Patagonia dives into river controversy
23/10/2008
Outdoor brand Patagonia has taken the unusual step of calling on its customers to help it put pressure on a major US retailer.
Famous for its environmental campaigning, Patagonia is involved in a project to establish a new national park in southern Chile, part of the region that gave the brand its name. The company fears part of the national park site could become flooded as a result of a hydroelectric project in the region. One of the proposals is to build five dams on two rivers, the Pascua and the Baker.
Patagonia has told its customers that the Baker is the largest remaining wild river in Chile and that it runs right along the edge of the proposed national park. “Damming the Baker would flood portions of this new park and hobble tourism that has just begun to bring new sources of income to the area’s small, traditional communities,” the company has said. “Less destructive alternative energy sources are available.”
It has asked outdoor enthusiasts to write to US-based home improvement retail chain The Home Depot to ask it to stop doing business with two Chilean manufacturers of wood products, both of whom it says are heavily involved in the dams project.
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