Nasampulli sunset - Nick Charlesworth

Chile Nasampulli Reserve

Conserving an area of endangered araucaria or monkey puzzle forest, with its exceptional wildlife

Conserving the iconic araucaria forests

Located in the Andean foothills of southern-central Chile, the Nasampulli Reserve protects 1,600 hectares of threatened native araucaria forest. It connects to another protected area of forest, the Villarrica National Reserve. This continuous corridor of protected forest increases mobility and survival of endemic fauna and flora which have long suffered habitat loss due to land fragmentation.

In the early 1990s this area was under serious threat from deforestation. A ban on araucaria logging and the establishment of Rainforest Concern's Nasampulli Reserve in partnership with the Chilean foundation FORECOS and the Trafampulli Society means that this area of forest is now under strict protection.

Fauna

The araucaria forests support rich biodiversity, including endangered animals such as: the guiña cat, one of the world's smallest endangered wild cats; the pudu, one of the world's smallest deer; the monito del monte, a threatened marsupial known as a living fossil; the chilla fox; the Andean fox; the lesser grison; the Andean condor; the Darwin's frog; the magellanic woodpecker; the southern river otter and the puma.

Nasampulli is only the second site in Chile in which the role of forests in snow accumulation and in water provision as an ecosystem service is being studied.

Professor Antonio Lara

IMG 2969 Cascada de Taique waterfall on the Trafampulli River amongst coigüe trees Nothofagus dombeyi NR
Waterfall at Nasampulli Reserve

Photograph by Alan Watson Featherstone

Research with (CR)2

Professor Antonio Lara of the Universidad Austral de Chile and President of FORECOS is working with the Centre for Climate and Resilience Research on a project to assess the water balance and role of araucaria forests in ecosystem services. As a result of this research, meteorological stations and monitoring instruments have been installed in the Nasampulli reserve.

Camera trap media

Guiña on camera trap

Super Huigna Nasampulli 1

As part of the research and monitoring carried out, several camera traps have been installed to monitor the native and alien species wildlife. Species caught by the cameras include guiña, pudu and puma.

1 Nasampulli A1 min
Project location

Nasampulli Reserve is located in southern central Chile, within three hours' drive of Temuco

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