Tompkins owns 50 percent of Palena province, land that could be used for development. Delpiano says the government is considering a law to limit the amount of land foreigners can buy. Tompkins says Delpiano's statement is typical governmental exaggeration. Tompkins believes the government's opposition may be due to the way he thinks. I have heard over and over again from many sources that my interest in deep ecology and environmental ethics represents a type of ideological threat.
Deep ecology is misunderstood in Chile and grossly distorted.
It is urgent that we preserve biodiversity, old-growth forests and the natural beauty of Chile. The project also has support from U.S. environmental groups. Chile's free-market economy is 90 percent based on the export of natural resources. According to a 1995 Central Bank of Chile report, unless current destructive patterns are reversed all of Chile's private native forests will be stripped in 20 years. While the forests of Chile are threatened, Pumalin Park preserves an estimated 35 percent of the remaining alerce trees in Chile.