2. II.Access to help restoration and conservation:                   For all below contact:  pichimahuida (at) pichimahuida.info
   

The soil and the ecosystem were severely damaged by logging, fires, cattle and other human activities. For the time being it is recuperating slowly. It is too fragile to sustain tourism activities, including nature-based tourism like trekking.

At present, the land can accept the following visitors:

a) Eco-volunteers (not "sustainable tourism)" to work on control of invasive species, removing fences, building trails, etc. Conditions: concrete tasks to be defined; a form will be developed; we will compile ourselves teams of volunteers; direct contact with individual volunteers; no involvement of volunteers' associations or companies.

b) Scientists and students for:

- Geology and land form studies;

1. -Vegetation (trees and other plants) studies and research,
   

     including research of planting protocols for restoration;

- Microbiota studies (lichens, fungi, etc.);

- Entomology studies;

- Conservation-linked studies: defining the baseline; specific ways of monitoring; assessing the lessons. No “ecosystem services” research.

- Water-related studies, including wetlands and amphibians.

- Environmental studies: climate-change, pollution, etc.

c) Studies on history of the valley and/or region.

500. d)Representatives of other Private Protected Areas (PPA) of any country.
     

No wildlife studies, they are too invasive and require a local qualified guide we can not provide. We will see later for local educational tours, depending on the success of the conservation and restoration activities.

Conditions: no samples of live animals, amphibians or insects (except mosquitoes and horseflies) to be collected. Direct contact with individuals, research and educational institutions, international organisations for all activities in the PPA.  A short description of the project shall be presented, including in the first place benefits for the ecosystem and land.

Conditions for all above:

- 4 people at a time maximum;

- health, accident and travel insurance required;

- own specialized equipment (we can provide logistics within the PPA);

This information shall not be advertised to tourist agencies, volunteers organizations or other actors of the consumption market who sell services.

I. Access by road :

As the first step for valuing the shared natural resources of the valley for the local community the following traffic rules for the private neighborhood road where developed with the agreement of the neighbors. The aim was to ensure that the value of the landscape of the valley, the lake and the glacier Leones stays, to the maximum, with the local tour operators and to ensure community involvement in the management of a privately owned shared natural resource - the landscape and access to the Northern Patagonian icefield.  The following information is found in the tourism offices of the area:

1. Start of the road;

2. End of vehicle road for individual cars and start of the walking path for pedestrians and horses, start of Pichimahuida land;

3. Lake Leones.

-    The road is a private communal road

-    The lake Leones is located at 28 Km. from the Carretera Austral.

-    Vehicle access  – 10 Km.

-    Only vehicles 4x4 due to the bad state of the road.

-    It takes 5 hours to walk from point 2 to point 3. No camping facilities in this section of the road.

-    There are camping facilities at the start of the road at point 1 and at the end at point 2.

-    Please respect the nature and do not leave wastes (biodegradable or not biodegradable).

-    Please leave the gates as you find them and close them with care.

There are several local tourism companies who operate until the lake Leones and who propose complete tours of the Leones valley.

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