Punta Arenas, Chile, September 14, 2004 Goldman Sachs has announced the unprecedented gift of a sprawling wilderness in Chile to the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS). The lands, on the island of Tierra del Fuego, are home to the world's southernmost stands of old growth forests as well as unique grasslands, rivers and wetlands containing extraordinary wildlife. The more than 680,000 acres (272,000 hectares) of Chilean land were donated to WCS by the Goldman Sachs Charitable Fund in a novel and powerful alliance that will ensure conservation in the region in perpetuity. The announcement was made last Friday in Chile.

"This announcement underscores the important role the private sector can, and must, play in the efforts to save wildlife and conserve wild lands," said Dr. Steven Sanderson, WCS President and CEO. "Goldman Sachs, the Goldman Sachs Charitable Fund, WCS and the people of Chile will be pioneering a new kind of partnership for conservation of these precious wild lands, which reflect the importance of Chile for global conservation. Goldman Sachs has set a new standard for the private sector's commitment to the natural world, and deserves tremendous credit for their imagination and resolve that these lands and their wildlife should be protected now and forever."

Lands That Awed Darwin

The Chilean lands transferred in the gift contain large stands of old-growth lenga forests, a native species of southern beech tree, as well as peat bogs, alpine meadows, river systems, and spectacular snow-capped mountains. The landscape supports a wide range of wildlife, including Magellanic woodpeckers (a cousin of the fabled ivory-billed woodpecker of the southern US), firecrown hummingbirds, and the culpeo fox. The guanaco, a member of the camel family, is the region's signature animal, symbolic of the valuable open ecosystems of southern South America.

Separated from the mainland of South America by the Straits of Magellan, the Isla
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Contact: Stephen Sautner
ssautner@wcs.org
1-718-220-3682
Wildlife Conservation Society
16-Sep-2004

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