Fundación Tierra Austral

November 25, 2025

Chandni Navalkha

*The 31,000-acre landscape Cuenca Andina, FTA’s largest DRC. Credit: Tomás Munita.*

We are thrilled to announce that Fundación Tierra Austral is the recipient of the inaugural ILCN Conservation Innovation Award.

A non-profit organization founded in 2012, Fundación Tierra Austral (FTA) was Chile’s first land trust – known in the country as a Conservation Guarantee Organization, a non-profit entity whose mission is the conservation of biodiversity and/or its associated cultural or human welfare values on private property.

A New Tool for Voluntary, Long-Term Conservation

Private lands play a vital role in protecting Chile’s unique biodiversity, where nearly half of the country’s land area is in private ownership. Yet before 2016, Chile lacked a clear legal pathway to protect privately owned land in perpetuity.

After more than a decade of effort by a dedicated team of legislators, NGOs, foundations, lawyers and other partners, in 2016 the Chilean National Congress unanimously passed a bill introducing a new conservation property right – the Derecho Real de Conservación (DRC).

This breakthrough opened the door for landowners, companies, communities, and conservation groups to safeguard ecologically valuable areas while retaining ownership and sustainable use.

*DRC-landowners Annual Meeting 2025. Credit: Fundación Tierra Austral. Credit: Fundación Tierra Austral*

Enabling the Enduring Conservation of Chile’s Biodiversity by Private Landowners

Fundación Tierra Austral became the leading organization to pilot the use of the DRC legislation, which created a civil-law conservation instrument and framework specifically designed for long-term protection — similar in intent to the conservation covenants or easements used in Australia, Canada and the United States, but uniquely adapted to Chilean law.

Across Chile’s diverse and threatened landscapes — from Mediterranean shrublands to temperate forests and Andean watersheds — Fundación Tierra Austral is unlocking the potential of voluntary conservation on private lands. As Chile’s first dedicated land trust, FTA initiated the use and implementation of the DRC and its associated regulatory framework to establish the permanent, legally binding conservation of ecologically important properties in private ownership.

Their work has illuminated a new pathway for whole-of-society approaches to conservation in Chile and inspired countries across the civil-law world. For their pathbreaking approach to adapting land-trust models to new legal systems, Fundación Tierra Austral has received the International Land Conservation Network’s (ILCN) first-ever Conservation Innovation Award.

*The FTA Team in the field. Credit: Fundación Tierra Austral.*

The Innovation Award

The ILCN Conservation Innovation Award was created to recognize landmark innovations in private and civic land conservation that are novel, strategically significant, measurably effective, transferable, and enduring.

Fundación Tierra Austral was selected as the first-ever Innovation Award recipient for:

Novelty: Implementing the Derecho Real de Conservación (DRC) through a well-defined strategy to initiate and accelerate its use, beginning with the establishment of transparent, rigorous standards and good practice to build public trust in conservation on private lands.

Strategic significance: Working with landowners at ecologically meaningful scales across multiple properties and landscapes, ensuring that Chile’s most threatened ecosystems and species are better represented by complementing its public protected areas.

Measurable effectiveness: Protecting more than 50,000 acres between 2018 and 2025 through DRCs on 25 sites in southern and central Chile.

Transferability: Providing a transferable model for countries from Latin America to Europe, demonstrating that civil-law countries can and do enable strong conservation systems that invite the contribution of all sectors of society.

Endurance: Designing its approach, organizational systems and human and financial resources for the long run, securing its ability to conserve and steward properties in perpetuity.

*Parque la Giganta, a DRC in Chile’s Endangered Mediterranean Ecosystem. Credit: Más Verde*

Building a Network of Protected Landscapes

Through collaboration, technical expertise, and long-term stewardship, Fundación Tierra Austral has helped protect thousands of acres across central and southern Chile. Their agreements stabilize wildlife corridors, secure water sources, and support threatened species in some of Chile’s most at-risk ecosystems.

From the central coast to Andean foothills, they are weaving together a landscape-scale conservation network that transcends property lines. Fundación Tierra Austral’s innovative approach shows that with creativity, persistence, and collaboration, private lands can become powerful anchors for biodiversity conservation — in Chile and around the world.

Lasting Impact

Fundación Tierra Austral is building a culture of voluntary conservation that lasts, developing strategies and practices that deliver continued impact in the face of ongoing and emerging challenges. These include:

Growing threats: wildfire risk, land-use change, and climate impacts on fragile ecosystems

Sustained funding needs for long-term stewardship and monitoring

Scaling the DRC model to reach more communities and landowners

Strengthening community engagement to ensure conservation benefits are widely shared

ILCN looks forward to supporting them in sharing this innovation with colleagues in Latin America and around the globe. Congratulations to the whole Fundación Tierra Austral for their achievements!