natural destinations due to climate change. He proposed making tourism a true driver of conservation and social wellbeing by focusing on regenerative destinations and improving the distribution of benefits.
Meanwhile, Tourism New Zealand Director Kiri Goulter explained the similarities between Torres del Paine and New Zealand and shared the strategies that helped make the country’s tourism the regenerative type that protects nature and contributes to community wellbeing.
Both international experts participated in a panel moderated by Cuidadores de Destinos, an organization accompanying Las Torres Patagonia on its path to sustainability for over a year.
Event attendees participated in environmentally responsible activities like the Interpretive Trail. In addition to taking in the trail’s beautiful views, participants saw how eco-design transformed nine tons of plastic waste into walkways through business collaboration. They also enjoyed the cuisine prepared with produce from our bio-intensive vegetable garden and learned about the sustainable cocktail initiatives at Bar Pionero in Hotel Las Torres.
The Mayor of Torres del Paine, Anahí Cárdenas, named Las Torres Patagonia as an example everyone should follow to preserve this important destination: “I value the tremendous efforts by the Kusanovic family: the pioneers and the younger generation that is working today.”
Las Torres Patagonia is the first Chilean tour operator to sign the Glasgow Accord. The company announced this commitment in its sustainability report, which will soon be available on the website.
The event concluded with a series of announcements by Las Torres Patagonia, including a name change for its NGO, AMA Torres del Paine, to Las Torres Patagonia Conservancy and the family company’s intention to shift its energy matrix to non-conventional renewable energies and move towards electromobility in the future. All these efforts seek to consolidate Torres del Paine as a national and global beacon of sustainable tourism and conservation.