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Known as Hacienda Pucheguin, the property is surrounded by national parks and is cut by wild rivers, forests of ancient Alerce trees and the Cochamó Valley, a cathedral of towering granite walls popular with rock climbers around the world.

During his travels, Darwin explored the island of Chiloé where he observed houses made of alerce, also known as Fitzroya cupressoides.

Such “extractivist” approaches haven’t served Chile well over time, however — so says Carlos Leiva, director of the non-governmental organization Andean Alerce.

Though logging alerce has been outlawed, illegal deforestation has continued to plague Chiloé, while native forest has been replaced by tree plantations.

The blaze broke out on Thursday at Los Alerces national park, a Unesco World Heritage site in northern Patagonia, which is home to huge alerce trees.