Aysen

Aysén exists because roads couldn't reach it—and now that isolation is its product. Chile's third-largest yet least populated region spent most of the 20th century accessible only by sea or air, creating conditions for ecological preservation that proved valuable when conservation became marketable. Douglas and Kristine Tompkins' Patagonia National Park (opened 2018) and the Explora lodge inside it (2021) transformed isolation from economic liability into luxury tourism asset. Research shows protected areas covering at least 17% of territorial area reduce surrounding poverty by 0.216 standard deviations—conservation as development strategy. The Cerro Castillo National Protected Area and other SNASPE lands anchor this transition from extractive economy (ranching, logging, mining) to service economy (ecotourism, amenity migration). SNASPE revenues doubled from CLP 100 million (2016) to CLP 200 million (2017), measuring the monetization of wilderness. But digital platforms now commodify nature in ways that complicate conservation—TripAdvisor algorithms shape which landscapes receive visitors, concentrating impact while distributing rewards unevenly. Aysén demonstrates succession from extraction to conservation to commodification: each phase building on the previous, each creating new vulnerabilities. By 2026, the region will either develop governance structures that ensure tourism dollars benefit local communities or become another example of conservation captured by international capital—wilderness preserved for external consumption while locals serve coffee.