Sustainable Development of Futaleufu

FutaFriends' primary objective is the continued sustainable development of Futaleufu and its community members. Futaleufu's location and surrounding environment defines the town as a gateway community to Chilean Patagonia. Similar to other gateway communities, the development of Futaleufu is bound to happen. FutaFriends works with the municipal government, local groups and tourism companies to ensure a development strategy for the community that integrates the conservation of the region's culture and environment.

Tourism is one of the main economic resources of the Futaleufu Valley, providing financial opportunities to many in the region. FutaFriends works to further improve the relationship between tourism outfitters and community members, increasing income-generating opportunities for locals based on agricultural and sustainable production. By working with local groups such as Aguas Libres, FutaFriends seeks to increase rural production capacities through agriculture projects, co-ops, and artisanship using local commodities such as wool and wood. Our vision is founded on the belief that as more community members benefit from tourism, and the more it can prove to be self-sustaining, more of the local population will seek to stay in the region and search economic opportunities to guard the Futaleufu River Valley's pristine state.

Agriculture Development in the Futaleufu Valley - Support This Project
The Futaleufu Valley has a low agricultural yield due to the region's long winters and the community's cultural background that is heavily dependent on livestock and government subsidies. With the goal of increasing families production capacities, FutaFriends initiated an agriculture development project that integrates greenhouse production with a market system established by the tourism outfitters demand and the project participant production supply. FutaFriends has worked with outfitters, local producers and community groups to establish a market that ensures good quality produce with sufficient quantity for all stakeholders. The expected results are an increase in tourism revenue for local community members, which ultimately improves the quality of life for the overall community in general. Find out more...

Strengthening a Trail Network along the Futaleufu Valley - Support This Project
Approximately 21% of foreigners who arrive to Chile visit natural parks and reserves, the third most common activity engaged in. Despite the abundance of outdoor activities in Futaleufu, currently the valley has no defined network of trails with access to the community, not to mention little information available on the tourism options. A recent study defined the average stay for tourists at 2.2 days, with a small percentage of revenue generated by local community members. FutaFriends is working with local guides and homestead owners to establish a system of trails that would encourage tourists to increase their time of stay and generate a larger percentage of revenue from tourism activities to community members. The project works to map the existing system of trails, improve the quality of trails, organize homestead owners and local guides interested in participating in the project, and provide information dissemination materials to tourism offices in Chile and Argentina. Find out more...