The celebration of Earth Day, this April 22, is an opportunity to reflect on environmental issues and our conflictive relationship with nature. What should we do? Environmental awareness and education make our path.

Since the industrial revolution, the problematic relationship between humans and the environment has been worsening. Mass production and excessive resource consumption began to occupy currents of thought that recognized the deterioration of ecosystems.

In the early 1970s, the environmental movement was born and creating a day to educate people about the environment was proposed.  The first Earth Day was celebrated in the United States on April 22 of that same year and featured millions of people protesting environmental degradation.

The Earth Day demonstrations led to major changes in U.S. environmental legislation and the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency. Additionally, since 1990, Earth Day is celebrated in 141 countries as a global event.

 A new consciousness!

 So, what lessons does it leave us? Undoubtedly, at this point we can verify that the origin of the environmental problem lies with ourselves, human beings. The conservation efforts of that time multiplied around the world, but not at the speed necessary to diminish and stop the effects of the indiscriminate use of nature.

But there’s still hope! It’s important that the initiatives that promote caring for the environment are strengthened and grow by raising awareness in communities through solid arguments and concrete actions. What is awareness raising? It is nothing more than promoting the adoption of a conscious attitude about the environmental impact of our daily behaviors.

As with a building, we must construct a consciousness where nature is conceived as an equal and, in that sense, by damaging it, we harm ourselves. Let’s establish a bond with nature! Let’s consider it to be a living organism, a complex, unique, and unduplicable being just like us, who deserves respect and a healthy life.

 The Time of Chile and Patagonia

Fortunately, these currents and new paradigms have begun to spread throughout Chilean Patagonia, and Reserva Las Torres is an outstanding example of this. The history of constructing environmental awareness in this area goes back to the vision of its founders, who from the beginning set out to contribute to conservation projects. This vision has been maintained throughout generations of the family, which led to the creation of the NGO AMA Torres del Paine. Its goal is to lead efforts for a sustainable connection with the environment and to ensure the protection and conservation of this beautiful place for future generations.

This is the basis for the construction of an environmental project that today we call Las Torres Reserve, a private and protected area whose purpose is the conservation of cultural and natural heritage via tourism. Reserva Las Torres includes the entire path traveled by conservation and incorporates the construction of environmental awareness through a community awareness plan.

We know that it is a grain of sand, one more block for a building that seeks to contribute to the construction of a planetary environmental awareness from Patagonia. We act locally to promote global change. We are dedicated to this purpose! We will continue to push for an inspiring proposal that promotes the spread of nature conservation and protection, one that includes us.

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