Alerce Costero

Alerce Costero National Park protects 244,683 hectares of temperate rainforest along Chile's southern coast, conserving the world's largest remaining stands of coastal alerce trees, some over 3,000 years old. These ancient giants, among the longest-lived tree species on Earth, create cathedral-like forest environments draped with mosses and ferns in the extremely wet coastal climate receiving over 4,000mm of annual rainfall. The park's diverse ecosystems range from coastal dunes and wetlands to montane forests, supporting endemic species including the pudu (world's smallest deer) and Darwin's fox found nowhere else on Earth. Rivers flowing through the park support native fish populations and provide critical salmon spawning habitat, while coastal areas harbor marine mammals and seabirds. Established in 2021 through an unprecedented public-private conservation partnership, the park represents Chile's commitment to protecting globally significant temperate rainforest ecosystems threatened by logging and development.