Our journey began at the bottom of the world. While sheltering from fierce Patagonian winds at Torres del Paine’s Hotel Lago Grey, I found myself leafing through a beautifully photographed book about the region. It was there I first read about the extraordinary legacy of Doug and Kris Tompkins.
The timing felt almost prophetic; their monumental rewilding efforts had not only protected the jagged peaks my husband Jo and I were currently exploring, but also the vast Iberá Wetlands, the very next major stop on our itinerary.
I was completely captivated by their story.
Once titans of the apparel industry behind The North Face, Esprit, and Patagonia, they grew disillusioned with the environmental toll of consumer culture. In a radical pivot, they traded the boardroom for the South American wilderness, dedicating their immense resources to unprecedented land preservation.
After the granite peaks of Patagonia, we joined Intrepid Travel on their Argentina & Brazil Adventure, a route that perfectly aligned with our love for immersive, responsible travel. It was on this Intrepid Travel itinerary that the true scale of the Tompkins’ monumental legacy revealed itself as we entered Argentina’s Iberá Wetlands.
A Jewel of Global Importance
The Esteros del Iberá is a place that defies simple description. It is a sprawling aquatic universe of marshes, lagoons, and floating islands, thrumming with life. Here, our Intrepid Travel guide Selva and the Iberá Parklands team Sebastian and Victoria and driver Diego helped our group navigate the waterways, watching capybaras graze lazily on the banks and spotting the rich birdlife which includes hundreds of species, as well as the once endangered March deer and prehistoric looking caymans.
While reading a beautifully compiled book on the region during my stay, I was struck by Doug Tomkins’ own words about this ecosystem. Reflecting on his life’s work, he wrote:
“I arrived in Argentina for the first time in 1961. Today, after fifty years, I love and know this country well. I have had the privilege of travelling extensively through all its provinces (even to Argentine Antarctica), climbing formidable peaks in Patagonia, whitewater kayaking, training and skiing competitively in Bariloche… and helping to establish both provincial and national parks in Misiones and Santa Cruz.”
For Doug and Kris, conservation wasn’t just a philanthropic side project; it was a deep, lived commitment. As Doug explained:
“This long relationship with Argentina, and my deep affection for its landscapes and its people, strengthen my belief that this is a country of outstanding beauty and great ecological wealth, with one of its most valuable natural treasures being the Esteros del Iberá in the province of Corrientes.”
The Epiphany of 1997
The Tompkins’ journey with Iberá didn’t begin immediately. It was sparked by a specific visit that changed the trajectory of the region forever. Through their non-profit, The Conservation Land Trust (CLT), they sought to stimulate biodiversity protection on a massive scale.
“My fascination and affection for Iberá were awakened in 1997, when colleagues invited Kris and me to the region to show us some properties for potential purchase… We immediately saw the potential that these private lands could have, under conservation management, to increase the efficiency and improve the design of the existing public lands that made up the Iberá Nature Reserve.”
They didn’t just buy land from the local ranchers to safeguard the flora and fauna; they moved there. Doug noted that for years, he and Kris lived “half of every year on the borders of these magnificent wetlands,” immersing themselves in the very environment they were fighting to protect. They became pioneers of “rewilding,” actively working to reintroduce locally extinct species like giant anteaters, pampas deer, and eventually, the apex predator of the Americas: the jaguar.
“A Big Man” with a Bigger Legacy
Tragically, Doug passed away in a kayaking accident in 2015, dying in the wild Patagonian landscapes he loved so fiercely. But Kris channelled her grief into unstoppable action, carrying their shared vision forward and ultimately handing over millions of acres to the Chilean and Argentine governments to create new national parks.
The physical beauty of Iberá is undeniable, but it is the human element of this rewilding project that resonates most deeply.
While exploring the reserve, we were shown the area by the park rangers who now protect this resurrected ecosystem.
But we weren’t just hurried from one wildlife sighting to the next; instead, we spent meaningful time with our guide Selva and the park rangers who act as the fiercely proud guardians of this resurrected ecosystem. They even cooked us a traditional asado, which is a spectacular Argentine barbecue cooked slowly over an open wood fire. The rangers also generously shared their rich local culture with us, serving up the perfectly charred meats followed by incredible homemade desserts, rich with local dulce de leche.
But the true heart of the afternoon was the ritual of yerba mate. As the sun began to dip, casting a golden light over the marshlands, one of the rangers, Sebastian, prepared the traditional gourd. He carefully poured hot water over the earthy green leaves and passed the metal straw, or bombilla, as we watched. Cradling the warm gourd in my hands, I listened as he explained the profound cultural significance of this daily practice.
“Mate is more than a drink in Argentina,” Victoria later told me with a warm smile,”It is a bond of friendship.”
Our driver, Diego, spoke of Doug Tompkins with a reverence usually reserved for folk heroes. He described the man whom he’d had the fortune to meet as a “big man.”
Diego was grateful for the thriving wetlands, a landscape that now sustains local communities through ecotourism rather than destructive agricultural practices and shared a sentiment .
“It took a foreigner,” Diego told me quietly, “to show us how much we have to appreciate of our own country.”
It was clear that the Tompkins have done more than rewild the land; they rewilded the local spirit.
They proved, as Doug wrote, that there are “ways to make conservation and production compatible.” In doing so, they left behind a spectacular landscape that will forever stand as a testament to what is possible when vision, passion, and a profound respect for nature come together.
For anyone seeking a travel experience that is as transformative for the soul as it is for the planet, navigating the Iberá Wetlands is a wonder for the eyes and learning about the success of rewilding is an incredible experience and provides a huge dose of hope.
A look at the extraordinary lives of Douglas and Kristine Tompkins, the visionaries behind the largest private land donation in history.
Douglas R. Tompkins (1943 – 2015)
- The Corporate Ascent: Before he was a conservationist, Doug was a captain of the outdoor apparel industry. In 1964, he founded the iconic outdoor brand The North Face as a small ski and backpacking retail shop in San Francisco. A few years later, he co-founded the global fashion brand Esprit, which became a billion-dollar empire.
- The Pivot: By the late 1980s, increasingly disillusioned by consumer culture and the environmental impact of the fashion industry, Doug sold his stakes in his companies. He traded the boardroom for the wilderness, moving to remote Chilean Patagonia to dedicate his wealth and life to deep ecology and land preservation.
- A Tragic End: Doug passed away in 2015 at the age of 72 from severe hypothermia following a kayaking accident in Patagonia. He died doing what he loved, in the wild landscapes he fought so hard to protect.
Kristine (Kris) McDivitt Tompkins (1950 – Present)
- The Business Leader: Kris’s background is equally formidable. She started working with Yvon Chouinard at age 15 and eventually became the CEO of Patagonia, Inc. over a 20-year career, transforming it into an industry innovator and helping forge its renowned, eco-conscious “anti-corporate” model.
- A Shared Vision: Retiring from her role as CEO in 1993, she married Doug and joined him in South America. Together, they formed an unstoppable partnership, merging their formidable business acumen with a radical vision for rewilding.
- The Global Patron of Protected Areas: Following Doug’s sudden passing, Kris channelled her grief into positive action. Today, she continues their legacy as the President of Tompkins Conservation and the President of the Board of Rewilding Chile. She has also been the key driving force behind the creation of specific, monumental reserves like Patagonia National Park in Chile and Monte León National Park in Argentina.
- A Decorated Advocate: Kris’s relentless work has elevated her to the global stage. She is the first conservationist ever to be awarded the prestigious Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy, and in 2018, the United Nations named her its Global Patron for Protected Areas. (Travel Tip: For pure inspiration before your own journey, her 2020 TED Talk, “Let’s Make the World Wild Again,” below, is an absolute must-watch).
Their Combined Legacy
- Land Saved: To date, Tompkins Conservation and its independent offspring, Rewilding Argentina and Rewilding Chile, have helped protect more than 14.8 million acres of land across the two countries, working in collaboration with governments and other philanthropists.
- Rewilding Pioneers: They are globally recognised for reintroducing extirpated (locally extinct) species back into their native habitats, including giant anteaters, pampas deer, collared peccaries, and the apex predator of the Americas: the jaguar.
- Economic Impact: By transitioning regional economies from extractive industries to nature-based tourism, they have provided sustainable livelihoods for thousands of locals across Chile and Argentina.