Alerce thrives in the cool, rainy environment from 39 degrees to 43 degrees south. Lowland tracts were totally eliminated by logging. The species remains threatened by habitat loss from extensive hardwoods logging. Illegal poaching and burning of alerce are also problems, but not as great as that of legal, unrestricted logging of associated species. Large-scale clearing activity in the past, combined with the alerce's very slow growth, poor regeneration, and illegal cutting, seriously impedes any notable increase in the species' natural distribution.
Chile is home to one of the world's most fantastic araucaria forests.
The araucaria's tall spindly trunk and unusual evergreen foliage give it a distinct form that can be recognized from miles away. An araucaria tree can live for 1,800 years and grow more than 8 feet wide and 185 feet tall. The ever-shrinking range of A. araucana is limited to a small region in the southern Andes. This species is unique for its genus in thriving in the temperate climate's warm, dry summers and cold, snowy winters. The araucaria yields large nuts in the fall.