Hidden on the northern edge of Chile's Patagonia, lies Pumalin Park, about 750,000 acres of mostly virgin wilderness.

It is one of the most remote locations on Earth, a place where the lapping of lake waters and grind of glaciers are the only sounds that break the silence. That is, until last week, when lava and ash burst into the air with a roar, when the Chaiten Volcano, dormant for thousands of years erupted.

The explosion took everyone by surprise, including American millionaire Doug Tompkins, who for years owned the volcano, and now runs a foundation working to protect it.

"If it's really serious then we'll have to see what we do. I can't even say what that might be. But the north part of the park and the area where most visitors come to is now at least, at this moment, is in pretty good shape," says Tompkins.

Doug Tompkins came to Chile 17 years ago. At the time, he was the well-known founder of the Esprit clothing label. He says he gave up "consumerism" for "conservation", and later donated the land to the Chilean-based Pumalin Foundation, on which he and his wife sit as two of the board-of-directors.

But even with thousands of tons of ash and gas jetting from Chaiten's crater each day, Tompkins says the state of the world's environment is even more worrisome.

Doug Tompkins, says: "What are we going to do about the climate change affected by out of control development and industrialism. That's the big question. And those impacts, they make this little volcano here look like nothing."

It is currently low season for visitors to the Pumalin Park. The full impact of the volcano will be felt more in November, when tourism starts to pick up. For now, Tompkins is analyzing the future cost of restoring the areas of Pumalin that have been affected by the volcano.