All language subtitles for Wild.Life.2023.1080p.DSNP.WEB-DL.DDP5.1.H

March 11, clear sky...

I feel two decades of
memories in this valley.

Years of joy...

of pain...

doubts and comfort.

Love, in a new form,

so strong, so tenacious,

Few have experienced what
we have experienced here,

that is why, my love,
I am lost without you.

Nothing reassures me as much
as your firm and solid hand.

Return to your wife.

PATAGONIA, CHILE

DECEMBER 2015

Douglas Tompkins died in an
accident on Tuesday in Chile.

He was a passionate environmentalist.

He had fallen in love with
Patagonia in the 1960s,

before acquiring
part of it in the 90s.

He lived 25 years
in Chile, and leaves

as a legacy, the largest
philanthropic project in the world.

Tompkins was a visionary.

He built a project at a
time when environmentalists

were seen as eco-terrorists.

Doug had a big personality.

He died suddenly, nobody...

No one knew what to think anymore.

Was I going to give up?

KRIS TOMPKINS ECOLOGIST

If so, then the game was over.

We would have lost 25 years of work.

People didn't know

whether I was going to recover or not.

I had just lost
the love of my life.

I was on my knees, dejected.

An acquaintance wrote me a note,

who said,

"You have to make a choice,
and you have to do it now.

You can stay there.

You will tell this
story to everyone

and mourn Doug until
the end of your life.

Or you can get back to
work and go all the way.

What do you choose?"

A hell of a choice.

THE TOMPKINS: A LIFE FOR NATURE

THREE YEARS LATER

I put it there.

- It is a multi-purpose model.
- Yes.

She was laughing, right?

- I hope.
- Yes.

I think she was laughing.

These are my K2 goggles.

- No.
- They have...

- Impossible.
- What ?

What year was that, Rick?

In 1978.

Rick takes us up the mountain.

I got you another ice axe.

Lighter.

- Actually, I took some...
- Oh, no.

...several for Pablo and me.

Is it just that?

You can also take these...

I prefer... I prefer the long...

All right.

It's time.

After Doug passed away,

Rick asked me

if I wanted to climb
with Kris and him.

He told me that Kris
absolutely wanted

JIMMY CHIN ALPINIST, DIRECTOR

...climb that mountain.

I thought yes, that makes sense.

I understood.

This mountain is really special.

And here is our mountain.

Wow.

No really.

I am sorry but...

Gosh, look at that.

Look at. There is snow.

- A little.
- A little bit.

I have never been
this far in this park.

We had never seen all that.

It's true that we steal a lot...

but we never really
went into the field.

We have never explored it.

We just worked.

It's an electroshock for me.

At the beginning,

Doug and I lived in the
middle of this paradise,

we said to ourselves,

it could be amazing
to preserve this place.

Just save it...

because of climate
change and all the rest.

At this moment,

on the bulletin board,

it is nature that loses.

What can you do today to try

to save certain
places on the planet?

What is your vision?
Why are you here ?

CHILE ARGENTINA

We first drew up
an overall plan.

DOUG TOMPKINS ECOLOGIST

And we realized that we could...

create a national park

by private initiative.

With the idea of returning it to the country.

PURCHASE OF LAND

The ultimate solution
to save the earth? Buy it.

Tompkins and his wife, Kris,
have collected several pitches

on a scale never seen before,
in order to preserve them.

It's the size of
Yosemite National Park.

So the volcano over
there, you bought it?

Yes, it was in the lot.

The locals began to wonder

what were the true
intentions of these Americans.

CLAUDIO ALVARADO
EX-SENATOR, CHILE

In our opinion,
this man is just a

businessman disguised
as an environmentalist.

At first, some Chileans
did not understand

what an environmentalist was.

MICHELLE BACHELET
EX-PRESIDENT, CHILE

Some were looking
for a place to invest.

Investing, creating

energy through rivers.

Others wanted to raze the forest.

We didn't know
there were issues here.

That was the problem.

Chile's ex-president accused
your husband of hunting

people off their land.

You have also received
several death threats.

Yes, we were threatened with death.
Tapped our phones.

There were huge stakes.

I struggled...

for 25 years

to achieve everything Doug
wanted to make possible.

That's what you were telling me about this morning.

- Yes
- All that.

I drew these lines years ago, I

was told these
lands were salable.

I arrived...

in Chile in 1990, I bought
then renovated a house.

When we bought the land, we
weren't thinking of making it a park, but

another piece of land was for
sale, then another, even bigger one,

in the end, we had enough
to create a national park.

On the one hand, we had a madman
who dreamed of creating a park.

And on the other...

DAGO GUZMÁN
DIRECTOR, PUMALÍN PARK

...someone ready to make this
dream a reality on a national level.

She says "I want to ride
with you, but don't crash.

Don't crash."

They were deeply united
and devoted to each other.

EDGAR BOYLES DIRECTOR

They had a common vision.
They fought for her.

Sometimes we argue.

No, I believe...

that we have this will...

to fight against the
destruction of the wild world.

It's that kind of strong bond

which can unite
two people together.

Do we take a break or continue?

- Let's go to the edge.
- All right.

- It's at...
- Yes. All right.

-...80 or 100 meters.
- I'm OK with that.

How's it going Kris?

How are you.

GOOD.

I always said

that in my life it was all or nothing,

never in between.

This is the life I
wanted before I died.

I wasn't sure what, but
I wanted something...

wild, extraordinary,

risky, in the sense that it would
take me out of my comfort zone.

Doug would have been so happy for me

and proud of me

to get up here...

see what the highest
point in the park looks like.

I perceive it,

as a way of saying
a final goodbye.

Doug climbed this mountain in 2008

for the first time.

Mountaineering has always been

his first love.

He grew up in the
Northwestern United States.

He was only in college when he
climbed the Shawangunk Ridge.

He didn't care about school
and never went to college.

For him, it was a waste
of time, and a way to fit in.

He stopped everything

and left.

At 17 years old...

he drove west...

He had no money.

He did not know...

What he would do there,
what he would find there.

It happened in Yosemite.
And surveyed mountains and valleys.

YVON CHOUINARD
FOUNDER OF PATAGONIA

We went there together.

And we became good friends.

A few years later,
Yvon introduced us.

They were best friends, and
climbed the passes together.

They were talented climbers.

It's those little guys,
mountaineers, surfers and skiers

who created the clothing
brand we all know today.

Doug admired Yvon,

their relationship continued
to evolve for 50 years.

Yvon listened carefully to Doug

when he talked about business.

He told her about
franchising a food stand

in Yosemite.

He took care of both
the stand and his climbs.

He was an entrepreneur.

To understand entrepreneurs,

you need to study
young offenders

their credo is: "Such a thing

sucks, I'm going
to do it my way".

Doug became a businessman
before anyone else.

Me, I was a blacksmith,

I created climbing equipment,

but I didn't consider
myself a businessman,

not at the time.

I was mountaineering six
months out of the year...

CHOUINARD C
MOUNTAINEERING EQUIPMENT

...I was making equipment.

My business
grew little by little,

but we had new
ideas all the time.

Our policy was:

"there is a time to work,

and a time to play".

And when surfing season
came: "Let's go surfing".

That's where I met Kris.

She was the typical
surfer girl, always barefoot.

In fact, even in high school

she went there barefoot,

she drove her
teachers mad with rage.

She herself was a
young delinquent.

Kris and Yvon were
next door neighbors.

VOICE OF PATAGONIA
CO-OWNER MALINDA CHOUINARD

I met her when I was 15 or 16.

She was so friendly.

She loved talking,
doing activities,

but she was very careful.

We grew up on my
great-grandfather's farm in California.

I was eight years old when
my father and his oil company

settled in Venezuela,

we had a small hamlet
on the basin of the Orinoco.

One afternoon,
my father fell ill,

he died five days
later of polio.

After his death,

our mother remarried
a friend of the family.

He was a go-getter,
he had four children.

We were seven in all,
we were called: "thugs".

We were wild.

My father wanted children

able to jump from the
highest diving board.

Nothing was impossible.

I was the most receptive.

All we were asked
was to excel in our field.

Anything, but excel at it.

I preferred to go to public
high school rather than private,

but it was a bad high
school, that's when

I started going to the
beach, and going out

with my older brother
and Yvon Chouinard.

I was 15 at the time.

He was true to himself.

On the other hand, I was
like a small pebble in a river,

bouncing on its
banks, letting myself be

carried by the current,
clinging to the rocks,

before letting myself be taken

up by another
current, and so on.

After my freshman year of college,

my mother told me:
"Find yourself a job".

I went to complain to Yvon,

who hired me all
summer for $2 an hour.

She was a helper packer.

Packer helper.

The bottom of the scale.

Then she moved up the ladder.

And we learned little by little

to run the business together.

Doug was also starting his business.

First as a guide,

To the Service of the
Alpine Guides of California.

That's why I created
The North Face.

I had to provide his
clients with equipment.

It was during this time
that Doug and Susie met.

I met Susie, my first
wife, while hitchhiking.

She picked me up.

I was driving...

SUSIE BUELL DESIGNER,
CO-FOUNDER OF ESPRIT

in the Emerald Bay area,

around Lake Tahoe,

and suddenly I see
a man hitchhiking.

Pull up, pull it
up, it had ropes

and all mountaineering equipment.

He was very arrogant.

I remember thinking to myself,
"What a moron this guy is.

But he's got a cool thing about him, though."

We ended up getting married

and we moved to North
Beach in San Francisco.

THE NORTH FACE THE
ALPINE SPECIALISTS

At the opening of The North Face,

we had invited the Greatful Dead

to come and play.

Doug had fun

to prepare everything,
it was really successful.

He had created this
whole unique environment

to sell a new kind of
clothing, and alpine equipment.

The North Face kept growing.

But Doug was growing
impatient, all he wanted was

climb, not stay
rooted to the ground.

And so, we sold.

At the time, Susie created Esprit.

In partnership with another woman.

The first clothes were
sold at reduced prices

very simplistic that
we had created.

I remember showing
him the controls.

Doug looked at them,
then he shook his head,

saying: "You have
a great opportunity".

And we allied.

Esprit became a big
brand and we took off.

We grew the business.

Before expanding internationally

with partners around the world,

in Asia, Australia,
as far as Europe.

We are in the middle
of what will become,

hopefully Patagonia
National Park.

But... what will happen?

Having a great
idea is one thing,

but being able to
achieve it is another.

Hence the importance of working
closely with the government.

It is one of five new parks.

For each of them,

we bought large territories

and proposed to the
government to partner with us

and to donate additional
federal lands to us.

The Alacalufes Reserve could
easily become a national park

without any risk of
production losses.

That would be wonderful

that all these projects
come to fruition one day

CLIMBER, AUTHOR

in real national parks.

Convincing yourself to make
this possible was also a challenge.

The Chilean economy has
long been based on mining.

It is said that the salary of Chileans

is based on mining.

It represents more
than 60% of our exports.

Chile is now the world's
largest copper producer.

and the second of lithium.

Chile is a mining country.

It is an extractive economy.

The mining industry is polluting.

His political philosophy

was to exploit the
lands and forests,

so you think that the
idea of a national park

was not in the minds
of the government.

Land philanthropy did
not exist in Latin America.

And now this crazy American
arrives and announces:

“I am going to buy this
large territory in Chile to make

it national parks, then to
return it to the Chileans”.

They said to themselves:
"Stop. Nobody does that".

"No, he must have
another reason."

Doug arrived here in 1961.

Skiers came to train
here out of season.

That's when he started realizing

what was Argentina and Chile.

From the start, he loved it.

His love affair with
Patagonia had just begun.

It was his idea to go
down to Patagonia.

We went there two weeks later.

In an old van,

crowded with skis, surfboards,

and climbing equipment,

we drove 15 or 20,000 kilometres.

It was a great adventure.

A legendary journey.

Let's say,

that they shaped an entire era.

They shaped a way of life.

Climb, surf,

ski on summits
never skied before,

and finally achieve
the hardest climb

and unique for their time.

We spent 60 days
trying to climb Fitz Roy.

We spent 31 days in an ice cave.

We must have had five days
of sunshine during this ascent.

I left for nine months.

Yvon Chouinard, an old
friend, and three other friends

we stayed a long time in Chile.

We fell in love with
Patagonia and its region.

It was my first
time in Patagonia.

It was like the American
West a century ago,

but it was genuine.

This trip was long enough...

to transform our lives.

When Yvon went
down to Patagonia...

...in 1968 with Doug
Tompkins to ride the Fitz Roy,

the place was wild.

We went back
exactly 20 years later

and everything was different there.

Look at this.

They built roads
and everything else.

They're going to open a
McDonald's and a Wimpy.

Developers built
streets and street signs

of what later became
the town of Chalten.

We started noticing

the climate has been

warming for a very long time.

We noticed that the glaciers
were beginning to retreat.

We started learning about...

climate change.

Doug was the first...

to really feel it.

It was the double aspect
of his thirst for knowledge,

he met people

who recommended other books.

CARLOS FUENTES A
CERTAIN RELATIONSHIP

He was deeply
involved in ecology

it was almost natural,
because all these

committed environmentalists
were climbers.

They saw nature being destroyed.

And when we destroy
nature, we destroy ourselves.

Ecology is discerning what
binds each form of life together.

Each has an intrinsic value.

Their value does not depend
on what man attributes to them.

After going to Patagonia,
I said to myself:

"I want to make clothes
adapted to the conditions on site".

yvon said:

"I want to create jackets".

"I will call my brand: Patagonia".

Patagonia. One of those magic words.

For brand image,

we chose the
silhouette of the Fitz Roy.

I don't know why he said to me:

"You should take care of it."

So I created the brand,

I directed and developed it.

Yvon always has new ideas,

but don't know how to do it.

Kris, realized them,
and rejected bad ideas.

VOICE OF PATAGONIA
CO-OWNER MALINDA CHOUINARD

She played a key role.

She was confident and motivated.

She was our president
and our general manager.

Once Patagonia launched,

we were growing
at a breakneck pace,

especially for the time.

Then, in the early 1980s,

Yvon decided to give Patagonia

a surge of activism.

I was building my business
and worried about the planet.

I wanted to make my company
more and more responsible.

But not Doug.

He was content to grow
his brand again and again.

Go ahead, Fred Astaire.

Emily's picture...

Tompkins is not
a fashion designer.

It was his wife, Susie,
who created the Esprit style.

He takes care of the rest,
like the image of the brand

and communication.

She is superb. Julie Hall.

- It's perfect.
- GOOD.

Esprit had a studio in Milan,

a studio in Paris.

Others in New York, in Tokyo.

When you came home, you came

across a $5 million
Francis Bacon triptych

hung above the fireplace.

The heyday of Esprit dates back to
when Doug devoted himself entirely

and fully involved

in its role as a global entrepreneur

within a fashion industry brand.

Then he changed.

I have changed a lot.

Actually,

I kind of went through...

in the late 80's.

I just said to myself: "I
have to do something else".

I think he was...

lost.

He had lost himself.

The goal of a fashion company

is to make you feel the need

to buy new clothes.

I realized that I
was only bringing

more destruction to our world.

FOR RESPONSIBLE CONSUMPTION

OUR NEEDS ARE DEFINED BY
THINGS WITHOUT INTEREST

Esprit's catalogs

were carrying a message

suggesting you
buy their clothes.

SPIRIT CHANGE SPIRIT?
...BUY ONLY THE NECESSARY.

You can't do this
and then ask yourself

how you will pay your employees
and advance your brand.

...AN "ENVIRONMENT-CONSCIOUS"
STYLE...

In the early 90,

I could not any more.

The sign had difficulties
and I made up my mind

to use me to try to save Esprit.

Susie and Doug broke up

And...

they had to share the business.

She bought him his share

because he wanted
to take a new path.

He returned to where
he had been happy

for the last time: in Patagonia.

It was a big change,
necessary for him.

LITO TEJADA-FLORES
ALPINIST, DIRECTOR

He was both the same and changed.
He was more interesting.

Go to South America
and commit to a project

who was close to his heart,

that was his motto,

commit first, then manage.

That's exactly what he did.

He engaged all his forces.

He had no specific plan.

CAROLINA MORGADO
DIRECTOR OF REWILDING CHILE

When he arrived in Chile, he wanted
to get out of the dynamics of Esprit.

When he was able to fly an airplane,

he noticed that the farm
owners were always absent.

We bought small farms

to small farmers
who wanted to leave.

Doug bought an 800
hectare farm in Reñihue.

In fact, it is here,

where we are

that I lived for a year and a half,

just here.

With a living room and a kitchen,

a dining room.

I renovated the old
house, little by little.

There was no electricity.

We had three meters by two,

or four by two,

it would have...

- Yes.
-...you see ?

- Never mind.
- Yes, whatever.

It's not...

- There are two bedrooms,
- You have to multiply.

There are two bedrooms.

He had money.

He was not a billionaire.

He had a nice sum,
about 150 million dollars.

He could do whatever he wanted.

And that's what he did.

The primary purpose
was to protect the land.

But on these lands,
we had the possibility

to set up experimental farms.

Farms where we
could demonstrate,

first to ourselves
and then to others,

that all life there was possible,

without resorting to deforestation.

That there were other
approaches to life there.

We created these farms,

planted berries,

produce honey,

as well as jam,

sheep were also raised
there for their wool.

With this wool, we created
an artisanal network.

If it was profitable? No way.

Doug said that with every
jar of honey sold, we gave

literally $5.

It wasn't a problem for him.

He preferred to be
environmentally sustainable

and economically unstable.

We were lucky to give
work to a lot of people.

He often bitched at me

telling myself that I had
to sell my business and...

do the same as him.

That what he was doing
was good, unlike me.

I wanted to run my
business responsibly.

Keep my business and
make it an accountability tool.

To do this,

I made the decision
to rethink our activity.

Our new guideline,

was to trade for the planet.

I took a dozen

of my best employees,

and we went to Patagonia.

Doug and Kris met on this trip.

NOW ?

We were in Calafate,
a very small town.

Seated in the restaurant,

when Doug Tompkins arrives.

He approaches, slumps next to me

he says "Boom" to me.

"What's up, baby?"

Then he said to me...
It's very typical of Doug,

He said to me, "What's up?"

I replied: "We leave
tomorrow morning".

"Why are you leaving?"

"It's the end of our stay".

"Okay, but why?"

"Why don't you stay?

"Why not stay,

I'll take you back to the
United States myself?"

I answered: "No, do not insist".

"I will not fly with you".

Then he called me from San Francisco,

when we were both there.

"What are you doing ?"

"Well..."

I was in a relationship,

but I knew it wouldn't work.

He is quite charming.

He was very charming.

One day, Doug calls me and says:

"You see your friend Kris,

you get along well, don't you?"

I said, "She's one
of my best friends,

she is the godmother
of my three children".

He answers me :

"What do you think of her?"

I told her she was
a beautiful woman.

And literally the same day,

Kris calls me and asks me:

"Yvon's boyfriend, Doug
Tompkins, you and him...

you go mountaineering together".

"How is he?
Do you know him well?"

I replied "Oh".

When my wife found out that Doug

had a crush on Kris, she said
to me: "Watch out for disaster".

She knew how he had
treated his ex-girlfriends.

Doug was wild, young,
good-natured and maintained...

several links.

And Kris was asking people
if that was still the case.

They answered him:
“No, he has changed”.

"Doug will be faithful. He's changed."

In turn, the women said:

"Stay away from him.
This is madness."

Sometimes Doug
could act like a fool.

So we were a little worried.

I started working with Yvon.

I was very young,

it made...

23 years,

I thought,

I didn't want to do that anymore.

It was over.

My life was over.

Most people think I'm talking

about Patagonia when I say that.

But no. I am talking about me.

My life was over.

I had to change it.

I thought there had
to be something else,

something bigger.

Doug called me from time to time.

One evening I tell
him that I am going

to France to work
at the Paris agency.

He replies, "Great,
see you there."

True to form, he comes to Paris.

We go to dinner at
his favorite restaurant.

Then we stroll through Paris.

He asks me to come
and see him in Chile.

I reply, "No way.

You're a world-class speaker."

He stopped,

looked at his feet, looked

me in the eye, then said:

"I will never let
anything happen to you".

It was one of those moments
when you notice that the person

transforms deep within itself.

Later he confessed to me

that was the case.

It was the case for me too.

I said to myself...

that he was the
man I was to marry.

But it was... it was crazy.
Really crazy.

I had made a commitment to a man.

I finished

by leaving Paris being... engaged.

I had to visit him
10 days in Chile,

I stayed for five weeks.

It was chemical.

Like... love at first sight.

I will be stepping down as CEO.

We are looking for
someone to replace me.

I hope to find
someone by October,

train this person by my
side for three months,

so that on January
1, I can leave.

And... go to Chile,

where I will definitely settle.

I threw it all away...

What a scandal.

I completely changed
my personal life.

But I was right.
It turned out to be a good thing.

It was a big leap into the unknown.

It could also have gone wrong.

It was insane.

I think back to Doug
on our first date.

I was like, "Damn,
what did I do?"

The farm we are going to

was...

inaccessible.

April 4, 1994

This place that Doug
owns is amazing.

A whole peninsula,

marvelous glaciers,

waterfalls, rivers.

April 5, 1994, we wake
up with frost in our beds.

A pure and wonderful spectacle.

We will go south through
the forests of Coihue,

without dinner, we'll
sleep, huddled together

at the Nires hotel.

May 20, fourth stormy day,

no calm.

Strong winds push
water into the house.

Up at 2 a.m. to
secure the fireplace

and kill a giant rat.

Unable to get out.

no phone,

VOICE OF PATAGONIA
CO-OWNER MALINDA CHOUINARD

nor any access,

to enter or exit.

She was alone with Doug.

We are in our forties,
and full of projects.

Consequent and hard to lead,

and unprecedented

In the region.

We have to move forward step by step.

And our union was still young.

You hope that the ties
of marriage that bind you

won't give up, because
we have to work together

and living together, in
extreme circumstances.

Initially, the first step

was to create a nature reserve.

It was a way of
protecting this territory.

But the more they
advanced in time,

the more they developed
the idea of creating national

parks, from there, our
collaboration took a new turn.

SANTIAGO BUENOS
AIRES ARGENTINA CHILE

That's where it all began.

We lived here.

FARM, REÑIHUE

All this territory
became Pumalín.

From the border with
Argentina to the Pacific Ocean.

It was the first park.

We bought 310,000
hectares, then we expanded.

PUMALÍN 310,000 HECTARES

We didn't do anything in a vacuum.

We went to meet

people, mayors,

everyone involved.

We were attracting suspicion.

Often,

we faced hostile reactions.

We came to talk to the mayor.

We want to explain to
him our idea of donating

of those lands which
is within its territory.

It is believed that she
will support this cause.

It is concerned with the
preservation of nature.

The project is to
create the national park

from Cabo León by
including the nature reserve.

The terms "national
park" are important,

because they cause
tourist attraction.

PUMALÍN PARK 310,000 HECTARES

It is an impenetrable zone,
made up only of tropical forest.

It was basically the federal

government that
opposed the project.

We had five years of conflict...

social and political.

ARGENTINA CHILE

What do you dislike
about Tompkins' project?

They do not offer any progress.

We are a poor country...

JAIME ORPIS FORMER
CONGRESS MEMBER, CHILE

...who needs to progress

and raise their standards.

RODRIGO NORIEGA
PILOT, PUMALÍN PARK

We were emerging from 20 years of dictatorship,

so all these far
right politicians

did not understand this
notion of philanthropy.

Chile has good reason
to doubt the Americans.

In 1973,

the Nixon administration
participated in the coup

then beginning 17 years
of a brutal dictatorship

guided by Augusto Pinochet.

PINOCHET DIET

However, the Tompkins
acquired some small land

intended to be preserved,

They were flabbergasted to
be insulted as "Dirty Americans".

Nevertheless,

Chile is a long country.

And...

They bought so much land...

ANDRÉS VELASCO FORMER
MINISTER OF FINANCE, CHILE

...that in the end, they had a
substantial share of the territory.

The armies were worried

that a foreigner owns
so much national land...

PEDRO PABLO GUTIÉRREZ
ATTORNEY, TOMPKINS CONSERVATION

...from the border to the ocean.

He was accused of
splitting the country in two.

The Chilean political
right was ulcerated, and

was looking for
solutions to deal with this.

March 13, 1995,

almost all newspapers,
and televisions...

THE NATION SUSPICIOUS OF
THE ENVIRONMENTAL EMPIRE

...Chileans were talking
about us last night,

and again this morning.

AMERICANS ARE BUYING
AREAS OF VIRGIN FORESTS.

The extreme right and the
salmon industry are attacking us.

We were fighting against
commercial salmon farming.

These are fish farms.

It is the equivalent
of cattle ranches.

If you dive under
its cages, you will see

a dead sea.

Underwater life was suffocated.

Nothing lives there anymore.

Sea lions would approach
the cages to feed.

Sometimes, we found
on the beach, sea lions

shot down by gunfire.

REWARD FOR SAVING THE SEA LIONS

Doug had posted a wanted notice.

Pledge $2,500,

for whoever would lead
us to the sea lion killer,

he had just set
fire to the powder.

NEW AGGRESSION AGAINST TOMPKINS

April 21, 1995,

the newspapers are
attacking Doug and me again.

TOMPKINS AGAIN IN A CONTROVERSY

Our life here is
increasingly threatened.

FREI AGAINST TOMPKINS: HE
BELIEVES TO OWN THE COUNTRY

October 17, our
phones are tapped.

New charges from the army...

DOUG TOMPKINS: A
“GRINGO” IN TROUBLE

we wonder what will be next.

I'm worried about Doug's safety.

They must have holed up
at the American Embassy.

They were threatened with death.

The FBI told my wife and I
that our calls were being tapped.

Because we were
friends with the Tompkins.

BELISARIO VELASCO FORMER
INTERIOR MINISTER, CHILE

We don't harass him.

There was a lot of mistrust.

It was said that he first
intended to buy land at a low price

CLAUDIO ALVARADO
FORMER SENATOR, CHILE

...and then resell
them for more.

The collective imagination
has fomented a lot of concerns.

At the time, I was...

I was a minister

and I was in charge
of defense matters.

The army had all kinds
of theories, that Israel was

trying to take over part
of Chile, and many others.

We have been accused
of building a site...

DANGER CHEMICAL WASTE TREATMENT

...of nuclear waste
for the United States,

a new Jewish state, when we had

an Anglican education,

a new military base
for Argentina so that

they can put an end
to Chile once and for all.

funniest theory

it was that we were going to
empty the south of Chile of its cattle

to replace it with
American bison.

If we put all your projects

together, in Chile
and Argentina,

how many hectares
are we talking about?

Of 810,000 hectares.

From 810,000?

A little less.

These are impressive numbers.

It's nothing at all.

If you compare what is

preserved and what
is destroyed each year,

we are on the losing side.

Every year, 16 million
hectares of wilderness are lost.

AMAZONAS, BRAZIL

At this rate, all wilderness
will be gone in 50 years.

MATO GROSSO, BRAZIL

BOLIVIA

People say, the
Tompkins preserved

more than 800,000 hectares
of land, it's huge, yes...

OREGON, USA

...but comparing the situations,
it is an infinitesimal quantity.

KALIMANTAN, BORNEO

Whether the forests of Indonesia

or the grasslands of East
Africa, no matter where...

...we are not gaining ground.

We're just resisting
the offensive.

We are in the middle of a storm,

where the population
is growing...

GLOBAL DEFORESTATION

...and consumption, and
plummeting natural resources.

And no one can
really turn the tide

they cannot,
because the cultural

impact of these
changes is so great

for them, that they
don't even care.

ARGENTINA CHILE

CHILE ARGENTINA

When we tried to
create Corcovado Park,

CORCOVADO PARK 400,013 HECTARES

...we confronted the army.

Much of what was
to constitute the park

belonged to the army

who used it as a
military testing area.

Doug met the generals

to convince them
to preserve this place

and stop the testing of explosives.

Before going to make an
offer to the Chilean government,

we were well prepared
in order to show them

everything we had
invested in those lands.

We told them,

"We will donate our park
and all its infrastructure

if for each half-hectare
you combine four

of unused federal land."

Thanks to this, we were able

achieve greater things than

we could have done on our own.

ARGENTINA CHILE

Patagonia Park was
also a contentious project.

We had bought several
thousand hectares in Argentina,

then we bought
an old estancia...

CHILE ARGENTINA
ESTANCIA VALLE CHACABUCO

of 80,000 hectares in Chile.

We had the idea
of passing this park

beyond the Argentinian border...

PATAGONIA PARK

...in order to preserve approximately
800,000 hectares in total.

Regarding the local communities,

it was basically a
breeding problem.

Some were upset that we could

put out of production
one of the biggest

livestock areas of Chile.

ARGENTINA CHILE

When we went to Iberá...

PARAGUAY ARGENTINA BRAZIL

...the challenge was colossal.

IBERÁ PARK 712,000 HECTARES

Some locals say they were
moved and then ignored

by those they call
the Barons of Ecology.

IBERÁ PARTIMONY
OF THE CORRENTINOS

We don't believe
that Tompkins, a

multi-millionaire, suddenly
became a philanthropist.

PUMALÍN PARK 310,000 HECTARES

There were also disagreements

concerning land
titles around Pumalín.

About 1 or 2%, or
about 200 families

felt that their presence
there was threatened.

It took five years for each
of them to obtain a land title

to reassure them.

So no more doubt about

what belongs to you, and
what belongs to the park.

We've been just as
friendly as these people are

in our way of
settling land disputes.

But in the end, it
touched you, didn't it?

Yes, it touched
me, because it was

quite the opposite
that happened.

Opponents were not just
politicians or individuals,

but also institutions.

Opposition to the Tompkins

was fomented by
the Catholic Church.

Here is the missing
part of Pumalín Park.

Thirty thousand
hectares of land named

Huinay, belonging
to the Catholic Church

Douglas Tompkins was very
close to acquiring Huinay.

The Catholic University
has received a lot of pressure

forbidding him to
sell us the power plant

that she sold to an
electric company.

It must have been hurtful.

Yes, it was.

The property below...

- Shall we buy it?
- Yes.

They had to believe
in their projects.

Ninety-nine percent of
people would have left saying:

"It's impossible to live here."

Because we Chileans
behaved badly.

February 25,

every day brings its
share of bad news.

Doug is overwhelmed
with anger and frustration,

and my nerves are strained.

Why do we do this?

I go home to confront him.

Many tears, honesty,

and loving responses.

I thought we could
drown this area

but not do something
geometrically perfect.

We could follow
a curve, like that.

To make it natural.

I want it to be
accessible to the public.

You have to set up
infrastructure to accommodate it.

A reception for
visitors, campsites,

even hotels,

car parks, paths, marked trails,

administrative centers, signs.

You need all of that

to make a national park.

He was a perfectionist.

At Esprit, in his
office, he had a sign...

EVERY DETAIL COUNTS

...with the words "every detail counts".

He was convinced that a world
without beauty was superfluous.

Through this painstaking work...

in reality,

there was an incessant
and stubborn search

of beauty.

The tractor driver
is a kind of artist.

You can paint a
landscape with your tractor,

but you need dexterity.

Because, at the end of the
road, you will take a photo

and we will see your work,
the long-awaited work.

At the beginning of our
collaboration with Chile and Argentina,

large tracts of land were
thought to be preserved.

But in reality,

as the saying goes,

a landscape without
wild life is only a staging.

Everything changed
when we went to Iberá.

We realized that many
animals were missing,

From the jaguars,
down the chain.

We were no longer talking
about creating national parks.

We were talking about creating
a fully functioning ecosystem.

Giving back its
essence to nature.

For that it is necessary

bring animal species
back to where they belong

and from which they left.

Because of poaching, hunting,

of livestock production.

Each species has a major
role in the ecosystem.

If the guanacos are so numerous,

it's to feed the pumas.

Cougars hunt guanacos
and feed scavengers.

We are not talking about the
preservation of a single species

but wild interactions.

Guardians of our parks

CRISTIÁN SAUCEDO
MANAGER OF THE REWILDING

CHILE PROGRAM were
former cattle ranchers,

today they are watching cougars.

Arcelia was the son of
the mountain lion hunter.

He hunted with his

father and got a salary,

plus a bonus for each
cougar pelt returned.

What would your father
think if he saw you now...

take care of cougars?

With all those cougars!

Surrounded by pumas,
without killing any!

Without killing any!

What change !

Of course.
This is a big change for me!

From an ethical point of view,

Above all, we must
preserve biodiversity.

We have to share the
planet with the animals.

We need to create
a suitable habitat

and keep the evolution
of nature going.

By over-expanding,
we harm wild habitats.

It's a self-defeating development

and that's the problem,
we are developing,

we are expanding,
again and more and more

until an inevitable collapse.

February 18,

why have we never
climbed a mountain together?

The view from up there

is a gift from heaven.

Doug made it the first ascent,

in general, when
you climb a mountain

for the first time,
you have to name it.

Doug called her Kris.

It was a good effort.

Yes, it was awesome.

Christine,

is the highest point in the park

it's kind of the
jewel in the crown.

There's no better
Valentine's Day gift

for your wife.

Yes. He was always
like that with me.

They were excessive

but deeply in love.
Without a doubt.

They always took
care of each other.

If you had seen them
together, you would have said...

...teenagers,

TIMMY O'NEILL MOUNTAINEERING

who we would catch smooching.

They were just love.

Every day,

he was sending her one of these messages.

I HAVE A BEAUTIFUL
WIFE THAT I LOVE

Photo messages.

THEY BOTH LOVE EACH OTHER

They gave each other nicknames.

LOLO LOVES BIRDY

She was Birdy.

THE RARE BIRDS I LOVE

I remember perfectly

of a beautiful film

on DVD he had made.

The love of my life is a
world class woman at all times.

She is gorgeous at 60.

You are the undisputed number one.

BIRDY, MY ONE AND ONLY!
WE LOVE YOU !

BIRDY AND HIS "LOLO"
BOTH IN SEXAGENARS

It's Doug's secret side,
which I've never seen, but...

Here we are.

What a peak.

Yes.

I'm happy to be here.

Jimmy and I had been here before.

12 years ago

with Yvon and Doug.

Yes !

- One more.
- We did it, finally.

His first ascent.

There is no such thing.

I remember a superb

sunset, like the one last night.

And I remembered Doug.

My biological clock is ticking.

I feel it.

You still have a lot of work.

I have projects.

These are long-term projects,
and you're wondering...

...how are you going to finish them.

I would like to see if we

can bring them to an end.

It takes a lot of time.

- Time is the key.
- Yes.

It is the most important.

- Life...
- As always.

Life flies.

Yes.

I had spoken to
Doug about this trip.

At first.

He was really happy to do it.

We thought it would be great
to go kayaking on this big lake,

close to the Patagonia National Park.

We took them to the lake,

they prepared their
kayaks for hours.

Go ahead, darling.

They were great kayakers,

but they had hired someone

to organize the trip.

They took out a zodiac and
put the kayaks in the water.

Doug and I had a two-seater.

Yvon and Weston were alone.

And Jeb and Lorenzo
were together too.

On the fourth day,
the wind picked up.

It raised waves more
than two meters high.

The rental boat's rudder
was malfunctioning.

It was getting harder and
harder for Doug and me.

to keep the front of the boat
in the direction of the wind.

A wave hit us.

Suddenly the kayak flipped over.

I said to Doug:

"Are we catching him?

because if we come out in the

middle of the
lake, we are dead".

We decided to catch him.

It's hard, you know,

we didn't have more
than ten minutes.

In such cold water, you
can only last half an hour.

A first wave... Then a second.
There I notice

I start to sink.

Then something broke

I shouted: "No!"

I swam as fast as possible.

A minute later, Jeb and
Lorenzo arrived on their tandem.

I grabbed the back of the
kayak and they towed me away.

I got to Doug first.

He grabbed the back

WESTON BOYLES ECOLOGIST

of the kayak, I turned

towards the coast, then I paddled.

He was serene.

He was kicking his feet.

He could have grabbed hold
of me and knocked me down.

But you can't fight when

hypothermia wins you over.

I felt he was losing his strength

by dint of clinging.

Towards the end, Doug
stared at the Valley of Aviano

And...

he was whispering.

When he no longer had enough
strength to hold on to the boat,

I lifted him with one arm to
get his head out of the water.

We have... I couldn't...

hold him, and paddle.

I let go of the paddle.

Doug and I sat there floating
around for about an hour,

or an hour and a half.

Then I have...

heard a helicopter.

They took us out and
directed us to the shore.

And we went to the hospital.

Snippets of messages reached us.

"Finally", "It's Doug",
"Rick", "Helicopter".

I knew you had problems.

Instinctively, without
knowing anything, I knew.

Outside, I begged the Gods,

pity, pity, pity,

bring it back to me.

We arrived at the
lodge, the phone rang,

the owner picked up,

and... a minute later,

he hangs up, looks at us, and says:

"Doug is dead".

I ran into your room, where
they had tried everything.

A cold, soft body.

I crawled onto your bed
and lay down beside you.

All I wanted was for us to hug

and forget everything
else, and everyone.

Then I fixed my soup.

And I remember
Yvon looking at his.

Then he...

took his spoon, and started

to eat it,

slowly.

Then he looked at me and said:

"Eat your soup. It's good".

I applied...

to consider

every spoonful of soup,
going down my throat.

We brought it back the next day.

I was in the back with the coffin.

I had a knife in my bag.

I engraved our names.

Without noticing...

by engraving the letters,

by pressing as hard as possible,

I cut myself.

There was blood on the coffin,

and on me.

And...

I was no longer attached.

I so wanted to engrave
"Birdy" and "Lolo" on it.

In the end, Rick, who
was in front with the driver,

come see me,

and said to me, "You,
sit down, go to your seat,

Fasten your seatbelt,
and give me that knife.

That's enough.

Do you want people
to see this on landing?"

She was on the edge of the abyss.

To the point where she didn't
even want to live anymore.

She didn't want to face
life anymore... without him.

Doug died three days ago

during an excursion
with his best friends.

Yvon Chouinard,
his lifelong friend,

Rick Ridgeway, who
almost stayed there too,

and Weston Boyles,

the "little girl" of the group

who stayed with
him until the end.

He never gave it up.

I am so grateful to him.

He lived a life worth a hundred.

I can't imagine my life
without him, but that's how it is.

Thanks for coming.

We lowered his
coffin into the grave.

With all who came

the inhabitants of the
surroundings, hundreds of people,

we threw earth, with our
bare hands, on his coffin.

It took me a long time

to decide not to accompany him.

It is a nice place to visit.

I had... gone mad after he died.

I was every day.

May 17,

When you left Spirit,

you left in search of
the rest of your life.

A noble gesture,
to live a new life.

I find myself faced
with this same question.

In a way, you have
to write a new story.

Now may be the time, Birdy.

It's time to write it all down.

Although I still feel like...

an amputation,

not just a loss,

I feel...

that this majestic and
ambitious vision of his own,

that's what kept me alive.

She was my lifeline.

We never stopped.

I succeeded.

All those things that
were unmanageable to him,

she put an end to it.

She got back to normal.

We no longer have the farms.

We had up to thirteen.

They weren't viable.

It was too expensive.

I felt like I was
disrespecting him.

I couldn't let
them spin anymore,

it was hard.

For me, everything was black or white.

No in-between.

It was binary.
My life has become binary.

I want to die, I will live.

We're going to do this.
We're not going to do that.

Doug wants this, we won't.

Period.

Pumalin? Ended.

Valley Chac? Almost done too.

Ibera? Let's go.

We will go twice as fast,

twice as large.

Here we go, that's all.
We have nothing to lose.

It was my motto: "I
have nothing to lose".

The thing that I would never
have said, I was saying it.

She had totally changed
her way of being.

And little by little,

Kris not only found a
reason to keep going,

but she also got stronger

and brave.

I've always been that
little pebble in a current.

But it's over.

I know exactly
what I want to do.

I live with lots of projects.

The new park will...

...930,000.

So 930,000 hectares.

Another Pumalín or Corcovado.

Yes.

810,000 hectares.

This is serious.

She keeps wondering
what the next project will be.

What motivates me
the most is the rewilding.

These are

the first two groups
to be released.

Yes.

But they interact
with wild groups.

- Yes.
- They manage

much better in freedom than in enclosure.

There was more to do
than just preserve the land.

These places will not be restored

until all species have returned.

Kris participated in the reintroduction

of more than a
dozen species to date,

including that of the jaguar,

something never done before.

It was Doug's idea,

to try everything to
reintroduce the jaguars.

It is an emblematic animal.

At the top of the food chain.

It was one of his dreams.

We released nine.

Among which, two female babies

who have grown up...

Yes.

...and had two babies.

It is believed. At least one.

- Yes.
- Yes.

Amazing !

I cry every time
I think about it.

Sincere tears.

National parks are like...

Petri dishes.

When...

everything is going wrong,

parks and other protected
areas act as a Petri dish

within which, evolution
resumes on its own.

Who knows ?

What Kris does, help
protect biodiversity

may have a direct link

with climate change.

And through this link,

it is about the survival
of species on our planet.

March 2, 2017,

the government has
sent us a smoke signal.

We will sign an
agreement on March 15.

First it was a relief,
then a momentary joy

which gave way to the infinite
admiration that I have in you.

I wondered, how could I
have come this far without you?

Then I remembered, that
you had always been there.

When you dedicate
not only your wealth,

but also your life,

then that you choose to
be buried in this same place.

No one can say anymore

"He's just passing through."

Across the country...

there was this outpouring of empathy

towards Kris.

It galvanized us...

"...RESTORING THE LAND AND
RETURNING IT TO THE COMMUNITY"

...suddenly, any
form of opposition...

LAUNCH OF TOMPKINS NATIONAL PARK

...and the obstacles were gone.

TOMPKINS CONSERVATION
TO TRANSFER ITS PARKS

Historical. It's historic.

Seriously, no one
has ever done that.

When I was
president, I met Kristine

and we thought it
would be interesting to

have two women
pursue Doug's dream...

who was so dear to him.

But the truth

it was that we had to
put an end to these parks.

Because don't forget that
we paid astronomical sums.

Last year we spent

almost $6 million.

If we didn't give away the parks,

we could have suffered
an economic shipwreck.

Hi !

Our best carpenters
take care of the panel!

I can not believe !

We were ambitious,
and it was unlikely

that we succeed in this initiative...

REPUBLIC OF CHILE, PUMALÍN
DOUGLAS TOMPKINS NATIONAL PARK

...to donate five
new parks at once,

plus, the enlargement
of three others.

But, it was now or never.

It was time.

Say "Pumalín".

Pumalin!

Which team.

We have a hundred
committed players.

We want the government
to keep them in their jobs.

But who knows what will happen?

FARM

We will see some of
them, and not others.

But there are many people

who are there, on arrival.

We have formed a family.

A real...

...for 25 years.

We love each other,
and we honor each other.

On behalf of all of us,

raise our glasses to
Douglas and Pablo Carrasco.

- Yes.
- Yes.

The weekend before the
President came to the ceremony,

I read an article.

And noticed that two verbs
were written in the conditional.

"We could", "we
would", not "we will",

which made me say that one of

the parks, the
largest of the eight,

sowed doubts.

For me, it was all or nothing.

Either we give them all or none.

If it doesn't work...
we're taking a big risk.

After all that had happened to them,

all these years
trying to convince

each government to
carry out this great project

and not being able
to reach the end, I

imagine, that indeed,
she could have doubts.

She thought that
everything could still change.

Up to one hour

before the ceremony.

I didn't know how
it was going to be.

It's good.

Let's go.

When she arrived, I was pouting.

She wanted to go
to Doug's grave,

in the small cemetery.

VALLE CHACABUCO CEMETERY

She gathered at her grave

and told me about Doug

and I realized that we
had come to the end.

I had prepared two speeches,

in one, I evacuated
my hatred and

my anger, in case
things went wrong.

The other was a
congratulatory speech.

A woman approached me,

and told me: "they put it".

"It's good".

I turned around and
said to the president:

"It's a historic day."

I have a map of a place
only the gods can imagine.

What in 1992 was
a dream for Doug,

became the Pumalín National Park.

These parks belong to you.

Protect them with all your heart.

Choose life.

Choose beauty.

Lol, we did it!

Damn it. Guys...

He was someone I
took under my wing,

a good friend, standing there
with the President of Chile

signing these papers

of the creation of
these parks, and, thin...

Yes. I... I was in tears.

I felt a lot of pride.

It's the biggest in the world.

- You must be proud.
- Yes.

It was the largest land
donation in human history.

Doug set the bar very high,

he would have been proud to
have someone take it up a notch.

The larger the parks, the
more nature is preserved.

Oh, damn it!

Look at him. Look look.

It's a condor.

Look at all that wild life

that she and Doug were able to preserve,

it stretches as far as the eye can see.

They have changed the way an
entire continent looks at preservation.

People want to
keep creating parks.

I am part of a
project for a new park

extending to the borders
of Tierra del Fuego.

300,000 hectares.

I had this idea and told
Kris' organization about it.

It is called the Parc
du Bout du Monde.

Doug was arguing with me and telling me

that I should follow
him in his projects.

Now I got into it.

I was always the sweetest

between you two.

I adapted easily

and I was unstoppable

but...

What a life.

Yes.

Yes.

What a life.

TOMPKINS CONSERVATION, BY
PARTNERING WITH CHILE AND ARGENTINA,

CREATED OR EXPANDED 17 NATIONAL PARKS

PROTECTING 6 MILLION HECTARES
OF LAND, A NUMBER THAT WILL GROW.

REWILDING ARGENTINA AND
REWILDING CHILE CONTINUE

TO REINTRODUCE ANIMAL
SPECIES AND CREATE PARKS.

IN 2022, CONFORMING TO
THE SPIRIT OF HIS FRIENDS,

YVON CHOUINARD SOLD
PATAGONIA FOR $3 BILLION

WHICH HE DONATED FOR THE
PRESERVATION OF THE PLANET.

IN MEMORY OF JENNIFER RIDGEWAY