How grief propelled the world’s biggest private land donation

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BUILT BY LOVE

Saturday, April 15, 2023

In today’s newsletter, we explore South America’s vast and beautiful national parks, walk alongside grieving elephants in Asia, remember a Sherpa’s wish … and trek the world’s southernmost hike. Plus, let’s hop on board the pickleball train.

PHOTOGRAPH BY JIMMY CHIN

It was a dream she had with her husband. When he died, Kris Tompkinscompleted the monumental effort to save a huge chunk of South America from development.

Photographer and filmmaker Jimmy Chin had never seen such an effort—and he had documented Alex Honnold’s Herculean “Free Solo” climb up El Capitan. “What is more badass than saving the planet!? Kris didn’t stay within the lane markers that were set for her,” says Chin, a Nat Geo Explorer behind the documentary “Wild Life.”

The Nat Geo film, premiering in theaters this weekend, has a sub-theme: Love is a force of nature. It is also, Chin says, about a grieving widow becoming a force of nature herself—finding her voice and creating the impossible, step by step, to make the biggest private land donation in history.

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PHOTOGRAPHS BY JIMMY CHIN

Stunning landscapes: This is among the 15 million acres that Tompkins Conservation has helped protect and preserve. Doug and Kris Tompkins created or expanded 17 national parks in Chile and Argentina. Their rewilding efforts include reintroducing threatened species into these landscapes.

PHOTOGRAPH BY TOMÁS MUNITA

Ready to fly: A red-and-green macaw hadn’t been seen around Iberá Park, Argentina for a century. Veterinarian Jorge Gómez monitors the bird as part of a program to teach skills the macaws will need in the wild.

PHOTOGRAPH BY TOMÁS MUNITA

From hunter and ranch hand to tour guide: With his horse in tow to ride later to his home, Mingo Avalos poles his canoe through a channel. Now Avalos has an eco-friendly job, and he spreads knowledge and reverence of the landscape.

PHOTOGRAPH BY TOMÁS MUNITA

Guanaco crossing: A Magellanic penguin appears unperturbed by a passing herd of guanacos in the Punta Tombo reserve on Argentina’s Atlantic coast.

PHOTOGRAPH BY GIJS BESSELING

When they were together: Kris Tompkins and her husband, Doug Tompkins, in 2010. When Chin first met them two years earlier, ”I was moved by how devoted they were to each other—and to this incredible dream.” Chin said he and Chai Vasarhelyi “made the film for our kids. To show them there is an ethos you can live by—to make a difference and that there is hope. And that great achievements don’t come easy.”

See the trailer—and read more here.

STORIES WE’RE FOLLOWING

PHOTOGRAPH BY ANDY SANDS

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IN THE SPOTLIGHT

PHOTOGRAPH BY BRENT STIRTON

Gentle, peaceful, similar: Part of the beauty of elephants is that these giant creatures exemplify human behavior—they form close bonds, grieve dead relatives, take years to mature. And by observing adult behavior, juvenile elephants take on helping care for younger calves. Above, a female elephant touches a calf with her trunk on their trek to water. A Nat Geo feature, with photography by Nat Geo Explorer Brent Stirton, asks whether encroaching humans will allow elephants to coexist with them.

LEARN MORE

PHOTO OF THE DAY

PHOTOGRAPH BY AARON HUEY, @ARGONAUTPHOTO

He prayed for the climbers: Beloved by the photographers and adventurers in Nepal’s Khumbu Valleuy, Karma Tsering Sherpa (1930-2023) blessed all those who walked his path. That’s what Nat Geo’s Aaron Huey tells us. Huey met Karma while photographing a story on Sherpas in 2013, and Karma many times wished for Huey’s release from pride, jealousy, passion, prejudice, greed, and hatred. Now, in his faith, Karma is reborn. Read more here.

Related: How an all-Nepali climbing team made mountaineering history

REMEMBERING KARMA

WHERE IN THE WORLD?

PHOTOGRAPH BY AUSTIN TRIGG

Way south: In fact, it’s the southernmost hike in the world (a hiker, pictured above, ascends a snowy incline on the challenging multi-day circuit). But where is it? Click here to find out.

DON’T GET LOST

Today’s soundtrack: Wild Wild Life, Talking Heads

This newsletter has been curated and edited by David Beard, Hannah Farrow, and Jen Tse. Amanda Williams-Bryant, Alisher Egamov, Rita Spinks, and Jeremy Brandt-Vorel also contributed this week. Thanks for reading!

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How grief propelled the world’s biggest private land donation

How grief propelled the world’s biggest private land donation

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